In The Case Of Atkins V. Virginia, Daryl Atkins

The interpretation of the Eighth Amendment has been changed throughout history in terms of who receives the death penalty, why it is applied, and how it is carried out. In the case, Atkins v. Virginia, Daryl Atkins was sentenced to death, but later was found to have a mental deficiency. When taken to a higher court, the defendant used the case Penry v Lynaugh as a precedent which contributed to the final 6-3 decision favoring Atkins. This illustrates that any person that commits a crime that is usually ruled as a death sentence, but has a mental deficiency, cannot be sentenced to death. According to Death Penalty Information Center, in 1998, the number of death sentences was 295, but has dropped to 30 in 2016. This data demonstrates the change

One side of the argument, Legal Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, Kent Scheidegger stated that, “...for some crimes any lesser punishment is inadequate as a matter of basic justice… I believe that an effective, enforced death penalty deters some murders.” On the flip side, Death Penalty Focus, an organization that wants to abolish capital punishment, voiced that, “We believe that the death penalty is ineffective, cruel. It… diverts attention and financial resources away from preventative measures that would actually increase public safety, risks the execution of innocent people, and does not deter crime.” When Kent Scheidegger talks about the death penalty being adequate, he shows how different his view of the human condition is versus the Death Penalty Focus’ view stating that it is ineffective, targeting, and cruel. In the case Gregg v Georgia, Justice William J. Brennan addresses, “In the punishment of death, it treats ‘members of the human race as nonhumans, but instead as objects to be toyed with and discarded.” Though on the other side of the spectrum, in the case Baze v. Rees, Chief Justice John Roberts stated, “Our society has nonetheless steadily moved to more humane methods of carrying out capital punishment.” While Justice Brennan has expressed his belief that the death penalty does violate the 8th amendment, Justice John Roberts

There is only enough of the lethal injection drug to execute 2 inmates in Texas, but there are 317 inmates on death row. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says, “Many states will have to change their method of execution, which means regulatory changes that have to be approved.” The shortage of this drug should show states that the death penalty causes many issues in the justice system. According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, 27 states have death penalty, 20 states without, and 3 states with a Governor-imposed moratorium. Currently the states have their own power to choose and it seems to work out fine, but it still causes conflict in the United States because some people in states with capital punishment don’t agree with it, so they try arguing against the death penalty. On the flip side, people also argue for the death penalty in states without