The Hanging of Saddam Hussein

Paper Summary:

This essay discusses capital punishment, particularly the hanging of Iraq's ex-president Saddam Hussein. It begins with a background of capital punishment and a biography of Saddam Hussein. It then explores, in detail, the pros and cons of hanging Hussein. The essay utilizes varying political, religious and personal opinions and tries to come to a conclusion as to whether capital punishment in general (and Hussein's hanging in particular) can ever be seen as valid.

From the Paper:

"'Capital punishment' is the execution of a person who has been convicted in a country's court of law, usually for offences deemed to be of the highest order. The first death penalty laws date back to the 18th century BC in the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. The Middle Ages brought with them a peak in the rate of executions. In England, for example, it was possible to be put to death for any of 222 different reasons. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Capital punishment laws varied from colony to colony. The New York Colony instituted the Duke's Laws of 1665. Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishment theorized that there was no justification for the state taking one's life and gave abolitionists in America an authoritative voice and renewed energy. The death penalty was briefly abolished in the United States in 1972 by the Supreme Court but then reinstated in 1976. In modern times, the vast majority of democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished capital punishment, but the United States, most democracies in Asia, and almost all totalitarian governments retain it."

Sample of Sources Used:

• (2006, December 30th, 2006, December 30th). "Iraq: Amnesty International deplores execution of Saddam Hussein." Retrieved 1/1/2007, 2007, from http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE140432006.
• Beccaria, C., Voltaire, et al. (1778). An essay on crimes and punishments. Philadelphia, Printed and Sold by R. Bell.
• Center, M. S. U. a. D. P. I. (2006). "History of the Death Penalty." Retrieved 1/1/2007, 2007.
• Giddens, A. (1997). Sociology. Cambridge [England], Polity Press.
• News, B. (2006, Saturday, 30 December 2006, 05:37 GMT). "Obituary: Saddam Hussein." Retrieved 1/1/2007, 2007, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1099005.stm.

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