History of the Death Penalty Saanvi Kunisetty

 History of the Death Penalty

Saanvi Kunisetty

Capital punishment first appeared in America in the 1600s, when public executions occurred for various crimes, including thievery, with the list of capital crimes narrowing down as time progressed. Many countries abolished the death penalty in the 1800-1900s, largely due to the casualties from World War II, but America frowardly refused. The year 1976 marked the five crucial death penalty cases- Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, Roberts v. Louisiana, Proffitt v. Florida, and Woodson v. North Carolina- all questioning the constituionality of the death penalty in specific circumstances (Jurek). This caused the public to significantly doubt the death penalty’s validity. Several other cases addressed issues such as capital punishment for minors, like Roper v. Simmons, which ruled that executing minors was unconstitutional (Roper). Similarly, cases such as Atkins v. Virginia dealt with the dilemma of the execution of mentally disabled individuals, where the Supreme Court ruled that sentencing the mentally disabled to death was unconstitutional (Atkins). By the 2000s, many northeastern states had eradicated the death penalty (A History). 

Works Cited

A History of the Death Penalty in America. Accessed 5 Mar. 2021

"Atkins v. Virginia." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2001/00-8452. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.

"Jurek v. Texas." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/1975/75-5394. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.

"Roper v. Simmons." Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2004/03-633. Accessed 6 Mar. 2021.

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