Critical Analysis: Death and Justice by Edward Kotch

“Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate.” The New York Times. The New York Times.

Throughout the history of man there has always existed a sort of rule pertaining to retribution for just and unjust acts. For the just came rewards, and for the unjust came punishments. This has been a law as old as time. One philosophy about the treatment of the unjust is most controversial in modern time and throughout our history; which is is the ethical decision of a death penalty. This controversial issue of punishment by death has been going on for centuries. It dates back to as early as 399 B.C.E., to when Socrates was forced to drink hemlock for his “corruption of the youth” and “impiety”.

Would it be true that capital punishment saves lives? Edward Koch, in his article “Death and Justice” believes it does. Koch, using common techniques to influence his audience, suggests that killers should be handled within this tried and avenged form of punishment. Koch opens his article by quoting convicted murderers Robert Lee Willie and Joseph Carl Shaw, both in the last moments of their lives pleading for the justice system to put a stop to the endless cycle of killing. Using simple logic, Koch argues that the sudden changing of the killers’ moral character is not a result of remorse for the victims, but rather an attempt to save their own lives from the killing hands of the justice system. Koch effectively uses these quotes to suggest to the reader that a killer might have thought twice about his/her own actions if the death sentence were a belief.

In 1985, David Bruck wrote an article titled The Death Penalty in the New Republic. In the article, David Bruck wrote a rebuttal to the assertions that New York Mayor Ed Koch had in support of the death penalty. Mayor Koch asserted that the death penalty gave proper respect to the lives of the victims. However, Bruck argued that the death penalty gave the voice to the murders, and that the spectacle created an event that was less than respectful to the victims. Mayor Koch also points out that there has been no evidence that innocent people have sentenced to death. However, Bruck uses Mayor Koch’s own source to prove that innocents had been wrongly convicted, but that those cases did not involve the death penalty. Consequently, the finality

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

In David M. Oshinsky’s book, Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America, he discussed the case of Furman v. Georgia. He explores the controversy that capital punishment holds in the United States of America. The death penalty has been in practice for many centuries. For example, “In Massachusetts, where religion had played a key role in settlement, crimes like blasphemy, witchcraft, sodomy, adultery, and incest became capital offenses, through juries sometimes hesitated to convict” (Oshinsky, 2010). For the punishment of death these offenses do not fit the crime. However, capital punishment at this time was rarely criticized. The death penalty demanded many executions including public ones. Many of these were hangings and were public events. After the American Revolution the death penalty began to be questioned. For example, Benjamin Rush stated, “Capital punishments are the offspring of monarchial governments. Kings believe that they possess their crowns by a divine right. They assume the divine power of taking away human life” (Oshinsky, 2010). By the 1840’s there were organized groups opposing the death penalty such as the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment. Within the coming years, the support for capital punishment fluctuated. Throughout the book, Oshinsky explores the many cases leading up to the Furman v. Georgia decision.

The beginning of any thought provoking essay will hook its audience using a form of pathos. “Two of his sons returned home from the battlefield whole and healthy. The third, however, came home suffering multiple seizures a day”-(Rorabacher). The quote generates sympathy within us making us yearn to see a welcoming outcome and leaving the audience hooked. Eli Hager’s article follows a similar route informing us that “The state of Missouri sent Harris to the penitentiary in Boonvilee, 250 miles from his home and baby daughter”-(Hager). Again we sympathize with the loss of a family, but not all of the articles used grievance to hook us. In the “Quiet Alarm” the audience is informed of a vaudeville performer who performed deadly stunts involving hatchets, pins, and guns on himself to generate shockwaves in the audience. From these examples we identify how our emotions lure us into these texts.

In “The Death Penalty is a Step Back” is a written essay by Coretta Scott King, argues that the death penalty is unethical and illegitimate. In doing so, she develops this strong statement by, first, establishing her moral right to make this statement and to promote a non-violence over the death penalty.

The death penalty is a very controversial topic that has been the top of discussion for years around the world. It is a topic that many individuals feel very strongly about. Christopher Hitchens, a political journalist in Washington D.C., writes an essay entitled “Scenes from an Execution” in which it is clear that he is against it. To get his views across in the essay, he uses light humor rather than very serious scenarios directed toward it, although it is a very serious topic. Instead of ranting about opinions, Hitchens writes about his experiences and how others as well as himself were affected. He uses rhetorical devices such as ethos, logos, and pathos to attack capital punishment.

If we examine some arguments presented from both sides, opponents of the capital punishment claim that executing someone is nothing more than an immoral, state-authorized killing which undervalues the human life and destroys our respect for our government which itself says that killing is wrong. But the supporters of the death penalty think that certain murderers

This rhetorical strategy helped push Young’s view on capital punishment. Persuading the reader to see that the death penalty is the only way that this hurt and sadness will end is crucial.

Pew Research states that support for the death penalty has been declining for the past twenty years. (Masci) However there are still many people who still support capital punishment, and the debate about it still rages on in the United States. People such as Edward Koch who in his essay “Death and Justice” supports the use of capital punishment but David Bruck’s essay “The Death Penalty” challenges the use of the death penalty. Although both authors are discussing the same topic, they both use of rhetorical devices t reflects the different sides that they each are proposing and ultimately, Koch’s use of ethos is more effective.

I believe that the movie Dead Man Walking impacted my life greatly. It was a very emotional and moving movie. This was an excellent movie because it portrayed the feelings of both the families of the victims and the murder himself. It shows how much pain and suffering the families had to go through with all the sadness and hatred against Matthew Poncelant. The movie also showed how that the families' hatred did not go away after Matthew was executed. The greatest emotional part of the movie was when Matthew confessed that he did kill the teenagers and that he was truly sorry. From there, he was able to at least die with dignity and also he asked the parents of the teenagers for their forgiveness for him. This movie also showed how the

When New York State’s governor George Pataki took office in 1995, crime dropped in total of 45%, and the murder rate dropped by 1/3. As of September 1st 1995, the death penalty was reinstated in the state of New York, assuring safer communities and fewer victims, and an over all drop in crime rate. People have used a number of arguments to support their views regarding the death penalty. Among the arguments used include deterrence, incapacitation, religious viewpoint, rehabilitation and cost. Yet it is suggested that the true judgement of a persons position on capital punishment is determined by emotional and moral beliefs.

In 2011 I was watching TV when I heard it announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I observed thousands of Americans celebrating with chants, fireworks, tears, hugs, and smiles. I heard a speech by the Mayor of New York. He stated that this killing was a victory and would finally bring peace to all of the families and friends of the people who lost their lives in the attacks on 9/11. This idea, that the death of a murderer brings peace to the victim’s family and friends, was not only accepted but trusted that day. This idea isn’t always accepted when a murderer is sentenced to the death penalty in a court of law in the United States. In “Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life”, Mayor Ed Koch argues that the death penalty strengthens the value of human life through focus on the importance of justice as well as focus on the victim and their families.