Early Death Penalty Laws Essay

The death penalty laws were started way back in the eighteenth century B. C. under the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which covered the death penalty for approximately 25 different offenses or crimes. In the Fourteenth Century B. C. of the Hittite Code, the Fifth Century B. C of Roman law of the Twelve Tablets and the Seventh Century B. C. of the Draconian Code of Athens used death penalty as a part of their laws and made capital punishment as the sole punishment for every crime committed. During those times, death penalties were executed through drowning, beating to death, crucifixion, burning alive and impalement. Moreover, during the Tenth Century A. D. in Britain, the common method of executing the accused was through hanging. A century later, William the Conqueror would not like to see and permit any convict to be hanged or else executed for any offense except during times of war. But this trend did not last because during the reign of Henry VIII in the Sixteenth Century, there were approximately 72,000 convicts that were executed. The methods used in the execution during his reign were burning at the stake, hanging, boiling, beheading, quartering and drowning. In addition, in the following two centuries, the rate of capital offenses continued to go up in Britain. During the 17th century, there were about 222 crimes were sentenced by death penalty in Britain which included cutting down a tree, stealing and stealing a rabbit warren. And due to drastic punishment of death, several juries would not easily convict a defendant if the case committed was not really serious. This action had brought changed in the death penalty of Britain. Since 1823 up to 1837, the capital punishment was abolished for over 100 of the 222 offenses sentenced to death. Furthermore, Britain had influenced the United States of America to practice death penalty compared to any other country. As the time European colonizers arrived in the new world, they brought with them the practice of death penalty. The first man ever recorded and received such punishment in 1603 under the new colonies was Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia. Captain George Kendall was sentenced to death because he was a spy of Spain. Four years later, Sir Thomas Dale (a governor from Virginia) decreed the Devine, Moral and Martial Laws which used death penalty even for minor crimes like killing chickens, trading with Indians and stealing grapes. Laws which regard to capital punishment depend from colony to colony. The first execution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony happened in 1630 although the Capital Laws of New York Colony instituted the Laws of Duke of 1665. In these laws mentioned, crimes like denying the â€Å"true God† and striking individual’s father or mother were sentenced to death (see â€Å"Early Death Penalty Laws†. History of the Death Penalty, p. 1). In addition, the chart below records the practice of death penalty in United States of America in the past four centuries. The chart emphasizes the gradual rate growth of death penalty during seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the middle of 1930s, there were approximately 200 executions happened every year and between 1967 and 1977, there was succeeding regression in practice and a suspension on executions. The statistics utilized in the chart were compiled from M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smylka’s database â€Å"Executions in the U. S. 1608-1987: The Espy File. † (See â€Å"Executions in the U. S. 1608-1978: The Espy File. DPIC, 2006). C. Different methods used to execute people There are many ways on how to execute death penalty as mentioned in the earlier discussion. But then again, there are seven principal methods of execution that are presently use globally and these are the hanging, firing squad, lethal injection, stoning, poison gas, guillotine, and electric chair. c. 1 Hanging If this method handled properly, this would be considered as humane method. The neck is intentionally broken and then, death quickly comes. Nonetheless, if the fall is insufficient, the convict will slowly choke to death. If it is excessively great, the rope has the tendency to slit the convict’s head (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 2 Firing Squad The convict is tied and shot in the heart using several marksmen. Death is expectedly to be fast and of all of the states in the United States of America, only the Utah practiced such method. In March 15, 2004, the method was abolished by other states and chose to have lethal injection instead, but with the exception of the four convicted murderers on death rows that were sentenced to death through firing squad (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 3 Lethal Injection This kind of method is the most â€Å"convenient† execution of death penalty. While the convict is lying on the table, the lethal drugs are injected to him/her. Normally, sodium pentothal is injected to cause unconsciousness to the convict. After that, pancuronium bromide is injected. This drug stops breathing and paralyzes the convict. Then lastly, potassium chloride is injected to end the circulation of the heart. If this method is properly performed, the convict easily becomes unconscious. But if the dosage is extremely slow, the person may possibly experience paralysis. This kind of method is practiced by most states in the United States of America (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 4 Stoning The convict is frequently buried up to his neck and bombarded with rocks till the convict will finally die. Rocks are used for this method because they are big enough to initiate fatal injury to the convict but even one rock can already cause death to the convict. This method is absolutely not practiced in all states of United States of America but is actually practiced in several Muslim countries as a punishment for adultery, murder, blasphemy and other offenses (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 5 Poison Gas Cyanide is dropped into acid which produce Hydrogen Cyanide. It is a deadly gas. It would take several minutes of anguish and pain before the convict dies (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 6 Guillotine This was recognized and eminent French invention and not practiced in North America. It cuts the neck and death comes very fast (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org). c. 7 Electric chair This is the only method of death execution that not a single person knows how fast the convict dies from the electric shock or what the individual is experiencing. The ACLU explains two incidents where convicts obviously lived for 4 up to 10 minutes before they will die (see â€Å"Methods used to execute people†. Facts about capital punishment: Part 1: Data and Trends. Religious Tolerance. org).