Joshua Baltzley
AP Lang, B2
Ms.Wallace
10 January 2015
Death Penalty: Analyzing the Capital Punishment’s Statistical Effects and Harms
Imagine what it feels like for people who are on death row. Regrets are racing through their minds. Nerves are shooting up their spine. They start to feel this overwhelming guilt come upon them. This guilt makes them feel as if they deserve this punishment. The truth is they do not deserve it. No human being in this world deserves that punishment. They deserve a second chance. They deserve a glimmer of hope in their life that makes them strive to do better. The death penalty kills their hope. It takes their hope and annihilates it, leaving no traces behind. The death penalty is a punishment that should never be used because no person deserves to be killed for their actions, and it has way too many harmful statistics that affect the government and the people of America.
The death penalty has also been suggested as a threat in plea-bargaining. In the article Leveraging Death, Sherod Thaxton addresses the use of the death penalty as leverage in plea negotiations as virtually nonexistent (475). Thaxton states ways that describe why researching this is important, “Examining the impact of capital punishment on plea bargaining is important for several reasons. First, it helps inform our understanding of how sentencing law influences plea bargaining….Second, the use of the death penalty as leverage in plea negotiations raises important legal and
First, the death penalty has its ups and downs because they could kill again if the criminal is released or if he or she escapes prison. There have been cases where the criminal serves his/her time in prison, then gets released and then kills again. They usually do this for two reasons: committing crime is all they are accustom to or they never learned their lesson while behind bars. There have also been times where people have escaped prison and the only way they know they’ll get away is by killing anyone that gets in their way. Majority of the public believes that if the criminal gets out and kills again, it’s the justice systems fault because it’s their job to keep us safe.
Some may think that the death penalty is a good punishment though. Their reasons being that is more humane to put someone to death than to throw them into prison to rot for the rest of their life. Inmates who receive the life without parole punishment will never see the light of day ever again. They will spend their whole life knowing that someone else was able to escape their hell by being given the death penalty. To add on to that while they live their life out, they are stuck thinking about the crimes they have committed for the rest of their existence, no matter how much they regret what they have
I do not think that the death penalty should be allowed. Anyway why not just have a life in prison without parole. It might just be cheaper to kill someone, but if it is not right for murders to kill why is it right for the government to kill. Think of it there could be many things worse than the death penalty, just imagine living with all that guilt. Also think if a child killed and got a death penalty 13 year olds have been tried as adults. So if a 13 year was killed because of a death penalty why they have to die young, because the guilt would build up over the years and be worse than the death penalty. So all in all a sentence to life in prison without parole could be worse than a death penalty.
I understand that some people think it’s justice but it’s really not. The way to make that person who has done something bad suffer is to let them sit in prison and rot. They will then have a long time to think about the crime or crimes that they had committed. Some people feel that if one don’t get the death penalty they are considered free but that is not the case. Just cause they are not put to death doesn’t mean they are free. They still have to sit in prison and deal with what they have done. To me I think that the death penalty should just be eliminated
The death penalty is one of the worst punishments for criminals. There are so many problems rooted in the death penalty.I believe we should get rid of the death penalty because they could be killing an innocent person that has been convicted. We should also get rid of the death penalty because killing someone is more expensive than keeping them in jail for life.People on death row are promised a quick death not a slow and painful one but there have been times when prisoners are taking longer to die and its more painful than it should be.
The death penalty is arguably one of the most controversial issues of our time. Currently, only eighteen states and Washington D.C. have abolished the death penalty. However, the question remains: what does research say for or against the death penalty? In 2009, a study was done that found the statistic that 88% of criminologists believed that capital punishment is not a deterrent to murder (Radelet and Lacock, 2009). The majority of research also points to the conclusion that the journey from arrest, to trial, to execution is extremely expensive, even more so than that of a life sentence. Finally, who considers the people tasked with performing the execution? What about their mental health? Through examining the death penalty’s facts, deterrence,
The death penalty is a lot like the statement “crying over spilled milk” in the sense that it is pointless and makes no real difference with regards to the situation. The death penalty was created as a punishment for crimes committed, but even from the beginning crime was still a problem and the punishment was not a deterrent. The history concerning the death penalty is extensive and can be found documented all the way back to Ancient Babylon in 18th Century BC (Reggio). It was used as punishment for a variety of crimes varying from place to place and was, in some instances, used as the punishment for all crimes. In every one of the places and time spans where the death penalty was implemented crime was still present. Criminals were not deterred by the threat of death even then and today is no different. If someone wants to commit a crime badly enough, not even death can change their mind.
