Lecturrete Topic 22 - Capital Punishment

1. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime.
2. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, whereas the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution.
3. Capital punishment is the ultimate punishment one can receive from a court of law. This type of punishment has existed for centuries.
4. Historically, governments have sentenced criminals to death for major and minor crimes against government, their leaders and members of their society. Often, capital punishment was administered in a harsh manner, such as public hangings.
5. In early America under the laws of Great Britain, colonists, as subjects of the Crown, were subject to capital punishment for various types of crimes. Consequently, a long history of enforcing capital punishment existed even before the United States was established.
6. Capital punishment is a legal penalty in India.
7. It has been carried out in five instances since 1995, while a total of twenty-six executions have taken place in India since 1991.
8. The last execution in India to date was of Seema Mohan Gavit and Renuka Shinde In February 2017.
9. Capital punishment is a matter of active controversy in several countries and states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region.
10. Morality, Constitutionality, Deterrence, Retribution, Irrevocable Mistakes, Cost of Death vs. Life in Prison,Race, Closure for Victims' Families, Attorney Quality, Physicians at Execution are some of pros and cons of capital punishment.