Capitol punishment

• Capital Punishment


  The killing of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense
• Capital Crimes/Offences


  Crimes that can result in a death penalty
• Capital


  Regarding the head (Latin caput), a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head
• UK Law and Capital Punishment


  • The Human Rights Act formally abolished the death penalty in the UK
  • A public official, including the police or courts, cannot execute someone or sentence them to death as punishment
• Last executions in the UK by hanging


  1964
• Capital punishment suspended for murder in the UK


  1965
• Capital punishment abolished for murder in the UK


  1969
• Peter Anthony Allen was the last person to be executed in the UK


  13th August 1946
• Ethical Absolutism


  Moral commands are true at all times, in all cultures and situations. Actions like murder and stealing are objectively wrong regardless of circumstance or results.
• Ethical Relativism


  Moral values are entirely relative to different societies and contexts. Whether an action is right can depend on the context.
• Thomas Aquinas


  • Catholic priest, philosopher and theologian who lived from c.1225-1274
  • Developed the ethical theory of Natural Law
• Five Primary Precepts of Natural Moral Law

  • Self preservation
  • Continuation of the species through reproduction
  • Education of children
  • To live in society
  • To worship God
• Aquinas' views on Capital Punishment

  Vocal supporter of the death penalty based on the theory that the state has the duty to protect its citizens from enemies, both from within and without
• Utilitarianism


  An ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes, aiming for the greatest good for the greatest number
• Principle of Utility


  The rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by its usefulness - how much pleasure or happiness it causes
• Jeremy Bentham


  • Founding father of utilitarianism, passionately opposed the death penalty without applying his own utilitarian method
  • Believed capital punishment brings more harm than good
• The Electric Chair


  • Specialized device employed for carrying out capital punishment through electrocution
  • Death results from ventricular fibrillation followed by cardiac arrest
  • Use has diminished over time due to increasing adoption of lethal injection
• Lethal Injection


  • Injecting one or more drugs (barbiturate, paralytic, potassium solution) to cause rapid death
  • Primarily introduced as a more "humane" method of execution, but has been subject to criticism as potentially cruel and unusual
• Gas Chambers


  • Apparatus for killing with poisonous or asphyxiant gas like hydrogen cyanide or carbon monoxide
  • Considered the most dangerous, complicated, time-consuming and expensive method of capital punishment
  • Impossible to halt once initiated
• Capital punishment


  The legal procedure of executing someone as punishment for a crime
• Euthanasia


  The practice of ending a terminally ill person's life to relieve them of suffering
• Suicide


  The act of intentionally taking one's own life
• Lethal injection procedure


  1. Causes the person to become unconscious

  2. Stops their breathing

  3. Causes a heart arrhythmia