Capital Punishment And The Death Penalty

There are five ways to execute a person. The five are: lethal gas, lethal injection, electrocution, hanging, and firing squad. The most commonly used are lethal injection and electrocution. Lethal injection is when the people inject a shot into both of your arms. It takes about three minutes until the acid kills you. Firing squad is when a group of people has guns and the shoot at the murderers

Capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, is a controversial subject which has been argued for decades due to the ethical decisions involved. People believe the death penalty is the right thing to do and that it is the perfect example of ‘justice’ while others believe that it is immoral and overly expensive. The death penalty is not a logical sentence for criminals, it doesn’t give them the right type of justice and it is immoral.

Resolution—Execution should not be allowed in the United States, especially given the risk of executing innocent people.

The justice system is filled with opposition. Those who support the use of Supermax, the death penalty and the execution of those who are mentally retarded and juveniles, and those who oppose the above mentioned. The following essay will discuss all mentioned topics.

The death penalty, as we know it today, didn’t exist in the United States until 1976. However, the American penal system has incorporated capital punishment since the earliest settlements were founded in the early 1600’s. The first recorded execution in the United States occurred in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia when Captain George Kendall was executed just one year after the Jamestown settlement had been established after he had been convicted of being a spy for Spain (Part I: History of the Death Penalty). Over the next 250 years, several states moved toward abolishing capital punishment altogether. While there has been serious push towards ending capital punishment, more than half of state governments within the United States cling onto their right to execute criminals who perform truly heinous crimes.

America’s criminal justice system is based on equality, integrity, and fairness. All criminals are treated the same, given the same rights, and punished fairly based on their crimes. However, despite that, there are many controversial topics regarding the criminal justice system, such as the death penalty. Capital punishment has been used many times in history all around the world, and it was quite popular. Many people argue that capital punishment is useful in deterring crime and that it is only fair that criminals receive death as punishment for a heinous crime. On the contrary, others see the death penalty as a violation of the 8th amendment. It restricts excessive fines, and it also does not allow cruel and unusual punishment to be inflicted upon criminals. Although there have been many court cases discussing capital punishment, there is still much confusion regarding whether it violates the 8th amendment or not. Capital punishment is a very significant, and very controversial topic that has been around for a long time; the death penalty is still being argued today, with persuasive arguments on both sides.

The primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to protect society. All features of the system; detaining delinquents, trials, and punishments all have costs. Reduction in any part of the criminal justice system can potentially result in a harmful society. The question most asked about the death penalty is, “Why should honest, hardworking taxpayers, have to pay for murderers for the rest of their life instead of executing them?” Actually the death penalty is the most expensive part off the system. According to Dr. Ernest Gross, a Creighton University economics professor, who conducted a study in August 2016, the death penalty cost an average 23.2 million more per year than alternative sentences (Gross). The study found that states with the death penalty spend about 3.54% of overall state budgets on court, corrections and other criminal justice functions associated with the death penalty, while states without the death penalty spend about 2.93% on those functions (Gross). The death penalty is more expensive than life without parole because the constitution requires an extensive and complex judicial process for capital crimes. This is to ensure that innocent men and women are not executed for crimes they did not

In modern days times the death penalty is more subtle and less barbaric, thanks to lethal injection ("10 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty."). Is some cases a lot of people believe the death penalty is necessary. When a mass murderer receives the death penalty, few disagree with the punishment. Capital punishment is for the worst of the worst, and for the worst of the worst to receive the worst punishment there is, is only fair. The debate over capital punishment will continue for years to come, whether it’s abolished or not. It is a punishment that may or may not truly fit the crime, while being morally questionable all at that same

"Two Fishermen" examines the use of the death penalty within the justice system. Share your

I once was a strong proponent of capital punishment, trusting the criminal justice system would do the right thing. Moreover, I assumed that the justice system involved honest, ethical people all working together for the good of all mankind. I often argued the need for capital punishment and believed that it increases public safety, and acted as a deterrent to other would be heinous crimes and possibly saved countless lives while acting as a deterrent. As faulty as this thinking may have seemed these were my assumptions, and like most I truly believed in the criminal justice professional, after several years in law enforcement I have learned that there are unethical, criminal justice professionals that use the peoples power

Capital punishment also known as the death penalty is the act of inflicting death as a punishment. The death penalty is a huge and controversial topic in today’s society. There are different types of ways to execute a criminal for the death penalty. There is the electric chair, hanging, or the firing squad. They also had gas chamber but it was abolished in 1996 for cruel and unusual punishment. Some say that the punishments are cruel for the criminals but there is no way to truly know for the mere fact that we cannot as a person what they felt after their neck has been broken or if they feel the chemicals burn through their veins. Now think about an innocent person’s life being put through this. Would it still be human and tolerable to watch and know that capital punishment is risking taking an innocent person’s life? Or how much the cost it would be for one person to be on death row. Lastly capital punishment is not the way to deter crime rates. It can be understood why people may think this but with studies, it has been looked at differently. Capital punishment should be abolished in all fifty states because of high expenses, chances of

The death penalty has been in our criminal justice system since the beginning. Since then there has been different views of whether our criminal justice system should use capital punishment for those who commit a heinous crime. While each side of the debate have thorough thoughts of why or why not the death penalty should/shouldn’t play a role in the criminal justice system. I however am on the side that disapproves capital punishment. The death penalty should be abolished, there are many downs sides of the death penalty a few being; the person being charge of the crime could be wrongfully convicted, it does not deter crime and it goes against the 8th amendment.

Prior to taking this class, I would say that I knew how I felt about the death penalty. Growing up in the 70 's and 80 's, it was always an "eye for an eye", if someone killed another and was proven guilty then he or she would get the death penalty. In high school, I learned that if a person was convicted of the death penalty then they were allowed 13 appeals. Not sure where the 13 appeals came from because I cannot prove that today. The research I have found, is that there is no limit of appeals for the death penalty due to finality of the punishment.

Capital punishment has been an issue that has been debated for quite some time. The expression of, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” has become the basis for political debate over the past several decades. In the United States alone, capital punishment is currently administered within thirty two of the fifty states within the country. The Federal criminal justice system practices and carries out executions of inmates as well. Traditionally, this category of punishment is carried out to act as a deterrent, and give families and/or citizens a feeling of retribution and incapacitation. The ideology behind the practice of capital punishment is to establish that if a life is taken in malice, then so shall the malicious perish for their deed. Additionally, it is only the federal and state governments whom this authority is permitted to. According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), the first constitute law for the death penalty was established in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon dating back to 18 B.C. The first recorded execution in America took place in Jamestown, Virginia in 1612. Since 1976, there have been 1,411 individuals who have been put to death under the various federal and state legislations within the United States of America (DPIC, 2015). The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution shapes procedural aspects that govern how a jury may implement the death penalty. This Amendment lays out the guidelines for how the death

Also, being wrongly convicted is rather uncommon but usually not detected for many years after the execution if carried out. Even if this is the case, nothing can be done as death is an irreversible penalty (Motherjones).