Death Penalty in the U.S.: Crimes, Race, and Alternatives

Introduction: Which Crimes Carry the Death Penalty?

Usually only the most severe crimes are punished by death. However, the definition of "severe" varies with historical period, national culture, and economic context. People also view this issue very differently depending on their personal values and character.

For instance, "the Governor of Massachusetts has announced his intention to restore the death penalty. He has set up a commission to devise legislation that would guard against any possibility of executing an innocent defendant. He would recommend capital punishment for only three types of crime: those associated with terrorism; those involving the killing of police officers, prosecutors, judges, or trial witnesses; and 'heinous' crimes, defined as multiple killings or murders done with extreme brutality." (The Fight to Kill)

Countries commonly apply this penalty for extremely serious civil crimes — such as first-degree murder or multiple killings — as well as for political crimes or terrorism.

The International Community's Stance on Capital Punishment

The international community does not, in its majority, support the death penalty. Several international treaties, culminating in those under the authority of the United Nations, prohibit the application of capital punishment. Nevertheless, a number of countries continue to pronounce death sentences — the United States and China among them. (It is worth noting the irony that the U.S. often criticizes China for not respecting human rights.)

"According to the latest available data issued by Amnesty International, more than half of the world's states have abolished the death penalty. A total of 112 countries have stopped applying the death penalty, in law or practice." (Use of the Death Penalty Worldwide)

Some states prohibit the death sentence for particular crimes or for all crimes entirely. "Out of these, seventy-six countries and territories have abolished the death penalty for all crimes; sixteen have abolished the death penalty for all but exceptional crimes, such as wartime crimes; and twenty countries can be considered abolitionist in practice. They retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out executions for the past ten years or more and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions. Eighty-three other countries retain and use the death penalty, but the number of countries that actually execute prisoners is much smaller." (Use of the Death Penalty Worldwide)

As for the situation in the United States: "From 1976, when the United States Supreme Court allowed the reinstatement of the death penalty after a four-year moratorium, to the end of last year, 820 people have been executed in this country. (Some 3,700 others are on death row, waiting to be executed.) Only three nations — China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia — are known to have executed more people than the United States did in 2001, the most recent year for which global comparisons are available. And 2001 was actually a slow year for executions in this country: the number of people executed — sixty-six — was the lowest since 1996." (Moral Justice)

Is the Death Penalty an Effective Deterrent?

The use of the death sentence is not widely regarded as an effective deterrent. The persistence of violent crime and the high costs of applying this penalty are solid arguments against its utility, not to mention the moral and religious dimensions of the issue. "But use of the most severe sanction is not without controversy. Opponents rightly question its moral soundness and the uneven way it is applied. A small number of states, led by Texas, account for the bulk of executions. A fresh round of debate was touched off by passage, in 1996, of a federal law that restricts a condemned person's ability to file habeas corpus appeals." (Death Penalty Vigil)

The position of religious institutions is clear on this matter. "The best way to resolve the controversy would be to put this form of punishment on the shelf of history, as most other modern democracies have. State-sanctioned killing is at odds with the need to reduce the level of violence in society. Its value as a deterrent is, at best, questionable. And it is irreversible should evidence of innocence later emerge." (Death Penalty Vigil)

Civil society voices are even more critical. "The death penalty is not an effective deterrent and, in fact, creates an atmosphere that encourages and fosters violence. Studies comparing homicide rates in death penalty states with those in other states show that the death penalty does not lower the murder rate. And the number of police, prison guards, and inmates killed is higher in death penalty states. We continue to have shockingly higher rates of murder than do Western European nations, none of which practice capital punishment." ("Not in My Name")