Is Capital Punishment on its Way Out?

Executions or death sentences are being increasingly opposed by many. But it is still the
ultimate punishment meted out in democracies including India and America.
One kind of punishment that continues to take up much space in legal transcripts is capital
punishment or death sentence. The very mention of such a punishment sends shivers down
the spine, though those sentenced are brutal criminals who snuffed out the lives of innocent
people.
Capital Punishment in a Civilized World
Capital punishments are as old as civilization itself, though the brutality of the killing
techniques have changed or become more humane. The death penalty, though questioned
by some sections of society, was never considered to be barbaric or cruel, till recent times
where the outrage against this form of punishment led many nations of the world to ban it,
particularly in Europe.
owever, capital punishment is still common since the ma!ority of the population of the
world lives in countries that allow e"ecutions such as #ndia, China, #ndonesia and $%&.
These nations have also voted against the resolutions of the 'eneral &ssembly in the $nited
(ations that called for a universal freeze on e"ecutions and eventual abolition. )ut the
antipathy towards e"ecution is still there. Even in #ran, which features the highest number
of death sentences in the world after China, there now seems to be a trend of relatives of
murder victims pardoning murderers at the gallows.
Capital Punishment in the US
Capital punishment is legal *+ states in the $% and illegal in ,- states .and /C0. The Eighth
&mendment regulates the application of the death sentence, and is reserved for aggravated
murders that are committed by adults who are not mentally challenged. The %upreme Court
recently reduced the scope of e"ecutions that can be allowed. #t ruled that a 12 #3 score
was not a convincing standard to determine if an inmate had the intelligence for defending
himself or accepting responsibility for actions.
& recent poll by &)C and 4ashington 5ost also revealed that more &mericans are against
capital punishment than earlier. $p to 627 of those surveyed supported the death penalty,
though that was a significant reduction from the -27 +2 years ago in ,889. The %upreme
Court had also prevented capital punishment from being meted out to some rapists, !uvenile
offenders and insane inmates, which shows a trend of gradual withdrawal from death
penalty. :rom the peak of 8- e"ecutions in ,888, +2,* only saw *8 e"ecutions in &merica.
Flawed Lethal Injection !ecutions
&nd there is another factor contributing to this too ; the recent issues some states are
facing with lethal in!ections that are not performing their role in the way e"pected. #nstead
of killing instantly, the modern lethal in!ection drugs put the inmate through apparent
physical agony before death, taking away the humane factor. European manufacturers have
stopped supplying the conventional e"ecution drugs, causing states to turn to alternatives
that aren<t as effective. This has caused e"ecutions to be stayed.
The origin of capital punishment in the $nited %tates dates back to the &merican colonies
under )ritish rule, before the /eclaration of #ndependence. Capital punishment was the
penalty under the English common law for various kinds of felonies. 4hile the e"ecution
methods and crimes for which the death penalty was administered have changed through
the centuries, lethal in!ection has been the most preferred method since ,816.
owever, according to a recent report, the state of Tennessee has found a way around the
controversies around lethal in!ection drugs and is bringing back the electric chair.
"eath Penalty rrors Cannot #e $eversed
The other unsettling matter with capital punishment is that flawed convictions, which are
irreversible. The most famous e"amples of these were in England in the early ,8=2s when
4elshman Timothy >ohn Evans was innocently e"ecuted for the murder of his wife and
child. >ohn Christie, who witnessed against Evans, confessed to the murder much later,
after the e"ecution had taken place. #n ,8=*, /erek )entley, with #3 levels close to 12,
was falsely convicted and e"ecuted for a murder that was technically committed by his
accomplice. Evans and )entley were posthumously pardoned.
&ccording to an article in %ime &a'azine, new research has found that almost 97 of $.%.
capital punishment sentences are wrongful convictions, meaning that around ,+2 of
the roughly *,222 inmates on death row in &merica are not guilty.
It (eeds to )o
The appellate process in the $.%. has developed to a point where the $.%. %upreme Court
grants appellants a number of protections. The aim of these protections are intended to
ensure access to trial transcripts, the right to counsel, and the right to be free from
government retaliation for successful appeals.
$ltimately, there are more reasons to speak against capital punishment than for it. 4e
aren<t living in the times of the :rench ?evolution where members of the aristocracy were
simply guillotined, but whatever be the mode of killing, the death sentence seems to be out@
of@place in a world where feelings and humaneness are as important as setting the record
straight. Aany &mericans look forward to the time when law firms and courts would not
have to utter the words, Bcapital punishmentC or Bdeath sentenceC.