By Gary Minor
InPublicSafety.com
The botched executions that occurred in Ohio and Oklahoma have many people questioning the legality of the death penalty. In this article, I hope to explain why the death penalty is constitutional in the United States and exactly how it is controlled.
Overview of Amendments Relevant to the Death Penalty
The death penalty in the United States has three basic controls: the Fifth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Eighth Amendment. To make it simple, the Fifth and the Fourteenth determine the legality and the constitutionality of the death penalty in the United States. The Eighth Amendment controls the manner in which the death penalty can be executed in the United States. The Fifth Amendment states in part: “…nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (U.S. Const. amend. V). These three parts each have a meaning at law.
Life: the death penalty
Liberty: prison or jail
Property: RICO, eminent domain
So long as due process of law is granted, the Constitution allows the state to take life, liberty, and property. The Fifth Amendment along with the Fourteenth Amendment confirms the unconstitutionality of bills of attainder. A bill of attainder is defined in the Constitution under article I, sections 9 and 10. A bill of attainder is “a legislative act that inflicts punishment without first the person (defendant) already having had a trial in a court before a judge” (Gardner & Anderson, 2006, 2009, 2012, p. 17, 18).
Full story: The Constitutionality of the Death Penalty After Botched Executions
