Is the death penalty cruel and unusual?
Yes.
Side Score: 5
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No.
Side Score: 12
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1
point
Not everyone receives the same life. If you are in a maximum security prison, you aren't really living. If you are criminally insane, you are living even less. If you have locked-in syndrome, you are living even less. You are literally a bag of meat keeping you and 1 trillion other organisms alive. Do you support euthanasia or suicide in general? Side: No.
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3
points
When I looked up "cruel and unusual punishment" I couldn't find a universal definition. I ended the best definition I could find defined cruel and unusual punishment as "any punishment that is clearly inhumane or that violates basic human dignity" (http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/cruel-and-unusual-punishment.html). From this it would be up to a judge that deals with this sort of stuff. I believe the supreme court has ruled that the death penalty isn't necessarily cruel and usual punishment, but it can be depending on the method chosen to end the convict's life. I think the supreme court ruling on Baze vs Rees did a good job on setting a standard. I'll copy and paste what they have said you you can see it for yourself (and for any other users as well).
Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justice Kennedy and Justice Alito, concluded that Kentucky’s lethal injection protocol satisfies the Eighth Amendment . Pp. 8–24. 1. To constitute cruel and unusual punishment, an execution method must present a “substantial” or “objectively intolerable” risk of serious harm. A State’s refusal to adopt proffered alternative procedures may violate the Eighth Amendment only where the alternative procedure is feasible, readily implemented, and in fact significantly reduces a substantial risk of severe pain. Pp. 8–14. (a) This Court has upheld capital punishment as constitutional. See Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153 . Because some risk of pain is inherent in even the most humane execution method, if only from the prospect of error in following the required procedure, the Constitution does not demand the avoidance of all risk of pain. Petitioners contend that the Eighth Amendment prohibits procedures that create an “unnecessary risk” of pain, while Kentucky urges the Court to approve the “ ‘substantial risk’ ” test used below. Pp. 8–9. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES BAZE et al. v. REES, COMMISSIONER, KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, et al. certiorari to the supreme court of kentucky No. 07–5439. Argued January 7, 2008—Decided April 16, 2008 Basically, if you read all that, there was a ruling on whether lethal injection constituted as cruel and unusual punishment. The court voted and decided that lethal injection isn't cruel and unusual. The death penalty is only applicable to capital offenses. I guess my stance is that no it isn't cruel and unusual as long as the method of execution is humane and agreeable to society. Also here is the link to the ruling in Baze vs Rees (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/ Side: No.
Lethal injection is more painful than hanging (doesn't have to be hanging, just anything that causes full atlantoaxial dislocation). A properly built machine could easily achieve 99%+ success rate. In fact, there a lot of better ways to kill a person than lethal injection. There is literally no pain or delay with "hangings". Quick and painless. Also. What is probably most cruel and unusual is telling the person when he will die. Side: Yes.
1
point
It has to be agreeable to society. Hanging seems to resemble atrocity, at least in my opinion it does. As the judge stated society has to be accepting towards the method. So hanging may not be all too well. What is probably most cruel and unusual is telling the person when he will die. I don't think so. If a person makes the decision to slaughter hundreds of people the person must know the consequences. Telling someone their punishment is something that person has brought upon themselves. I still side with the court ruling for attempting to set a standard for methods of execution. Side: No.
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