Death Penalty Persuasive Essay

The death penalty disproportionately targets minorities especially African Americans. In the United States of America there is an unequal and unfair burden against African Americans in the criminal justice system. In 2011, African Americans were only 13.6% of the American population (Rastogi, Johnson, Hoeffel, & Drewery, 2011). However, African Americans in 2011 made up 42% of the total death row population (Snell, 2011). Although a minority of the total population in the United States, African Americans make the majority of inmates on death row facing execution. Furthermore, the death penalty in many states is used as tool that following the racial legacy of Jim Crow laws. Sentences resulting in death are higher in states with a history of lynching (Schweizer 92). States with a history of lynching are predominately found in the Southern United states. The Southern United states has the highest population of death row inmates. In 2009 alone there were 1,630 inmates currently on death row in the South compared to 226 in the North and only 988 in the West (Schweizer 92). In addition, the race of the victim often will determine the sentence. Results from the Baldus Study suggested evidence of racial disparity in the state of Georgia based on the victims race (Schweizer 92). The Baldus study argued African American defendants who committed murdered white individuals had much higher probability of receiving the death penalty. Prosecutors in Georgia pursued a verdict of death in 80% of their cases if the defendant was African American and the victim was white (Schweizer 92). This is purely racial discrimination and prejudice. Finally, “Since 1977, the overwhelming majority (77%) off death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though African Americans make up about half of all homicide victims (Amnesty International).”The race of the both the victim and perpetrator in criminal is irrelevant.

The eighth amendment specifically states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (U.S GPO). Every American citizen is entitled to their own rights. Inflicting death and pain upon someone and killing them is cruel and unusual. The justice system is said to have fast and efficient procedures of killing but what the public does not see is the numerous accounts of botched executions that are buried in a system of lies. For example, on June 24th 1987 a man named Elliot rod Johnson was attempted to be put to death by lethal injection. “Because of collapsed veins, it took nearly an hour to complete the execution” (Radelet, 2014). Another example is that on November 7, 2001 a female named Georgia high had a lethal injection “High was pronounced dead some one hour and nine minutes after the execution began. After attempting to find a useable vein for 15 to 20 minutes, the emergency medical technicians under contract to do the execution abandoned their efforts. Eventually, one needle was stuck in High's hand, and a physician was called in to insert a second needle between his shoulder and neck”(Radelet, 2014).There are thousands more of these gruesome and revolting

Andre Crawford killed 11 women on Chicago's South Side over the course of six years. He lured his victims to abandoned buildings, then strangled, beat or stabbed them. As they lay dying, he raped them. Later he returned to have sex with the corpses (Andre Crawford). None of this was enough for him to get the toughest punishment allowed under Illinois law: the death penalty. In some places, people receive the death penalty for killing one person. So why shouldn’t he for 11 murders?

In the United States of America, the death penalty has been carried out in more humane ways than other countries. Our country inherited our death penalty laws from the British when they settled here in the sixteenth century (DIPC). America in the past used, lethal injection, electrocution, hanging and gas chambers. Oklahoma was the first state to implement lethal injection; but Texas was the first to use the tedious process. It requires strapping the inmate down to a gurney, then having a member of the execution team put heart monitors on their body, then putting a needle in usable veins in each arm. Long tubes connect to several intravenous drips. The first thing to go through the tubes is saline, then when given the signal the inmate is injected

Do you ever wonder what should happen to dangerous criminals? Watching the news just thinking “huh?” Well what do you think should happen to the dangerous criminals? There are many opinions. Some people think the only option is the death penalty. I honestly agree and disagree with that because there are some death penalties are justified and some are not .Listen to these two cases.

Imagine walking down a dark empty hall, you see a light praised at the end. You taste a bitter sensation conglomerated with the salty metallic taste of blood as you cringe in agony. You feel nothing, numbness in your the body as you nervously walk closer to the light. Your nasal passage is clogged, but you can smell the fear of the isolated atmosphere. Immediately you stop in your tracks. You now reached the end and confront the thing that will take you out of this world: the electric chair. But this is not the worst of this imaginary scene. All your life, everything that you have worked for up until now, will all disappear. Your family, your friends, all the relationships you have forged with everyone you know, will all come to an end. You

Hammurabi once said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” As of April 1, 2017, there were 2,843 death row inmates in the United States. Society has changed at some point over time. At some point people have forgotten the difference between right and wrong and have forgotten that some things aren’t okay to do. People think that it is okay to kill, rape, torture, etc. They think they can do all of this stuff and not get punished for their actions. How can we as a society think that we can make a change in this world if people continue to do hateful things and think that those things are okay to do? We need to continue to punish people so they understand that they will have consequences for their actions? None

Death Penalty should have been only for people who don’t care about life, People, Mother Nature, Etc.

The death penalty is one of the most controversial topics in the United States and is a topic that will continue to be debated for many years to come. It is the most severe and harsh punishments for a crime. Currently, the death penalty is legal in thirty two states. In my opinion the death penalty is unconstitutional, and should be illegal in all states who still practice it. No state has the right to put its worst criminals to death.

While the death penalty has had its fair share of successful executions, this punishment has gone too far more than once. According to an article from “Death Penalty Information Center”, there were 276 botched executions between the years of 1890 to 2010. Even though this is not a large number , there were still 276 people who suffered and were technically tortured by the government. Regardless of the crime, our eighth amendment right states that it is unconstitutional for the government to commit cruel and unusual punishment to any accused party. If the person being executed did not pass away the first time, they would reset and try again. That is cruel and unusual punishment. Forcing that person to feel that excruciating pain over and over.

Since the year 1976, around 1,462 people in the United States have been executed by lethal injection. Practiced in 31 states and abolished in 19 the death penalty has remained a center stone of debate since its launch in 1976. With so many differing viewpoints, arguments pertaining to the moral issue, legal considerations and possible alternatives have been left unsettled since. The ongoing tug-of-war within these topics slowly tries to chip away at the big question. Should the death penalty be allowed?

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.

Many people have many different opinions of the death penalty with knowing exactly the reasoning behind the penalty itself. There are pros and cons behind the every situations and everyone has their right to their own opinion. Many have been falsely accused because of loss of evidence and false statements. Some have done the crime knowing the consequences if caught and proven guilty.

Our forefathers fought in many great wars and struggled valiantly to craft the United States of America into the proud country it is currently. A well known, and still standing, way that they strengthened and shaped our government was through the creation of the United States Constitution. The U.S. Constitution was established in 1787, The Constitution was written in a particular manner which, if necessary, allowed for it to be amended, and over time it has. The most recent amendment that has been made was the 27th amendment, in 1992. The eighth amendment of the U.S Constitution states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (U.S. Const, amend Vlll) The eighth amendment, although seemingly to the point, is deceitful in its brevity and contains many ambiguities, particularly upon the last phrase of the sentence. It raises the question of what constitutes as cruel and unusual. As the amendment was passed in 1791, is it what would be considered cruel then? Or rather, what is cruel in today’s society?

The death penalty is a prosecute that is used to kill criminals that have committed crimes that are so bad they should not be left alive. The idea of putting another human to death is hard to completely fathom. The physical mechanics involved in the act of execution are easy to grasp, but the emotions involved in carrying out a death sentence on another person, regardless of how much they deserve it, is beyond my understanding. Knowing that it must be painful, dehumanizing, and sickening. The Eight Amendment says” Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Constitutions). And for the article Changing Views on\\e rate has gone down at a steady from the 1990 to now and that they death penalty is sometimes necessary, and it is our responsibility as a society to see that it is done.