Execution of Allen and violation of Eighth Amendment
Allen was imprisoned and convicted of first degree murder, conspiracy and burglary after colluding with his son to burglarize Fran’s market owned by Fran and Ray Schletewitz whom he had known for several years. It happened that Mary Sue Kitts, a 17 year old and girlfriend to his son told the Schletewitz family that Clarence Ray Allen was responsible for the burgulary and she was involved in cashing the stolen cheque. As a consequence, Allen ordered for the killing of the teenager who was thrown into Friant-Kern Canal and her body was never found. While in prison, Allen colluded with Billy Ray Hamilton who was almost paroled to kill 8 witness so that they could not appear in court during his retrial in case he won his appeal. The result was death of other two individual.
Allen served 24 years in his death sentence and appealed against his conviction it was against the Eighth Amendment. Also, Allen claimed Eighth Amendment prohibits unusual and crucial punishments against the elderly and the infirm, a group which Allen claimed to include himself. However, the Supreme Court limits the death penalty to less culpable groups (Lippman 89). Unfortunately, during the time of offense, Allen’s age and infirmity did not render him not culpable of the offenses. Besides, culpability was linked to mentally retarded people who at the time of the offense or trial exhibit behavioral and cognitive impairments. The impairments diminish the ability of the defendants to process and understand information, engage in logical reasoning, learn from experience, and control their conduct bead on the penalty.
From the Eighth Amendment arguments, it is therefore clear that Allen did not meet any of the criteria because he was mentally upright at the time of trial. Moreover, the issue of culpability is limited to those who are below 16 years at the time of offense and had committed burglary crimes (Lippman 87). In this case, Allen was aver 50 years and the time of offense and is charged with first degree murder, conspiracy and burglary. This are serious offenses that could not make Allen escape death sentence. Therefore, Allen’s death sentence was justified.
Work Cited
Lippman, Matthew R. Contemporary Criminal Law: Concepts, Cases, and Controversies. , 2016. Internet …
