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Capital Punishment - School Essays

Capital Punishment


Introduction
is punishment by death for committing a crime. Since
the early 1800's most executions have resulted from convictions for murder. The
death penalty has also been imposed for such serious crimes as armed robbery,
kidnapping, rape, and treason. There is a lot of conflict between people about
whether or not capital punishment is effective in discouraging crime.
In the early 1990's, 36 states of the United States had laws that permitted
the death penalty. These laws were greatly influenced by a 1972 decision of the
Supreme Court of the United States which had banned the death penalty as it was
then imposed, describing the carrying out of the death penalty as cruel ...

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and Latin-American nations, have
abolished the death penalty since 1900 - including Canada, which did so in 1976.
In the early 1990's, the United States was the only Western industrialized
nation where executions still took place.

History

Capital punishment was common among all ancient civilizations. It was used
for a variety of offenses that today aren't crimes at all, like stealing the
keys to someone's wine cellar.
There were many different methods of executions, and they all had a
barbaric quality. Some of the more vicious methods were stoning, impaling,
boiling in oil, burned alive, and being stretched on the rack.
One of the most notorious ways of executions was being beheaded by a
guillotine. This machine, invented by Joseph Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814),
became the official instrument of execution in France during the French
Revolution. It dropped a huge knife that cut off the victim's head. It was
regarded as quick and merciful. The guillotine was used ...

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because it had the ability to save
one's neck. Most offenders learned this verse by heart. It wasn't long before
this benefit became meaningless.
As a result, executions in this century averaged only 70 per year.
In the year 1819, the number of capital crimes was reduced to 220,
including shoplifting items above five shillings, cutting down trees in a park,
or shooting a rabbit.
Many capital crime offenders were pardoned on the condition that they
agreed to be transported to the american colonies in North America. American
colonies at that time also used capital punishment. The number of capital
crimes varied from one jurisdiction to another. The Massachusetts colony ...

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"Capital Punishment." Essayworld.com. December 16, 2004. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Capital-Punishment/19077.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 12/16/2004 01:15:24 PM
Category: Legal Issues
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 2290
Pages: 9

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SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Capital Punishment
» Religion And Capital Punishment
» Capital Punishment: Right Or Wr...
» Against Capital Punishment
» Capital Punishment: Is It Requi...
» Capital Punishment: Pro
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» Capital Punishment - History
» The Pros of Capital Punishment
» Retribution of Crime by Capital...
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