The death penalty has not remained constant throughout American History . It has undergone numerous changes and reforms in the past two centuries, falling in and out of public favor. The death penalty has been in our legal system since our legal system was created, but still remains one of the most controversial punishments in United States history. Each person can form their own opinion on the death penalty, but ultimately the government sees the death penalty as a just form of punishment for those who commit such horrible crimes as murder. Capital punishment, to many people, seem cruel and unusual, but its purpose is to punish those who committed such horrendous crimes as murder and to make people who would otherwise commit these violent acts think twice before they go out and commit crimes such as murder.

Although in the past, the number of crimes that were subjected to capital punishment, defined simply as the death penalty for a crime, were outrageous. Amendments were made to reflect the changes in the society's views on the morality of capital punishment. That resulted in the narrowing down of the list of one hundred crimes to twelve, punishable by the death p

Another Supreme Court case that affected capital punishment was Payne vs. Tennessee in 1991. “The court revisited the impact of constutionality of victim impact statements. Rarely does the court reconsider recently decided cases, but in Payne the justices did just that, a decision that disturbed anti-death penalty groups… and encouraged pro-capital punishment forces, which believed that juries had a right to consider the impact of capital offenses.”(Ivers463) The court decided 6 to 3 against Payne, and made once again legal to allow victim impact statements to be allowed in the sentencing stages of a trial.

There are many questions about the death penalty. Should a retarded person be executed when he is unable to understand his fate? In one instance, a man being led to his execution stated that he would finish his dessert when he got back. At what point is age a factor? In 1885 in Arkansas, a defendant was executed who had been only ten years old when the crime was committed. “More recently, a man who had been a boy of 16 when he committed murder was executed. A large number of defendants in death penalty cases are illiterate, of moderate intelligence, and in many cases have been the victims of child abuse.”(Tabak42) In addition, most are poor. Defendants who can employ good lawyers usually win a lesser sentence than death. Indigent defendants must rely on court-appointed lawyers who in many cases are not competent to try capital cases. There are documented cases of lawyers who are inebriated or who fall asleep while representing a man whose life is at stake.

In Stanford vs. Kentucky, and Wilkins vs. Missouri, challenged the Juvenile laws in Kentucky and Missouri. They were both convicted of murder when they were under age, but were tried as adults, and ultimately received the death penalty. They challenged the Kentucky and Missouri laws stating that, “juveniles are less aware of their actions, and thus less culpable for the crimes they commit, even ones as heinous as those for which they were convicted of.”(Ivers460) The court’s decision was 5 to 4 in favor of

Constitutional right of "equal protection of the law.”(www.aclu.org page 1)

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