NCJ Number
75376
Date Published
1978
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the status of capital punishment in the Federal and Michigan constitutions, indicates the prevalence of this sentence, and outlines the major arguments for and against it.
Abstract
While the eighth amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the infliction of cruel and unusual punishment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that capital punishment does not automatically constitute such an infliction. A statement of controlling doctrine has not been agreed upon, but the court's approval of State's death penalty statutes suggests that a death penalty law is valid if it results from a jury trial, if the law allows for aggravating and mitigating factors, and if automatic review in the State's highest appellate court ensues. Michigan was the first State to eliminate capital punishment (in 1846) for all crimes except treason, and the State's 1963 constitution forbids it today. However, 34 States and the Federal jurisdiction presently have death penalty statutes, although some of these are clearly unconstitutional. Among the other countries that have abolished this form of punishment are England, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, and Austria. Proponents of capital punishment argue that it is a deterrent to the commission of certain crimes, that citizens feel safer as long as it exists, and that certain homicidal persons are too dangerous to place in prison. Opponents, however, feel that statistical evidence does not support the deterrence theory, that citizens are satisfied with alternative penalties for serious crimes, that even homicidal persons can be rehabilitated; and that capital punishment discriminates against minorities. Notes are included.