Jones 1

Amory Jones

Emilee Durand

Section 0404

The Execution Justification

A year ago on the news, I remember hearing a story about how so many executions were

put on hold also known as stay due to the fact that the lethal injections were not working fully.

This would cause the inmates to vomit, suffocate, wheeze, and shake until they finally died

instead of the almost instant death the injection should have resulted in. Capital punishment,

which is also known as the death penalty has been used in the U.S. since 1608. Between 1977

and 2016, 1,436 people have been executed in the U.S. (DPIC). This number is extensive

considering that 1 in 25 people sentenced to death are innocent(Levy, Para.1). This is a large

uncertainty considering that about 50 innocent lives were killed between 1977 and 2016.

What are the various flaws and biases within the process that affects the legitimacy of the

death penalty ruling?

Capital punishment is still used in 31 states judicial systems within the United States as

well as the federal governments judicial system. The Death Penalty Information Center is a

national non-profit organization serving the media and the public with analysis and information

on issues concerning capital punishment. This organization gives strictly annual reports and

statistics to promote informed conversations. The most common method used for the execution

is the lethal injection; but states also use electrocution (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky,

South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia), gas inhalation(Arizona and

California, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Wyoming), firing squad (Utah, Oklahoma, and
 Jones 2

Mississippi), and hanging (Washington and New Hampshire) (DPIC). With each method added

over the years, the promise of a safer, more efficient, and humane execution process was created

yet failed(DPIC, para.2). The only method of execution that has not had complications is the

firing squad; lethal injections has a 7.12% complication rate with gas inhalation following

closely behind with a 5.4% complication rate(DPIC). This is a major concern for not only those

who are getting executed but also for the families of the inmates. In addition to these concerns,

the legal problems for the government when these complications happen. If the execution does

not work, are the inmates and their families allowed to sue?

In most cases, those who are convicted often focus on the prosecutor, where one is tried,

the judge, and the defense attorneys. The other aspect that seems to be left out is how much the

court takes the mental health testimony into play. In the article Death Penalty, Dangerousness,

Psychiatric Testimony, and Professional Ethics, George E. Dix evaluates the use of the

psychiatric evaluation by briefing the Earnest Benjamin Smith Jr case. Dix stresses how the

mental health testimony is misused and how critical it is in death penalty sentencing specifically

in the state of Texas for this case. During this time several previous verdicts within Texas

weighed heavily on the mental health professionals testimony. In the article, Dix further

explains how in this case in particular, the psychiatrist's testimony hurt the defendant's case

severely and did not do a good job of fully explaining the mental well-being of the defendant.

The psychiatrist said that from his evaluation he diagnosed the defendant as a severe sociopath

and that it will only get worse due to the fact that he showed no remorse for his crime or any

possible future crimes. Dix exposes the unprofessionalism within this testimony and hoped to

find a solution to the traditional reluctance on the part of the courts and lawyers. Dix argues

the importance of a proper and unbiased psychiatric evaluation that no longer determines the
 Jones 3

level of dangerousness the defendant is to society. Should a society allow one persons first

impression of someone from a 90-minute evaluation have so much power over whether they live

or die?

Although Dix argues the misuse and unprofessionalism of the psychiatrist's evaluation

and testimony is the problem, in the article Growth and Maturation in Psychology and Law,

Diamond believes the problem relies on the biases of the jurors who make the verdicts. Diamond

further explains that through the study they have proven that jurors who have similarities or

connections with the defendants are often more sympathetic. Her belief through this psychiatric

discovery also created the partnership between many psychologists and attorneys to team up to

better help their cases. This article exposes how there are so many variables that go into picking

jurors for this purpose such as the defendants socioeconomic background, sex, race, character,

and criminal status. With this variable in mind as the combination of an attorney and psychiatrist

find jurors, they can possibly get a guilty person off or get an innocent person executed. Similar

to Diamonds article, John Barners article, "Life or Death Decision Making: Qualitative

Analysis of Death Penalty Jurors" discusses his interviews with former jurors who express their

significant degree of confusion when it came to their level of involvement in the actual

sentencing along with the facts presented. Barner further explains that this level of confusion

questions both the constitutionality of the death penalty and its compliance with legal

precedent. These are the two most important points when it comes to the ethics of an actual

sentencing and execution of a death sentence. If the jurors, the people who have the final say so

are confused on their purpose, why use the juror system to decide whether a person deserves to

live?
 Jones 4

Even though it can be misused, a unique feature to our democratic judicial system is our

use of a jury. The founding fathers believed that the right to be tried by a jury of your peers was

so important that it is guaranteed to all citizens. Amendments 6 and 7 of the Bill of Rights

contain this right: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy

and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been

committed, The National Judicial College, the nations premier judicial education institution,

expresses how a jury trial prevents the government having a say over the verdict as well as

provide the voice of common sense and the perspective of the citizen to our developing body of

law.

The death penalty has multiple complex parts to its process from start to finish. Within

each of those parts, there is its own set of even more complicated issues and scenarios. Whether

it is the methods at use, the dependency of the testimonies, or the amount of pressure and

reliance of the jury there are a lot of complicated parts. The death penalty was created to punish

those who commit the worst of crimes and bring some sort of justice to the victims of said

crimes. However, until the issues and the complexities of the death penalty are evaluated and

fixed who is to say those convicted under the death penalty aren't becoming the victims.
 Jones 5

Work Cited

Dix, George E. "Death Penalty, Dangerousness, Psychiatric Testimony, and Professional Ethics."

American Journal of Criminal Law 5.2 (1977): 151-214

Diamond, Shari Seidman. Growth and Maturation in Psychology and Law. Law & Society

Review, vol. 17, no. 1, 1982, pp. 1120. JSTOR. www.jstor.org/stable/3053530.

Barner, John Robert. "Life or Death Decision Making: Qualitative Analysis of Death Penalty

Jurors." Qualitative Social Work, vol. 13, no. 6, Nov. 2014, pp. 842-858. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/1473325013507304.

Levy, Pema. One In 25 Sentenced to Death In the U.S. is Innocent, Study Claims. Newsweek.

28 April. 2017, http://www.newsweek.com/one-25-executed-us-innocent-study-claims-

248889

O. Roeder, L. Eisen, and J. Bowling, "What Caused the Crime Decline?," Brennan Center for

Justice, February 12, 2015; DPIC posted Mar. 2, 2015

 Jones 6

Bibliography

Carmichael, Casey. "Capital Punishment Is Morally Justified." Ethics of Capital Punishment

(2011). 12 Oct 2017.

Barner, John Robert. "Life or Death Decision Making: Qualitative Analysis of Death Penalty

Jurors." Qualitative Social Work, vol. 13, no. 6, Nov. 2014, pp. 842-858. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/1473325013507304.

Diamond, Shari Seidman. Growth and Maturation in Psychology and Law. Law & Society

Review, vol. 17, no. 1, 1982, pp. 1120. JSTOR. www.jstor.org/stable/3053530.

Dix, George E. "Death Penalty, Dangerousness, Psychiatric Testimony, and Professional Ethics."

American Journal of Criminal Law 5.2 (1977): 151-214

Levy, Pema. One In 25 Sentenced to Death In the U.S. is Innocent, Study Claims. Newsweek.

28 April. 2017, http://www.newsweek.com/one-25-executed-us-innocent-study-claims-

248889

O. Roeder, L. Eisen, and J. Bowling, "What Caused the Crime Decline?," Brennan Center for

Justice, February 12, 2015; DPIC posted Mar. 2, 2015