Against Capital Punishment

            
             In American society, the threat of capital .
             punishment stands as the ultimate sentence for a .
             The moral ramifications of the taking .
             of another life, whether it be by murder or as .
             legally accepted punishment, remains an unresolved .
             conflict between Americans. Despite the fact that .
             capital punishment, otherwise known as the "death .
             penalty", is legal in only a handful of countries .
             in the world, the majority of Americans regard it .
             as acceptable retribution. In the 1981 Gallup .
             Poll, two-thirds of Americans voiced general .
             approval of capital punishment. By 1994, the same .
             poll concluded that a tremendous 80% of Americans .
             approved of capital punishment (Moore, 1994:5). It .
             is no wonder that many of our countries leaders .
             endorse the death penalty. The former Speaker of .
             the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, .
             believes that mass executions of "27 or 30 or 35 .
             people at a time" would be effective in the .
             reduction of the importation of illegal drugs in .
             to America (Taylor, 1995). In 1972, capital .
             punishment was eradicated in the United States .
             when the Supreme Court declared that under then .
             existing laws "imposition and carrying out of the .
             death penalty. constitutes cruel and unusual .
             punishment in violation of the 8th and 14th .
             amendments." (Fruman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238). .
             This decision, however, was repealed in 1976 by .
             the Supreme Court. Advocates of capital .
             punishment claim that it is an effective deterrent .
             against crime and that it is morally just. The .
             statistics, however, point the opposite direction, .
             indicating that capital punishment has little to .
             no effect on the occurrence of crime and is a .
             profoundly discriminatory and a morally .
             conflicting practice. .
             Americans are intimately concerned with crime .
             rates and the safety within their communities. The .
             most widely cited argument for the death penalty .
             is the claim that it is an effective deterrent .
             against the criminal act of murder. The argument .