Argument Against Capital Punishment Essay

The United States is supposed to represent freedom, liberty, and peace. However, the death penalty contradicts everything the founding fathers built America on. Everyone is entailed to life even though they commit terrible crimes. Technology advancements are rapidly growing which is supposed to allow less pain in time of execution. So far in 2011 there have been eight executions and three more executions are going to be taken place on March 10, 29 and 31. Many people are killed by lethal injections, electrocutions, gas chamber, hanging, or a firing squad. These killing methods are both immoral and unconstitutional because they are killing the people like animals. This is an endless vicious cycle of murder and revenge that continues because the people have a desire to get revenge on the people who killed their loved one. Even thought that loved one will never return and enjoy life before it was quickly taken away.

The Death Penalty in America has been a talked about issue for some time now. Americans have their own opinions on the death penalty. Some people feel it is too harsh of a punishment, some believe if you take a life you should lose your life. I myself do not believe in the death penalty. To me it goes totally against what Americas was built on God. Even though over the last fifteen years or so we have slowly drifted away from “In God We Trust”. Looking at the death penalty in a whole it was never something that the United States came up with. It was adopted from Britain. (Bohm, 1999)The first ever recorded death penalty in United States history was that of Captain George Kendall in 1608. He was executed for being a spy. The death of Captain Kendall started a chain of other colonies jumping on board for the death penalty. In some colonies they were sentencing people to death for petty crimes, such as steeling, or trading with Indians. Over the years after the death penalty would be reformed and revamped numerous of times. Until it was only used when murder or treason occurred. Matter of fact Pennsylvania was the first state

Many Americans claim that capital punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment and goes against a persons constitutional rights. On the other hand, many Americans support it and claim it is against ther constitutional right not to carry out the death penalty. How are we to know what is right? In all honesty, facts, papers, journals, etc. can not decide how I am truly going to feel about a subject that is very much a macro-argument. None the less, here Americans sit, letting “their” opinion being primarily based off of claims and subclaims made by one side or the other. I guess that is what we will do here. I believe that if we are to look at papers, we might as well look at

Historically, executions have been around for a long time. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. but didn’t make an appearance in the United States until 1608 (Part 1, n.d.). Death penalty is seen as a form of accountability for someone’s action. Most easily understood when you take a life, you lose your life--an eye for an eye. Nonetheless, over time people have started humanizing the situation and creating controversy. The Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as permitting the death penalty, until the early 1960s, when it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore arguing it as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Part

The United States of America’s capital punishment process is very flawed. Humans are imperfect and are always making mistakes, how do we justify being the group of people having the power to condemn someone to death when there have been times that our human judgments were flawed and immoral. This is probably the scariest part of our system and one of the most motiving causes for being against the death penalty. The death penalty alone imposes an irrevocable sentence. Once an inmate is executed, nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake

The majority of the United States’ perspective and value of capital punishment is to punish and kill prisoners, but with that system nothing is accomplished. Plus, there is no evidence that the death penalty reduces crime. In fact, most people on Death Row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their

This country is determined to prove that killing someone under certain circumstances is acceptable, when in all reality there can be no rationalization for the taking of another human life.  Killing is murder.  It is as simple as that.  There have been so many different controversies surrounding this debate that often, the issues become clouded in false statistics and slewed arguments.  The basic fact remains that killing is morally and ethically wrong.  This fact does not disappear by simply changing the term "murder" to "capital punishment".  The act is still the taking of a life.  On these grounds, the death penalty should be abolished.

Capital punishment is an important social justice issue that causes us to rethink the moral value and dignity of criminals. It has been abolished in a majority of the countries worldwide, however, the United States is the only remaining Western democracy that actively uses it as a punishment method. Prior to the 1970s, it was not widely supported because people believed society had an obligation to help transform the lives of criminals and give them another chance. The United States Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in a 1972 court case. However, public support started increasing due to the escalating occurrences of violent crimes, especially murders.

Life is sacred. This is an ideal that the majority of people can agree upon to a certain extent. For this reason taking the life of another has always been considered the most deplorable of crimes, one worthy of the harshest available punishment. Thus arises one of the great moral dilemmas of our time. Should taking the life of one who has taken the life of others be considered an available punishment? Is a murderer's life any less sacred than the victim's is? Can capital punishment, the death penalty, execution, legal murder, or whatever a society wishes to call it, be morally justifiable? The underlying question in this issue is if any kind of killing, regardless of reason, can be accepted. In this

Since the foundation of our nation the Death Penalty has been a way to punish prisoners that have committed heinous crimes, however since the turn of the 20th century the practice of Capital Punishment has been questioned on its usage in America and the world as a whole. The Death Penalty is used in America to punish criminals who have committed murders, or taken the life of an innocent person, and while the death penalty seems like it is doing justice to those who have killed others it is actually being used improperly in most situations, while also hindering our economy and is a means of ending more lives than necessary. The Death Penalty can be a valid source of punishment for criminals in the US however due to the misuse of this power by the government it is a huge detriment to our nation and the people that inhabit it. Because of the fact that Capital Punishment is used unfairly, and ineffectively in our nation it is an obsolete form of punishment and should have no place in the United States justice department.

Perhaps we should give the judge a knife and tell her that if she has

Capital punishment has been around for many years as a way of executing criminals. Despite what most believe, capital punishment is not functional in the American society. Defenders of the death penalty often claim that the execution of criminals will teach others not to do bad, initially decreasing crime rates. Unfortunately, statistics prove that thought to be wrong. Capital punishment also has great flaws. For example, many innocent people have been put to death because of capital punishment. There also is no consistency. Two of the same crimes can be convicted in two different states and the consequences with be different for both offenders. The death penalty shows to be

Capital punishment is a controversial debate in the United States. Many Americans believe that the death penalty is immoral because of its ethical complications. Still others believe that capital punishment is a cheaper and quicker way for justice to be served. When the government houses inmates, vast amounts of money are spent on food, medication, and clothing for inmates to survive in prison. Yet, the majority of America still allows for the practice of capital punishment in several manners such as: hanging, lethal injection and electrocution. However, Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont along with sixteen other states have outlawed this practice. Capital punishment should no longer be practiced in America because of its societal complications.

If it were up to me, every murderer in this country would be put behind bars on death row and have their life taken from them just as they took the life of another. The guidelines of " an eye for an eye" go back thousands of years. Many countries still hold true to these guidelines. Although America doesn't follow the same as these countries, I believe when it comes to murder, they should.

Capital punishment, the practice of killing people as punishment for serious crimes, has been used in the United States justice system since 1846. Throughout the years, there have been numerous ethical concerns, calling for the use of capital punishment, to become a practice of the past. However, are you aware, there are as many economic issues surrounding the death penalty, as there are ethical issues? At first, it may seem that execution, is a less expensive alternative to life in prison, nevertheless the assumption is wrong. Once, the process of a capital punishment case has been completed, the cost is more than double the price, of a life sentence. The United States is the only country, in the western world, which currently allows capital punishment to take place. 20 people were executed, in the year 2016, as a result, the country threw away millions of tax dollars to terminate people, who otherwise could have spent the rest of their days behind bars, for a cheaper price (Execution List 2016). The economics of capital punishment are more complicated, than they may seem; factors such as, cost of the incarceration, trial, and lethal injection all contribute to the overall cost.