Death Penalty in the U.S.: A Discussion - Softcover

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,3, University of Cologne, course: Human Rights, language: English, abstract: „Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person." (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3). Nowadays, practices such as ritual sacrifice, slavery, physical torture and death penalty can no longer be tolerated (Dieter: 1). The Human Rights Declaration bespeaks that human rights are universal and made for everyone. However, there are nations that do not respect that and still use death penalty as a form of punishment. According to the Amnesty International organization about 97 states all over the world have abolished death penalty, eight states do not use death penalty for ordinary crimes anymore but for special crimes like war crimes or offence against military justice. Furthermore, 35 states have abolished death penalty in practice but not in their constitution and 58 states still use death penalty, including the USA (Amnesty International, "Hinrichtungen und Todesurteile 2011"). Death penalty is still a controversial topic, which intervenes in human rights, namely "the right to life, liberty and security of person" (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3). Due to that, this term paper will deal with the question if death penalty can be justified and if people can sentence other people to death regarding article three of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mentioned above and if human rights are universal actually. Firstly, the history of the U.S. death penalty and its development will be stated. Secondly, potential advantages as well as disadvantages of death penalty will be pointed out and if necessary the disputable issues of it will be discussed. Regarding the results of this term paper a brief conclusion will follow, answering the question if death penalty can be justified or not.