Assignment 04
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Assignment 04
Part A
History of Capital Punishment in the United States
Capital punishment is another word for the death penalty, the legal execution of a criminal. The word capital originates from the Latin word head (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2012). In ancient times, the death penalty was carried out by beheading. However, such a form of execution has never happened in the United States. The U.S performs capital punishment either by poison gas, shooting, hanging, lethal injection, or electrocution. Currently, all states in the U.S practicing capital punishment use lethal injection (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2012). However, they are free to use any of the other options apart from beheading.
In America, the death penalty was practiced as early as in the 1600s. This form of punishment applied to even the slightest crimes, such as pickpocketing or stealing a bun in a shop (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2012). However, in the 1700 and 1800, most states protested against capital punishment. For example, Michigan abolished it in 1845 and Wisconsin in 1847. Moreover, protests against the death penalty heightened during and after World War II. As a result, in the whole of 1800s, capital punishment in the U.S declined with several years recording zero death penalties. These protests against capital punishment continued to the 1900s. As a result, the number of death penalties gradually declined between the 1950s and 1960s (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2012). For example, in 1967, America recorded only two death penalties. In 1968, an official cessation of capital punishment began (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2012). Resultantly, no death penalty took place in the U.S from 1968 to 1976. In the 1900s, several other states banned capital punishment within their jurisdiction. They include New York in 2004, New Jersey 2007, New Mexico 2009, Illinois 2011, and Connecticut in 2012. Most of these states viewed capital punishment as unconstitutional by citing the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment because of the inconsistency in who was given a death sentence and who was not.
States that did not abolish capital punishment developed new laws that cited clear standards of imposing the death penalty. Such states include Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Till today, capital punishment is under discussion as new laws are implemented, and others are overwritten.
Crimes that Warrant Capital Punishment
In ancient times, the death penalty applied as a punishment for rape, especially between white victims and black defendants. During the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment could apply in cases of armed robbery, murder, and rape (Death Penalty Information Center, 2020). Nonetheless, recently, the Supreme Court ruled that imposing capital punishment on a criminal in a case where there is no death is unconstitutional (Death Penalty Information Center, 2020). This law was passed irrespective of whether the crime is rape or armed robbery. If no death occurred, then capital punishment is out of the question. In this regard, legal execution is only applicable in murder cases or where a crime results in the death of a person.
Part B
John Gardner, a Mississippi man, aged 64 years old, was executed through lethal injection on January 15, 2020, at 6:20 pm in the Texas Supreme Court. In 2005, John was arraigned in court and prosecuted for the murder of his estranged ex-wife, Tammy Gardner. Mr. Gardner and his estranged wife, Tammy, were working on their divorce. Weeks before their divorce was finalized, Mr. Gardner shot and killed his wife (McCullough, 2020). Before her death, Tammy called 911 and reported her husband of shooting her.
Mr. Gardner was sentenced for capital murder. According to McCullough (2020), this is the only crime in Texas that warrants capital punishment. However, Mr. Gardner sentencing required the jury to prove the killing was committed amidst another crime such as home burglary or the reprisal of his wife as a witness in their upcoming divorce proceedings. Mr. Gardner’s appellate attorneys filed an appeal concerning Mr. Gardner’s death penalty. They claimed that Mr. Gardner did not break into Tammy’s home. Instead, he shot her to prevent her from leaving him and not because she was going to be a witness against him in court (McCullough, 2020). Both the Federal and Texas court disregarded that claim.
Tammy and Gardener were married a little over five years. However, Tammy’s friends testified against Mr. Gardner, saying their marriage was abusive. They pointed out that Mr. Gardner had pointed a gun to Tammy in one of their arguments. Also, they told Tammy showed up to places with bruises on her body. They testified Tammy filed for divorce because she was terrified of her safety and that of her children. Besides, both her friends and the couple’s daughter testified that Mr. Gardner kept harassing Tammy, asking her if she was going to proceed with the divorce (McCullough, 2020). Moreover, court records showed that Mr. Gardner had been prosecuted and sentenced on three different occasions for abusing two of his previous wives.
Still, at trial, the judges weighed whether to sentence Mr. Gardener by death or life imprisonment. However, Mr. Gardner’s sister testified and said they were raised in an abusive marriage (McCullough, 2020). She said at one point, their father, who was a preacher in a Baptist church, stopped the sermon for a few minutes to whip Gardner with a belt in front of the congregation. However, Mr. Gardner’s appellate held firm that he did not deserve the death penalty but life imprisonment. They cited that Mr. Gardner’s attorneys failed to research more facts that disclaimed Mr. Gardner’s capital punishment.
With no pending appeals, Mr. Gardener was escorted to the Texas death chamber Huntsville. There, at 6:20 pm, Mr. Gardener was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital. He was pronounced dead 16 minutes later (McCullough, 2020). Before his death, Mr. Gardeners pleaded for forgiveness from Tammy’s mother and their two children who were watching from a separate glass chamber. In a different glass chamber were Gardner’s friends. In his final words, he told his friends that he loved them.
Personal Opinion on the Sentencing
Yes, I agree with the sentencing. Tammy’s incident is not the first where Mr. Gardener has ended up killing someone. Previous Federal Court records show that the man has a history of domestic violence. Before marrying Tammy, in 1983, Mr. Gardner shot his first wife, Rhoda Gardner, who was pregnant (McCullough, 2020). and she later succumbed to her injuries. He was sentenced to eight-year imprisonment. Nonetheless, Gardener was lucky to receive two years on parole (McCullough, 2020). Within the two years, he was prosecuted for assaulting his new wife’s daughter to a point where she needed hospitalization.
Further, Mr. Gardner attacked and kidnapped the daughter’s mother, his wife, then at knifepoint. In all these cases, Mr. Gardner got his way out and ended up in the hands of Tammy, who he later killed. These cases show Mr. Gardner is a dangerous man, not afraid to kill. If the court did not sentence him to a death penalty, he somehow would have found his way out, and end the life of another vulnerable woman. Besides, those who kill by the sword will die by the sword. He deserved to die for prematurely ending the lives of others.
References
Constitutional Rights Foundation. (2012). A History of the Death Penalty in America. https://www.crf-usa.org/images/pdf/HistoryoftheDeathPenaltyinAmerica.pdf.
Death Penalty Information Center. (2020). Crimes Punishable by Death. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/crimes-punishable-by-death.
McCullough, J. (2020). Texas carries out nation’s first execution of 2020 for domestic violence slaying in Collin County. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/01/15/texas-execution-john-gardner-death-row/.