The death penalty punishes the most serious crimes with the most serious penalty. Because of the gravity of this punishment, the laws on the death penalty are numerous and complex, and the appeals process can take years. This article discusses some of the parameters, limitations, and debates surrounding capital punishment.
Constitutional Limits: the Eighth Amendment
The U.S. Constitution sets the parameters for criminal punishments. In particular, the Eighth Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishment. The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty isn’t a per se (automatic) violation of the Eighth Amendment. But, before the death penalty can be imposed, certain constitutional requirements must be met.
Proportionality in Sentencing
The Eighth Amendment requires proportionality in sentencing. In other words, the punishment must fit the crime. In its proportionality analysis, the Court considers:
- the seriousness of the offense and severity of the penalty
- how the jurisdiction punishes its other criminals, and
- how other jurisdictions punish the same crime.
The Supreme Court cautioned that the death penalty must be reserved for “a narrow category of the most serious crimes.” (Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002).) States and the federal government are bound by these parameters when defining capital crimes.
Capital offenses include crimes against individuals and crimes against the state (or government). For crimes against individuals, capital punishment is restricted to offenses resulting in a victim’s death. So, whereas murderers can receive the death penalty, rapists who don’t kill their victims cannot. So far, the Supreme Court has not indicated whether this resulting-in-death restriction also applies to capital offenses against the state—crimes like treason, espionage, terrorism, and large-scale drug trafficking.
(Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005); Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008).)
Individualized Sentencing Process
Before an offender can be sentenced to death, the Eighth Amendment also requires an individualized sentencing process—meaning a law cannot impose a mandatory or automatic death sentence upon conviction. Death penalty laws must allow the jury to consider individual aspects of the defendant and the particular offense. This individualized consideration might include evidence about the defendant’s background, the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offense, and other circumstances that could mitigate or aggravate the depravity of the crime.
In jurisdictions where murder is a capital crime, there are typically “aggravating circumstances” that make murder “death-eligible.” In other words, a defendant can get the death penalty for murder only if the offense involved at least one aggravating circumstance; otherwise, the maximum penalty is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Sixth Amendment requires a jury—not a judge—to find beyond a reasonable doubt any “aggravating circumstances” required to impose the death penalty. (A defendant can, however, waive the right to a jury determination on aggravating circumstances.) Every jurisdiction is different, but common aggravating circumstances include murders of vulnerable victims (such as children), murders committed in a cruel or heinous manner, and murders where two or more victims are killed.
(Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976); Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002).)
Individuals Who Are Ineligible for the Death Penalty
The Supreme Court has also found that the death penalty is always unconstitutional for certain classes of individuals.
In 2002, the Supreme Court held that executing intellectually disabled criminals amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. The Court found that diminished intellectual ability lessens the severity of the offense and makes the death penalty too severe of a punishment.
Just a few years later, the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty for all juvenile offenders. The Court reasoned that minors have “diminished culpability” for their offenses due to immaturity, vulnerability to negative influences, and incomplete character development.
(Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002); Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).)
Death Penalty Debate
Death penalty laws continue to change and remain the subject of continuous debate. Commonly debated issues include the morality, fairness, cost, and deterrent effect of the death penalty. Find up-to-date statistics on the death penalty in the United States at the Death Penalty Information Center.