Is the Death Penalty Unconstitutional?


Some argue "Absolutely" and others "Absolutely Not". In my research I could not find a definite answer. I believe this topic is far more complicated than the black and white thinking, this falls in the gray area. An example the Fifth Amendment, which the Court believes strongly implies that the Framers did not intend to prevent the use of capital punishment. The 5th Amendment guarantees that no one shall be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." One could argue that the court is not depriving one of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. That the person themselves did that when they committed the punishable crime. You could also argue that the criminal was given a fair due process of law, which resulted in a sentence to death. "Supporters of the death penalty, however, assert that there are some crimes which are such an affront to human decency and to the norms of society that an individual who commits them surrenders his or her right to live." 


This brings us to the 14th Amendment: Rights Guaranteed Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection. The equal application of the law. People are making the argument that this amendment is being broken by the unfair application of the death penalty. Two people can commit the same crime and their fate lies in the hands of the prosecutor not the law. 

 The eighth amendment:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
People argue that the lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. They maintain the opinion that evil should not be returned with state-sanctioned evil. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.-Mahatma Gandhi

"Others argue that we can never be 100% confident in the accuracy of trial verdicts and that persons should not be put to death even if their is the slightest chance they may be innocent."

In this nation's ongoing effort to strike the appropriate balance between liberty and order, the death penalty forces each of us to consider fundamental questions about nature of political society, the rights and responsibilities of individuals and the extent of governmental power.