Current trends in the United States show strong support for capital punishment. In the last 20 years, support for the death penalty has never dropped below 57 percent in opinion polls. In a few polls, it has reached as high as 80 percent. During the 1990s, two states (New York and Kansas) decided to reinstate the death penalty, while no state abolished it. The death penalty has broad popular support.
Any death-penalty law and case must meet constitutional standards. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids “cruel and unusual punishments.” The Fifth and 14th amendments require “due process of law.” The 14th Amendment also promises “equal protection of the laws.” The Sixth Amendment guarantees every defendant a fair trial. Any defendant can appeal a death sentence on these or other grounds. Appeals courts scrutinize death-penalty cases to make sure proper procedures and constitutional standards have been followed.
The highest appeals court is the U.S. Supreme Court. This court has the final say on matters of U.S. constitutional law. It has made several landmark rulings on death-penalty cases.
Malpractice, or professional negligence, refers to a case of incompetence on the part of a professional. A case of malpractice usually occurs when a client feels that a professional breached his or her duty of care. Some of the professionals that can be accused of malpractice are medical professionals, lawyers, accountants, stockbrokers and architects.
The North Star was a nineteenth-century anti-slavery newspaper published from the Talman Building in Rochester, New York by abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
The amount of force necessary to protect oneself or one's property. A person is generally justified in using force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm if the person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.
Ordinance Is a law or decree by a municipality. Meanwhile precedent a court decision that is considered as authority for deciding subsequent cases involving identical or similar fact, or similar legal issues.
