The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

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The first death penalty laws were established in the eighteenth century making it so you could only be hanged for murder. The first recorded death penalty that took place was in 1608, it was Captain George Kendall. This execution took place in the new colonies, he was put to death because he was suspected of spying for Spain he was executed by a firing squad. Capital Punishment has not been proven to deter crime and opens the possibility of executing innocent people; finally, the Death Penalty/Capital Punishment can cause 2nd hand trauma to the victim and their family. Capital Punishment violates the 8th amendment, it is labeled as cruel and unusual punishment. Capital punishment also violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection, by putting you in a building where anything can happen for the time being. Capital punishment does not protect the felon but only the victim and the citizens. The felon would be more protected in prison or jail rather than Death Row. After the fact of the felony, all the felons rights are stripped away.
Capital punishment also opens the possibility of careless executions. On December 13, 2006, Angel Nieves Diaz was the victim of a careless execution, so terrible that it led Florida’s Republican Governor and death penalty enthusiast Jeb Bush to issue an executive order halting executions in the state.(“Six Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”). The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty (NCADP) stated in an article titled