Capital punishment

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, refers to the custom of executing prisoners who are convicted of certain crimes.

Capital Punishment in the world today

This method of punishment is banned in all developed countries with the exception of the United States, and Japan. It is also practiced in most Shari'a states (those whose legal systems are based on the Muslim legal philosophy), as well as many other countries which are not yet considered to be developed.

Though the United States suspended the death penalty in 1973, it was reinstated in 1977. 65% of Americans believe putting someone to death for a crime is acceptable, according to a recent poll. But respondents were close to evenly split on whether they would prefer the death penalty (50%) to mandatory life in prison (46%). The death penalty is most favored by older, white, Republican males.

Biblical View

The Old Testament of the Bible has several passages the recommend the death penalty for different offenses.

According to the Bible, these are the offenses which merit the death penalty:

1. Murder (Exodus 21:12, 21:15)
2. Kidnapping (Exodus 21:16)
3. Disobedience to Parents (Exodus 21:17, Deuteronomy 21:18)
4. Beastiality (Leviticus 20:15)
5. Violations of the Sabbath (Exodus 31:15)
6. Adultery (Leviticus 20:10, Leviticus 19:20)
7. Abominations (Leviticus 20:2)
8. Blasphemy (Leviticus 24:16)
9. Incest (Leviticus 20:11)
10. Homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13)
11. Witchcraft (Exodus 22:18, Leviticus 20:27)
12. False Prophecy (Deuteronomy 13:5)
13. Rebellion/Treason (Joshua 1:18)
14. Worshipping a false god (Deuteronomy 13:6-10)
15. Sodomy (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13)
16. Sex with a woman betrothed to another (Deuteronomy 22:25)
17. False witness in a capital crime (Deuteronomy 19:16-20)
18. Daughters of preachers fornicating (Leviticus 21:9)
19. Juvenile delinquency (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
20. Sacrificing to false gods (Exodus 22:20)
21. Disrespecting a judge or priest (Deuteronomy 17:22)
22. Sex with a woman during her period (Leviticus 20:18)
23. Unchastity (Deuteronomy 22:21-24)
24. Cursing someone (Leviticus 24:14)

It would appear, however, that this was repudiated by Jesus: "He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone" is cited as evidence that humans do not have the right to judge another worthy of death. In addition, many Christians find the death penalty repugnant since their Savior was put to death under draconian Roman death penalty laws.

Capital punishment in the United States

Capital punishment in the United States is handled on a state-by-state basis, and several states' laws do not allow for executions. The practice appears to be on the wane, as appeals and stays of execution create a backlog on death row. Pennsylvania has hundreds of people on death row, and only three inmates have been executed since the reinstatement of capital punishment laws. One man has been on death row in Texas for 31 years.

Methods in the United States

Lethal injection is the official method of capital punishment in almost all states that have the death penalty. A few states allow for other methods in some circumstances. Nebraska is the only state of these that does not have lethal injection. Electrocution is the official method of execution there. Several botched electrocutions in Florida in the 1990s have effectively put an end to the era of the electric chair, which was the most common means of execution in the United States before 1972. In addition to these two methods of execution, lethal gas, hanging, and shooting have all been used at least twice since 1977. Both firing squads were conducted in Utah, most recently in 1996. The three hangings took place in Washington and Delaware, most recently Billy Bailey's 1996 hanging in Delaware. The gas chamber, which has been abandoned because it has been found to normally lead to slow, gruesome deaths, has been used in California, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina since 1977. Walter LeGrand's 1999 execution in Arizona's gas chamber will almost certainly be the last of this type.