After reading, Getting off Death Row: Commuted Sentences and the Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment by H. Naci Mocan & R. Kaj Gittings (2003) conducted a study to examine the deterrent effects of the capital punishment among juvenile offenders. Unquestionably, the effectiveness of capital punishment is based on how our society views it, particularly in the United States, supports the idea that capital punishment is a deterrent from committing a crime. However, H. Naci Mocan & R. Kai Grittings (2003) argues “Because of the ethical, moral, and religious aspects of capital punishment, executing death row inmates generates repercussions, even from outside the United States” (Mocan and Gittings, 2003, p, 455). No doubt, the United States needs
A rarity exists in a single topic that can cause a degree of controversy so large that it attracts politicians, judges, community organizers, economists and even religious officials to discuss it. This issue is one that some support and others oppose; that is, the issue of capital punishment. Capital punishment is loosely defined as the execution of an offender who is sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law for a criminal offense (Encyclopedia Britannica). This execution of an offender model exists in many nations and also in many forms. For instance, in the country of Zimbabwe, executions are carried out for individuals convicted of treason and drug trafficking, and is exclusively in the form of hanging (Death Penalty Worldwide 2015). Although capital punishment exists around the world, the focus of this paper will be centered on the United States, on the state level. Capital punishment is legal in some states, but the legality does not imply that it is free of problems. There have been growing concerns and strong evidence of the problem of capital punishment. However, the two issues featured in this paper will be issues on racial bias, questions of innocence. These concerns will be analyzed in the following sections: definition of the problem, unit of analysis, analysis of political coalitions, analysis of policy
Governors from death penalty states all over the world have expressed the agony they experience in deciding whether to grant clemency to a person who is about to be executed. Corrections officers undoubtedly have stressful jobs. One recent report indicates that 31% of correctional officers have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Comparing that to the rate of PTSD among returning Iraq war veterans, which is 20%, illustrates the enormity of the psychological toll exacted on prison staff. For those charged with carrying out executions, the toll is even heavier. It is clear by these statistics that capital punishment should be abolished. The execution of these criminals has major lasting psychological effects on the justice system. Despite
Radelet and Akers investigated sixty-seven leading American criminologists about the observational study on deterrence and discovered that a remarkable majority of specialists agreed that the death penalty has never been, is not, and never could be preferred to long imprisonment sentences. Approximately Seventy-eight percent of the states analyzed declared that the death penalty does not reduce the homicide rates. Moreover, Ninety-one percent of people responded politicians support the death need to look tough on crimes. Particularly, Ninety-four percent indicated that there was limited evidence to support the deterrent impact on the death penalty. Ninety-one percent stated that the capital punishment has little effect on homicide rates, and
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.
The death penalty, which can also be known as capital punishment, used to be a practice that was used everywhere in the world at one point. However, over the years lately, countries are starting to have some sense and are starting to eliminate it, including America being one. Sadly, in countries that are not democratic, the death penalty is still being practiced. The Death Penalty is a solution to those who have done wrong in a certain case to a certain degree. It is known to be one of the most serious punishments for crimes committed. The Death Penalty was actually started back in the day for situations such as murder, rape, and burglary. In different parts of the world the death penalty can be different. For example, there are some countries that find it to be the best punishment because it is the easy way out and do not have to go through the process. However, some people may find that unfair. There are many people who oppose this capital punishment, but there are also many people who support it. There are many pros and cons to both sides; however, some main points that are argued against the death penalty are how it can take an innocent life, the cost, and finally just having justice. It is a horrible punishment that nobody deserves to go through when they can spend their life suffering. There are better practices for punishment of prisoners instead of them receiving the death penalty.
Some people appose the death penalty because they believe it cost more to kill the person than to keep them in prison for life. If you put any thought into this at all, you will see that it is entirely wrong. If you put someone in jail for life, you have to feed them every single day, keep them sheltered, and take up the space in the jails. If you put someone to death, you don't have to worry about any of that. The cost of executions is far less than life in jail. Death penalty cases have alot of appeals, that cost alot of money, but life without parole cases have just about the same amount of appeals and cost just the same. When it comes down to it, putting the murderers in our country to death saves money, time, and space in our jails.
The clock ticked as he waits in his freezing, lonely, pitch-black cell, not ready for death. He has lost track of how many times he has said how sorry he is, or it was a mistake, and yet three more days and his life will be over, for he had been sentenced to death. Thousands upon thousands of people have felt this way, just waiting on death row. The death penalty is a very serious punishment only given when the perpetrator purposely takes one or more lives. According to deathpenaltyinfo.com, in 2017, twenty-three people have been executed and 1248 people in total since 1976. After reading articles arguing for and against both sides, it is clear that the Capital Punishment should be abolished because it does not do anything to discourage murder, it is racially biased, and most of the people who are executed are mentally ill and or have disabilities.