Death Penalty in California Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Death Penalty in California - Essay Example The executions also included convictions for piracy, rape, rioting, kidnapping, spying and espionage. The death penalties were also executed by the State Government laws. However, in 1972, the United States Supreme Court upheld that all the state death penalty laws were not in accordance with the constitution since they permitted for random and unpredictable adoptions. (The Federal Death Penalty) Since the federal statute has similar weaknesses as that of the state laws, no death sentence adopting the older federal statutes has been upheld. During the year 1988, the new Federal Death Penalty law was passed for murder in the course of a drug-kingpin conspiracy. This statute has been formulated in consonance with the statutes approved by the Supreme Court after its 1972 ruling. During the year 1994 the federal death penalty was expanded to include about 60 different crimes. The federal death penalty statute has the jurisdiction over any individual in any state or territory of the US convicted of the murder of certain government officials, kidnapping giving rise to death, murder for hire, fatal drive by shootings, sexual abuse crimes giving rise to death, car jacking resulting in death and also some crimes not ending with death such as managing a rampant drug business. (The Federal Death Penalty) In California 13 persons have ... It is also noted that the above 648 prisoners on Death Row include 15 women. It has been observed that in the recent years at least three innocent persons on Death Row were exonerated in California. Jerry Bigelow was set free in the year 1988 after the imprisonment for eight years; Patrick Croy was set free in the year 1990 after the imprisonment for 11 years and Troy Lee Jones was set free in the year 1996 after serving 14 years. (State by State: California) The statistics on death row inmates in different states reveal that Texas, North Carolina and Florida all are having large numbers but in California the number of death row inmates is highest. In California it has been found that imposition of death penalty has been negatively correlated to the richness. The more money the convicted have the more is the opportunity to beat the rap. Taking into the consideration the eleven sentences since the year 1970, it can be presumed that the 640 prisoners on death row most likely have deaths of natural causes costing the tax payers in terms of appeals etc to the tune of 100 millions. Moreover, trusting the government to kill people seems ambiguous since it involves trusting them with not making errors in killing the innocent people. (California: Highest Number of Death Row Inmates) The death penalty in California like that of other states is considered to be costlier in comparison to a life imprisonment sentence without the scope of parole. Such costs have been seen not to be the consequences of the frolicsome appeals but instead the consequence of the Constitutional safeguards. It has been provided that Juries must be accorded clear principles on sentencing that give rise to the explicit provisions for what forms the frustrating and extenuating situations. The