Penalty
...as, "the pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person." This type of punishment has been around since the United States itself was created and throughout its history there have been many debates over its constitutionality of it, but more importantly over its morality. The death penalty was used throughout the United States until 1972 when the United States Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional. The use of this punishment peaked in the 1930's during the Great Depression, but then the numbers of people executed dropped sharply in the 1950's and 1960's. There were no executions between the years of 1967 and 1976. Although the unconstitutional ruling of the death penalty saved the lives of hundreds on death row, who were sent back to prison, this ruling only lasted until 1976 when it was unfortunately reinstated by another Supreme Court. The majority of European countries have abolished the death penalty in the past fifty years. It is mostly America, Asian countries and totalitarian governments who still enforce it as a punishment. In some places around the world it can be used as a punishment for crimes other than murder, including cowardice, desertion, insubordination and mutiny. After a recent execution, in December of 2005, public opinion on this issue was raised once again and an ongoing battle of whether it is moral or not has continued. Although Aristotle never specifically stated an opinion on the death penalty, yet it can be assumed through his beliefs in other things that he believed it was ethically justifiable when used in certain circumstances. The way in which Aristotle viewed the use of capital punishment for the criminal offense of murder, is no longer supported by the majority of American society. Currently many Americans support the use of the...
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