On September 9-10, 1988, The Federalist Society hosted its second annual National Lawyers Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. on "The Constitution and Federal Criminal Law." The second day of the convention commenced with a debate over whether the death penalty can be administered constitutionally.
Opponents of the death penalty, including several Supreme Court Justices, argue that, under the evolving moral standards of our society and culture, capital punishment is inherently "cruel and unusual" and therefore unconstitutional. Others argue that the framers passed the injunction against cruel and unusual punishment at the same time as language in the Fifth Amendment directly contemplating imposition of the death penalty, and that if the two could constitutionally co-exist then, they can continue to do so unless a specific amendmentis passed to change the Constitution in that regard.
Featuring:

Prof. Walter Berns, Georgetown University
Prof. Walter Dellinger, Duke University School of Law
Moderator: Judge Patrick Higginbotham, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speakers.