Discuss capital punishment in the United States—its history, the way that the Supreme Court has viewed it, on whom it may be carried out, and the way that it may be performed

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Capital punishment has existed for centuries, with methods fluctuating according to the sensibilities of society. Although capital punishment may appear cruel and unusual to some, the Supreme Court has not held this to be the case. Furman v. Georgia (1972) was the landmark case in which the Supreme Court called for a ban on the death penalty in Georgia, ruling that its law (as it stood) was capricious and, hence, cruel and unusual. In Gregg v. Georgia (1976) the Supreme Court reinstated the Georgia death penalty by sustaining its revised death penalty law.

Issues surrounding which persons can be executed involve the age and mental capacity of the offenders. The Supreme Court has prohibited the execution of the mentally retarded, the mentally ill, and those who committed their capital offense when they were less than 18 years of age.

The United States currently uses several methods of execution, including hanging, firing squad, electrocution, the gas chamber, and lethal injection (the most commonly used method).