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Death penalty usa history short summary
Death penalty usa history short summary
Brief history of capital punishment in the United States
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Capital punishment is defined as the use of the death penalty to punish wrongdoers for certain crimes. The death penalty and capital punishment has been used as a form of punishment since the beginning of the newly formed Republic, The United States of America. Because of the details and severity of this as a form of punishment, there have been several occurrences when the constitutionality of it has been brought up and argued by proponents and opponents. There include several different forms of capital punishment. For the most part, the U.S.A. got the ideals of capital punishment from our mother country, England. METHODS OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Capital punishment includes several different methods for execution. All of the following methods fall under the category of capital punishment but there is not just one form of capital punishment. Some states have outlawed some methods, and others have kept them as an option. Because of this reason, there will never be a universal method of execution in the U.S.A. If there were just one universal form of capital punishment mandated by the Federal Legislature, they ruling would be found unconstitutional as it violates state’s rights. Electrocution. In 1890 in Auburn Prison, New York, William Kemmler was the first American to be executed in an electric chair. Up until 1977, the electric chair was the forerunner in executions for capital punishment. The convict is usually shaved so that the electric currents don't create as much resistance. The convict is strapped into the electric chair using belts that are usually strapped across the chest, groin, legs, and arms. A metal skullcap-shaped electrode is affixed to the convict’s head and forehead with a damp sponge to help condu... ... middle of paper ... ...apid fracture-dislocation of the neck occurs. THE U.S. SUPREME COURT The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. It has appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts. Because the Supreme Court hears appeals from lower-level courts, if anything that involves constitutionality, legal matters, or anything of the same nature of matter, that usually gets heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Because the Supreme Court is the highest-level court in the U.S.A., their decisions are final and binding. Works Cited DPIC. Death Penalty Information Center. 06 11 2011 . Larry K. Gaines, Roger LeRoy Miller. Criminal Justice in Action, The Core. 6th Edition. Belmont: Wadsworth / Cengage Learning, 2012. Purdue U Writing Lab. The Purdue OWL. 2010. 11 2011 .