Reviving The Death Penalty

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the death penalty, for there was little they could do about it.
However in the 1750's reform movements spread through Europe, and in 1847 they
reached the United States. In 1847, Michigan became the first state to abolish
the death penalty for murder.
Beginning in 1967, executions were suspended to allow the appellate
courts to decide whether the death penalty was unconstitutional. In 1972, the
Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty for murder or
for rape violated the prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment" (Bedau
1). Four years later the Supreme Court reversed its decision in Gregg v. Georgia.
They held the death penalty for murder and rape was not unconstitutional. The
next year executions resumed, and by 1991, some 2,350 person were under death
sentences in 36 states. About 150 prisoners including one woman, had been
executed. Current capital statutes authorize a trial court to impose either a
life or death sentence only after a post ...

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states that there are
certain people who do not belong in our society. There are some who have
committed such hevious crime that they don't deserve to live. Phoebe Ellsworth,
author of "Hardening of Attitudes", took a poll that stated the support declined
through the 1950's to a low of 47% in 1966, but increased steadily from 1966
through 1982 and has remained stable in the range of 70-75%. Another poll taken
by Tom Kuntz, author of "Should We Kill Those Who Kill" reflects the public view
on the deterrent effect of the death penalty. According to a poll of 651
registered voters in New York, 57% feel the death penalty does deter murder, 40%
feel it does not, and 3% had no ...

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