Death Penalty Essay

More than two centuries ago, the death penalty was commonplace in the United States, but today it is becoming increasingly rare. In the article “Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?”, Diann Rust-Tierney argues that it should be abolished, and Joshua Marquis argues that it should not be abolished. Although the death penalty is prone to error and discrimination, the death penalty should not be abolished because several studies show that the death penalty has a clear deterrent effect, and we need capital punishment for those certain cases in which a killer is beyond redemption.

Against the Death Penalty: An Annotated Bibliography While the Death Penalty has been historically used as a deterrent of crime, it is barbarity, is economically costly, and racially bias in the United States of America. With this research paper, I will explain how the death penalty should be abolish from our judicial system. Death Penalty Information Center. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org./ This is a website that gives lots of information about the death penalty from the history, current inmates and trials that could lead to death row.

The death penalty doesn’t discourage persons from committing murders. Some may respond that the deterrent value of capital punishment is unproved. But if we

Convicted criminals should be limited in their appeals and there should be no stays of execution to draw out their incarceration. Executions should be carried out forthrightly, without delay and with sufficient publicity to get the message across to other criminals. To see a reduction in crime based on the death penalty, society must realize that criminals will, no matter what, be put to death if particular crimes are committed. They need to realize and that there is no hope of absolution. The same that is true for capital punishment, is true in general. Though retributive and utilitarian principles of justice are independent from one other; and though they can sometimes lead us to same conclusion on what is right and wrong. Both principles are needed because there is no assurance that the decision is the right one, without a system of checks and

If criminals had the horrifying threat of the death penalty, they would think before commiting crimes. “The death penalty is a necessary tool to fight and deter crime. Capital punishment deters crime by causing

Many people have a fear of death, many a fear of confinement. It is impossible to predict which sentence would deter the most potential murderers. With this in mind, it makes more sense to have a variety of sentences that would deter the greatest amount of people. Abolishing the death penalty may result in those who are not deterred by the life sentence continuing to commit heinous crimes. As van den Haag states, “Sparing the lives of even a few prospective victims by deterring their murderers is more important than preserving the lives of convicted murderers because of the possibility, or even the probability, that executing them would not deter others” (194).

The idea of capital punishment deterring crime is difficult to determine; some could rationalize that the death penalty should in theory stop potential murders from committing crimes. However, this rationalization has never been concretely proven. The research into capital punishment’s effect on deterrence is immense; however, the majority of research on this issue has differential findings. Although some research suggests conclusively that capital punishment deters crime, others found that it fails to do this. Understanding deterrence, the death penalty, and the results of

Thesis: The death penalty uses cruel and unusual brutal methods which violate the Constitution of the United States of America and; therefore, it should be abolished as society continues to embrace the relative value of life.

Ever since it was abolished in Britain in 1965, there have been calls to reinstate capital punishment. Controversial at the time and even more controversial now, the death penalty has always divided the people and parliament. The view points In the UK differ from person to person. Some call for the death penalty to be re-established due to the so-called law of retaliation: ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’. However on the contrary others believe that all life is precious and that the death penalty should be eradicated. I believe that it should stay abolished as whatever the crime a human person has the human right to live and that life is sacred.

Some may argue that the death penalty deter criminals since they are likely to choose life over death. Based on Dr. William Schmitz point of view, “the death penalty should be kept and not dragged out of 20 years, and the insanity defense should be thrown out” (“In defense of death…”). While the insanity plea is an easy escape for criminals, the death penalty still does not discourage criminals from committing crimes once again. According to Jones, “in 1997 the average murder rate per 100,000 population among death-penalty states was 6.6, while for non-death penalty states it was 3.5” (Jones). If the death penalty is suppose to serve as a deterrent, then there should have been a cumulative effect in lowering the homicide rates. However, most criminals rarely consider the consequences while engaged in their crimes. Informed by the FBI Uniform Crime Statistics, “from 1995-1999, states without the death penalty had a 45 percent lower average homicide rate than the states with the death penalty” (Belousek). The only public good that this system brings to society is that it serves momentary justice. Lives taken by criminals

The death penalty is often regarded as an issue of ethics and morality, but people often fail to realize that there are many other factors that make it unjustifiable. The system currently in place, and any system the will be developed in the future, is fundamentally flawed on many levels. As a system made by humans filled with vengeance, it fails to take into consideration things such as cost to the state, racial discrimination, potential murder of innocence, failure as a deterrent, inhumane medical processes, and cases of mental illness. These are just some of the reasons as to why the death penalty is an unethical, immoral, and barbaric form of justice. The death penalty, for these reasons, should be abolished in the United States and any

The primary function of the death penalty is to act as deterrence, yet evidence has indicted that this cruel punishment has failed to deter crime.

First of all, the death penalty should be abolished because it is morally wrong. For example, when Richard Wolf was discussing the death penalty in California, he states “...only 13 of 900 people sentenced to death since 1978 have been executed. The majority will die in prison or spend decades fighting their convictions.”

Society takes many risks in which innocent lives can be lost. The death penalty forces an irrevocable sentence. Once a prisoner is executed,

Death penalty should be scrapped because it can lead to the execution of innocent people. The justice system is bound to make mistakes and so, the accused people should be given a chance to appeal, and prove their innocence other than being murdered because of mistakes made by judges. There are many cases whereby individuals are imprisoned and