Capital Punishment
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Capital Punishment
The issue of capital punishment for violent criminals in our society has been an area and point of controversy throughout the entire history of the United States of America. Right now a majority of Americans approve of the death penalty and thirty-eight states plus the federal government allow it. There are two sides that are torn between the death penalty in our country. One side says that it is unconstitutional and prohibited under the eighth amendment, which states "excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
The other side indicates that it is a way to deter would-be criminals and a proper way to dispose of those who have committed capital crimes against others or against their country. Criminologists have never established a direct relationship between the death penalty and the murder rate. Studies have shown no unusual increase in murders when capital punishment is abolished.
In the 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case Furman v...