An Analysis of the Death Penalty and its Impact on Criminal Justice

This essay examines the death penalty within the context of the American criminal justice system. It begins by defining capital punishment and its historical and contemporary significance, including its use in the United States. The essay delves into arguments both for and against the death penalty, considering viewpoints from religious, ethical, and legal perspectives. It explores the public perception of the death penalty and its relationship with crime rates, examining data and statistics to support the arguments. Additionally, the essay considers the potential for executing innocent individuals and the moral and ethical implications of the death penalty. The essay concludes by summarizing the complex issues surrounding capital punishment and its impact on society.

Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
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Author Note

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Capital punishment
The term capital punishment or death penalty can be defined as the execution of a person for
committing a crime by a practice sanctioned by the Government. Death penalty has been in
agreement with the teachings of the Old Testament of the Bible where it has been argued that the
death penalty is created by the God. In Christianity arguments both for and against the death
penalty are seen to be present (Lytle & ten Bensel, 2016).
In the United States of America capital punishment can be seen as a legal penalty that is used
currently by 29 states, the Federal Government and the military. United States can be seen as one
of the 54 countries in the entire world which uses death penalty as sentencing for crimes. In the
last 20 years both the number of execution and the support of the public for the death penalty
was seen to be in decline (Sarat, 2018). However there has been an increase in the support for the
death penalty in the recent years. This has been the case because of increase of crime rates and
murder rates in the USA. In the United States public are seen to be harbouring punitive views
towards the criminals and the crime. Various researchers have made arguments against the
harsher punishments of the American criminal justice system. The majority of the public can be
seen to agree with the sentence of the death penalty because they have been manipulated by the
media and the politicians for a long time to make them believe that most of the crimes are violent
and dangerous. And these violent and dangerous crimes could only be deterred by way of
tougher policies and punishments (Bohm, 2016).
According to the majority of the scientists it has been agreed the death penalty has no deterrent
effect towards crime and criminals. It is seen in various researches that the states where there is
no death penalty still have significantly lower murder rates than those States where there are
capital punishment still retained (Kaplan, 2019). It is also been argued that death penalty violates
the basic human right to life. Every person has a right to life regardless of their caste, creed,
colour, race or any other factor. Even the criminals are seen to be having the right to life. Death
penalty also goes against the moral and ethical values. In the death penalty there is always a risk
for the execution of an innocent person. Further according to the American Civil liberties Union
it is believed that the capital punishment is in violation of the Ban against any cruel or unusual

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punishment and the guarantee of due process and equal protection of everyone under the
provisions of law granted by the United States constitution.

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Reference
Bohm, R. M. (2016). Deathquest: An introduction to the theory and practice of capital
punishment in the United States. Routledge.
Kaplan, P. (2019). Capital Punishment. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and
Criminal Justice.
Lytle, R., & ten Bensel, T. (2016). Are self-identified Christian fundamentalists really more
supportive of capital punishment? Exploring the relationship between fundamentalism
and death penalty attitudes. Criminal Justice Studies, 29(4), 309-324.
Sarat, A. (2018). When the state kills: Capital punishment and the American condition. Princeton
University Press.