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The death penalty is sought in only a fraction of murder cases, and it is often doled out capriciously. The National Academy of Sciences concludes that its role as a deterrent is ambiguous.
In 1996, Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act to streamline the appeal process in capital cases. The bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, who had endorsed capital punishment during his 1992 presidential campaign. [96]
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. 104–132 (text), 110 Stat. 1214, enacted April 24, 1996, was introduced to the United States Congress in April 1995 as a Senate Bill .
Death penalty opponents regard the death penalty as inhumane [206] and criticize it for its irreversibility. [207] They argue also that capital punishment lacks deterrent effect, [208] [209] [210] or has a brutalization effect, [211] [212] discriminates against minorities and the poor, and that it encourages a "culture of violence". [213]
The huge costs associated with the death penalty are a very good argument for doing away with it -- as though the possibility of executing an innocent person weren't good enough on its own.
Last year, four countries abolished the death penalty for all crimes, as Amnesty International noted in a recent report: Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic.
The death penalty is still retained in some countries, such as in some parts of the United States, one reason being due to the perception that it is a deterrent to certain offenses. In 1975, Ehrlich claimed the death penalty was effective as a general deterrent and that each execution led to seven or eight fewer homicides in society.
According to a new study, 49% of Americans believe the death penalty is used fairly. The study notes that this belief has been steadily declining over the past decade and can largely be attributed ...