Abstract The United States is one of the 58 countries that still practice capital punishment. Thirty-eight out of the fifty states in the US still have the death penalty incorporated in their legal systems. In the past, the death penalty has been criticized on a number of grounds. Indeed, the United Nations has constantly called on nations to abolish the same, and replace it with life imprisonment. Protests against the death penalty have been a common phenomenon in the United States. These, coupled with the significant anti-capital punishment pieces of legislation that have been proposed in the recent past, depict the changing climate, with regard to capital punishment. This text reviews these issues, and evaluates the overall efficiency of the death penalty as a tool for deterring crime.
Criminal Justice: The Death Penalty
Reasons for topic selection
Causes of racial prejudice and discrimination
Juvenile in delinquent society theory
Culture and values
Official and unofficial values
The effectiveness of the death penalty
The death penalty is irreversible
The death penalty is barbaric
Changes to the death sentence
Implemented changes
Sentencing guidelines
Bifurcated trials
Automatic appellate conviction review
Proportionality review
The importance of proposed changes
Anticipated outcome
Life imprisonment; alternative to death sentences
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