Reference no: EM131023690

Discuss capital punishment including its common law and constitutional history

There are currently 31 states that have the death penalty, which means that there are 19 (including DC) that prohibit it. 7 of the ico states that now outlaw capital punishment used to allow it as of 2007. The big question for me is, why is this subject ever changing and which direction are we leaning toward. The last time that the death penalty was made legal in any state was in New York in 1993, but it has since then made it illegal in 2007. This would indicate to me that the trend is moving toward getting rid of capital punishment.

Personally, I think that the use of the death penalty is not very effective as a punishment. Some would argue that it helps deter crime because there it is a bigger deterrent if criminals could die from their actions, however I doubt most would think about that before pulling a trigger. Some also would argue that the death penalty provides closure for families, but looking back at the Boston bombings, from a poll in Boston, only is% of people were in favor of the death penalty for the bombers. I think the problem with the death penalty is that it risks executing someone who is innocent and somewhat reverts back to the barbaric days in history when executions were common.

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