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Capital Punishment : A Of Archaic Penalties

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Jake Mustin
Research Paper
Deloach (English 101)
Capital Punishment: A Refutation of Archaic Penalties
If an individual commits a gruesome murder of another and is caught, he will be brought before a jury of his peers who will decide his ultimate fate. If convicted of his crimes, the criminal could face the death penalty. Seemingly endless trials and appeals will plague the remaining life this criminal has. His days will be spent in solitary confinement, often with below-standard conditions and treatment. In the end, he will die a painful death, a final performance before an audience, before his curtain falls. When his last breath leaves his lips, the American judicial system can mark off another successful execution, attributed to the name of almighty justice. Something is wrong with this picture. In a society that claims to be advanced in methods of morality and humanity, capital punishment has no place. Capital punishment is the state-sponsored execution of an individual, serving as punishment and atonement for the crime the individual committed. Through legal precedent, the punishment is not applied to mentally-challenged individuals, those whose sanity is questioned, and children under the age of 18 (“Cruel & Unusual?” 4-6). In a post-Hammurabian society, it is not considered appropriate to rape a rapist, burn an arsonist, or steal a kidnapper’s children (Bedau A3). In the same way, we should not be content to execute a killer, willfully enabling revenge and parading it

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