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Death Penalty : Analyzing The Capital Punishment 's Statistical Effects And Harms

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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

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