The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty
Jessica Vieira
Intro to Criminal Justice
12/15/2011

The Death Penalty

In the Unites States capital punishment is challenged as to if it is a moral or immoral action. Capital punishment is seen mostly in the south where it is commonly practiced, Texas being the leading state of executions since 1976.   Many people have different opinions about this type of sentencing because there are always conflicts when it comes to deciding if this punishment is just for the criminal being charged. The public opinions play a central role in capital punishment where they challenge the courts system of sentencing basing it on whether it is just or not. One major issues with capital punishment is the innocent being executed. There are newly challenged allegations that the death penalty has brought about racial discrimination when being practiced. Many theories of whether capital punishment is seen as a good thing or bad have come about causing conflict all over the United States.
Recently out of any other death sentencing cases two have been brought to the attention of the Supreme Court being the Atkins v. Virginia case and the Roper v. Simmons case. In Atkins v. Virginia case Daryl Renard Atkins was convicted of abduction, armed robbery, and capital murder, and sentenced to death. At approximately midnight Atkins along with his partner William Jones were armed with a semiautomatic handgun where they abducted a man by the name of Eric Nesbett. They robbed all of his money and brought him to a nearby automated bank teller where they made him withdraw all of his money. The two men didn’t realize there were cameras recording their actions that they had taken place in. After robbing the man of his money they took him to an isolated area where they shot him eight times and killed him. Both men pleaded guilty to the charges that they were accused of and told recaps of the event that had happened. The state introduced evidence towards Atkins proving two...