Miscarriages of Justice and the Death Penalty, Essay Example

The death penalty is highly controversial and extremely interesting topics. There are so many different avenues that need to be understood in order to be able to argue whether the death penalty is right or wrong. Knowing the history behind the death penalties as well as the various methods is important. Considering the challenges to the legalities of capital punishment and the economic cost are also important factors as well. There were definitely more interesting factors of the death penalty, and some that were not interesting at all.

The topics I found most interesting during this course was the history behind the death penalty, the methods of execution, miscarriages of justice and the death penalty, capital punishment and the supreme court. Dating the death penalty back to the 1970’s it has came a long way. The methods of execution include lethal injection, electrocution, firing squad, and hanging. Obviously these methods have become more effective and humane as time has progressed. So has the justice system for determining who should serve the death penalty.

The least interesting area for me was the challenge to capital punishments legality, incapacitation, and the economic cost. Knowing how a court decides which crimes or criminals will face the death penalty varies from state to state. There are no set standards or guidelines across the board for what crimes will be punishable by death. Preventing criminals from repeating the same or additional crimes requires their freedom be taken. This can be done by means of incarceration and through the death penalty. There is also a consideration to the economic cost associate with the death penalty versus long term incarceration. If the crime fits within the realms of choosing the death penalty it is an economically desirable to choose the death penalty versus life in jail. This class was a very insightful and I learned a lot I did not know previously about the death penalty.