The Death Penalty
By: Chloe Edwards
What is the Death Penalty? Who has control over it?
~ "The death penalty in the United States is primarily governed by state law, not federal law. Although there is a federal death penalty, more than 98 percent of the men and women on death rows across the United States are incarcerated as a result of state laws."
The Death Penalty's Assertion. Should the Federal government or State Government have control?
~It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of offenses. Even the bible advocates death for murder and other crimes like kidnapping and
witchcraft.
~In my opinion I believe that the split power is fine how it is because a mass murder could have taken place in a state so it is up to the state to handle that murder because the Federal Government has a lot on their hands already. Just like if The United States went under a terrorist attack and we caught the attackers it would be up to the Federal Government to take action because they were a threat to the entire nation not just one state.
31 Sates with Death Penalty
19 States without the Death Penalty
States with the most executions
States such as Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, and Arizona execute convicted murderers with relative frequency. Texas has performed the most executions by far, and Oklahoma has had (through mid-2011) the highest per capita execution rate. Alabama has the highest per capita rate of prisoners on death row in the US. However, a number of states have abolished the death penalty. No other Western country still uses the death penalty except for the United States.
Governments authority of use of The Death Penalty.
State Government- The death penalty may be imposed for "first-degree" or "capital" murder, and then define what that crime is. Most death penalty laws define the crimes and then require the presence of one or more "aggravating" factors or circumstances before the death sentence may be ordered. The execution way also varies per-state for example in the state of Alabama we use lethal injection unless the inmate request electrocution
Political Party Views on The Death Penalty.
~Republican- Republicans support the death penalty. Much of this support is to help victims of violent crimes.They also believe that the death penalty deters future crimes, stating “We agree that the best way to deter crime is to enforce existing laws and hand down tough penalties against anyone who commits a crime with a gun.” While many Democrats oppose the death penalty because they don’t believe that it helps prevent crimes, Republicans argue that stricter punishments are, indeed, a deterrent.