Save the Death Penalty for the Most Culpable Offenders

Abstract

The death penalty is a controversial topic that continues to generate heated debate in our country. Polls show that the vast majority of Americans favor the use of capital punishment. In response, politicians both in Congress and in the state legislatures have proposed measures to expand our use of the death penalty and to speed up the rate of executions. However, while this “tough on crime” rhetoric is popular, we as Americans must be careful to see that those whom we do execute are in fact the most culpable of offenders. This article explores our past use of the death penalty and proposes that we implement certain protections for the least culpable of offenders: the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, and the juvenile.