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The death penalty is state-sanctioned punishment where a person is put to death for a crime they committed. The main reason for the death penalty is retribution. This is the act of punishment as vengeance. Since the convicted person is already incapacitated in jail and does not pose a threat to society, they are only killed for revenge. It can also be considered to be a tactic to prevent people from committing serious crimes because they don't want to receive the death penalty. It is very controversial as it raises many ethical concerns.

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16 On Death Row by Tupac Shakur:

Lyrics: “ Don't wanna commit murder, but damn they got me trapped” It's hard to adapt, when you're black and you're trapped in a livin' Hell I shouldn'ta let him catch me Instead of livin' sad in jail I coulda died free and happy”

In these lyrics, Tupac talks about how he feels trapped in this situation where he needs to commit murder to protect himself because he is Black and in a "livin' Hell". He is saying how because of his race he is in a situation where he is much more likely to receive the death sentence and he would rather die free than in jail. This shows the injustice of the death penalty, that mostly black people are the ones who receive it.

25 minutes to go by Johnny Cash:

“Well they gave me some beans for my last meal I've got 23 minutes to go But nobody asked me how I feel I've got 22 minutes to go”

In this song, Johnny Cash goes through the last 25 minutes of his life when he is going to be executed with the death penalty. In the 23rd minute, he is given some beans as his last meal. This shows how he is not treated with respect and instead given "Some Beans" as his last meal. In the 22 minutes, nobody has asked him how he feels which again shows nobody really cares or respects him because he is receiving the death penalty. This song highlights some of how when someone is convicted, they are dehumanized all the way to the last minutes of their life.

Ellis Unit one by Steve Earl:

And I've heard their mamas cryin' when they heard that big door slam
And I've seen the victim's family holdin' hands

In these lyrics, Steve Earl talks about people who are receiving the death penalty and how their mothers are crying and their families are holding hands. When someone is executed, they are being taken from their families and all the people who might depend on them or need them in their lives. This ultimately demonstrates that when someone receives the death penalty, not only they are affected, but many other people who knew them as well.

Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/jul/11/readers-recommend-songs-capital-punishment-results

https://www.musixmatch.com/

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Source for Graphics and Reforms: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/
Source for Bill of Rights section:
https://www.criminaldefenselawcenterwestmichigan.com/criminal-amendments-in-the-bill-of-rights/

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This graphic displays the executions all time by region splitting it into the 4 regions of the US and then texas alone in their own slot. This graphic is important because it proves that  government executions depend on the area in the country and that even though there are population differences within each region executions happen more in some places than others

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A specific person working to bring justice to the issue is Helen Prejean. She is a Roman Catholic sister and a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Helen Prejean founded the organization Witness to innocence. Witness to innocence is an “anti-death penalty non-profit whose speakers and campaigners are exonerated death row survivors. They testify before politicians and on speaking tours to educate the public about wrongful convictions”. She also wrote the book "Dead Man Walking" which is about her experiences being an advisor to two convicts on death row before their execution. The book brings light to the issue of the death penalty and highlights the injustices present.

Sources: https://www.sisterhelen.org/
https://www.witnesstoinnocence.org/single-post/in-case-you-missed-it-we-were-featured-in-bustle-full-story

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This is a really interesting chart that shows interracial murder executions. Through this chart the discrepency between racial motivation and violence is shown.

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The first reform that has been impactful is that the state established a special fund to provide more money to both public defenders and prosecutors for hiring more attorneys and investigators, and to pay for more thorough investigations. It’s still not enough for defenders to level the playing field, there needs to be more funds and more opportunities for victims to obtain justice. All potential death penalty prosecutions now must be reviewed and approved by specific state mandators, which is a procedure top prosecutors credit with reducing the number of death penalty prosecutions by roughly 25%.

There are some more direct reforms that can be applied to the death penalty within the government systems. These measures include requiring pre-trial screening of all jailhouse informant testimony, automatic new trials in cases where prosecutors knowingly withhold evidence useful to the defense, and pre-trial depositions of certain witnesses. A permanent special committee should be established to study wrongful convictions to understand where the system fails and to help correct institutional errors.

Another reform can be to limit eligibility for the death penalty. When the Illinois legislature voted in 1977 to reinstate the death penalty, it outlined a handful of specific circumstances  called “aggravating factors" that would supposedly make a defendant eligible for the death penalty. Murdering a police officer, firefighter or prison guard, murdering in the course of a hijacking or while committing another felony, murdering 2 or more people, and murdering for hire. These were narrow, black and white straight cut conditions that limited arbitrariness on the part of state’s attorneys who decided when to ask for the death penalty. These can be brought back to our systems to demonstrate set rules and regulations surrounding the penalty.

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This bar graph shows the amount of executions each year since 1976. This chart is important because it shows the bell curve that this statistic is presenting. The normal curve that this data shows can predict that the number of executions is just going to decrease.

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Leo Jones: Leo Jones was convicted for murdering a police officer in 1981 and was executed in 1998. He signed a confession admitting to the crime after several hours of being interrogated by the police. A few years after he was convicted, the police who arrested and interrogated him were fired for being unethical and it turns out that the police had tortured Leo Jones into confessing.

Larry Griffin: Larry Griffin was convicted in 1981 and executed in 1995. After his execution, there was a year-long investigation that concluded that Larry Griffin was not involved in the drive-by shooting, and instead 3 other suspects were convicted for the crime that he was executed for. It has been confirmed that Lary Griffin was murdered even though he was innocent.

Sedley Alley: Sedley Alley was convicted for the Rape and Murder of Suzzane Collins and was executed in 2006. During the trial there was a lot of evidence that suggested Alley did not commit the crime for example he was at home under police surveillance during the crime. Sedley's Lawyers then asked for DNA evidence and testing. The Governor at the time,  Phil Bredesen refused to allow DNA testing and was found guilty and was executed. In 2019, new evidence was found that suggested another man committed the crime and Sedley was innocent and it was unfair that DNA testing was denied that would have proven him innocent.

Source: https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/policy-issues/innocence/executed-but-possibly-innocent

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These two graphics portray very important ideals about the death penalty. Both pie charts are split up by race showing that majority of the defendants executed and victims in death penalty cases are in fact white despite only half of the murder victims being white.

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Within the 14 Amendments, the 8th amendment has to do with no cruel or unusual punishment being inflicted on US citizens by the government. Congress, as well as any state legislature, may give the death penalty for capital offenses. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They state that the Eighth Amendment does pertain to and affect specific procedural aspects regarding when a jury may use the death penalty and how it must be carried out. Because of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process stricture, the Eighth Amendment opposes the states and the federal government. When considering the eighth amendment one must think about how this amendment is changing when certain punishments or actions become okay or not okay in society. When considering evolving standards of decency, courts look for objective factors to show a change in community standards and also make independent evaluations about whether the statute in question is reasonable.