mcgillianaire (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mcgillianaire) wrote2015-06-29 07:40 am
mcgillianaire) wrote2015-06-29 07:40 am
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29 June 1972: Supreme Court strikes down death penalty
[SOURCE]
"In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel and unusual punishment,” primarily because states employed execution in “arbitrary and capricious ways,” especially in regard to race. It was the first time that the nation’s highest court had ruled against capital punishment. However, because the Supreme Court suggested new legislation that could make death sentences constitutional again, such as the development of standardized guidelines for juries that decide sentences, it was not an outright victory for opponents of the death penalty.
In 1976, with 66 percent of Americans still supporting capital punishment, the Supreme Court acknowledged progress made in jury guidelines and reinstated the death penalty under a “model of guided discretion.” In 1977, Gary Gilmore, a career criminal who had murdered an elderly couple because they would not lend him their car, was the first person to be executed since the end of the ban. Defiantly facing a firing squad in Utah, Gilmore’s last words to his executioners before they shot him through the heart were, “Let’s do it.”"
"In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment, as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as “cruel and unusual punishment,” primarily because states employed execution in “arbitrary and capricious ways,” especially in regard to race. It was the first time that the nation’s highest court had ruled against capital punishment. However, because the Supreme Court suggested new legislation that could make death sentences constitutional again, such as the development of standardized guidelines for juries that decide sentences, it was not an outright victory for opponents of the death penalty.
In 1976, with 66 percent of Americans still supporting capital punishment, the Supreme Court acknowledged progress made in jury guidelines and reinstated the death penalty under a “model of guided discretion.” In 1977, Gary Gilmore, a career criminal who had murdered an elderly couple because they would not lend him their car, was the first person to be executed since the end of the ban. Defiantly facing a firing squad in Utah, Gilmore’s last words to his executioners before they shot him through the heart were, “Let’s do it.”"
difficult topic, education on critical thinking required
The USA needs to have a systematic system of education which does not end up giving preferential education to the rich or to those (like myself) who were lucky enough to get into decent 'magnet' programs.
Then, perhaps, Americans will have the intellectual and emotional tools needed to deal with these problems.
Peace,
Shira "Holocene/Human Era" Destinie
30 June, 12015 HE
Re: difficult topic, education on critical thinking required
I don't think there is any shame in admitting such knee-jerk reactions. The key is being able to recognise such behaviour and with any luck, seek to modify it through critical thinking. I have grappled with the pros and cons of capital punishment over the years but the breaking point for me came when I discovered the extent of miscarriages of justice, especially for those on deathrow. The work of The Innocence Project really hit home. Now, on a practical basis I oppose capital punishment because there is no return once you execute someone wrongly. Like you, there are certain horrific crimes that test the resolve of such opposition, but as William Blackstone, the father of the British and American legal systems eloquently put it a couple centuries ago: "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer."
A good system of education is definitely essential for inculcating those critical thinking skills. At least in America you have an extensive state-funded elementary-to-high-school system, which the vast majority of students attend. I know quite a few people who have been surprised to learn that a country that seems to pride itself on promoting market-based solutions for everything, adopts a socialistic model of basic education. But that's not obviously enough. The quality of the education is as important as its accessibility. One of the great challenges that persists into the 21st century.
By the way, what does USNA stand for? You have lived in most of the places that I have visited on the East Coast, except for MD...and I suppose VA doesn't really count as I've only been to Arlington Cemetery!
Re: difficult topic, education on critical thinking required
I'm not sure I would call the US education system 'socialistic' -each state funds according to its own model -some fairly well (like Massachussets) and others piss-poorly. Serious quality challenges. But I certainly learned my Pledge of Alegiance in public school! Oh wait, that is indoc... oh well.
USNA is the US Naval Academy.
No worries, Arlington Nat. Cemtry is the only part of VA I might consider worth visiting! Even that is heavily dosed with (or perhaps pure) progaganda.
Re: difficult topic, education on critical thinking required
I thought that's what USNA stood for, but wanted to be sure.
Re: difficult topic, education on critical thinking required
Shira "Human Era" Destinie,
11.7.12015 HE