Capital Punishment

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on Israel by playing the harlot in her
father's house" (Deuteronomy 22:21) England recognized seven major crimes that
called for execution by the end of the 15th century. These crimes were: murder,
theft (by deceitfully taking someone goods), burglary, rape, and arson. As
time went by more and more crimes were believed to deserve the death penalty and
by 1800 more than 200 crimes were recognized as punishable by death. (Bedau2)

It was not long before capital punishment met opposition. The Quakers made
first movement against execution. They supported life imprisonment as a more
humane justice. Cesare Beccaria wrote On Crimes and Punishment, a book
criticizing torture and the death penalty, in 1764. Cesare drove many other
philosophers, like Voltaire and Jerry Bentham, to question the validity of using
capital punishment. (Bedau2)

Contrary to what some may believe the process of sentencing a defendant is a
very arduous and time-taking ordeal. After he has been arrested as ...

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in 1900 prisoners (.053%) on
death row have served the death penalty. (http://www.hotsites) "Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas have carried out about three-quarters of
all executions since 1976." (Guernsey,22)

There has been a controversy over the death penalty ever since the Quakers
fought for reform in the 1700's. (Bedau1) This conflict has two sides: those in
favor of capital punishment, and those who view life without parole (LWOP) as a
more humane alternative.

Supporters of the death penalty rationalize executing because if a man takes a
life he should pay for it with his own or "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth." They also use verses from the Bible like, ...

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