Is the Death Penalty Justified?

The legitimacy of the use of capital punishment has been tarnished by its widespread misuse , which has clouded our judgment regarding the justifiability of the death penalty as a punitive measure. However, the problems with capital punishment, such as the “potential error, irreversibility, arbitrariness and racial skew" , are not a basis for its abolition, as the world of homicide suffer from these problems more acutely. To tackle this question, one must disregard the currently blemished universal status quo and purely assess the advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty as a punitive measure. Through unprejudiced examination of the death penalty and its consequential impacts, it is evident that it is a punishment that effectively serves its retributive, denunciatory, deterrent, and incapacitative goals.

     There are many reasons to both support and oppose the death penalty. Many people can feel very strongly about whether or not they approve of this method of punishment. I feel that the death penalty is wrong, and I believe that there is much support to back this up. I believe that the death penalty is wrong because it is not an effective deterrent, racially and economically bias, unreliable, expensive, and morally wrong of society.

American prisons today are filled to their capacities, yet crime here in America seems to have increased. I am speaking of one of the cruelest forms of crime that must be eradicated, which is murder. It seems as though a life sentence does not impose fear into modern day criminals, seeing that serious crimes are being committed more often. The death penalty is something that is needed here in the United States to help lower these ongoing vicious crime rates. In the essay “The Death Penalty: Is It Ever Justified?” Written by Edward I. Koch, this exact issue is discussed. Koch believes capital punishment in the form of the death penalty may help make these criminals to understand morality, or right from wrong. He states, “Life is indeed precious, and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm that fact” (483). If they were aware of the penalty, criminals may have, “Shown moral awareness before their victims die, and not after” (484). Through persuasive techniques Koch will support his argument in favor of the death penalty.

Should the death penalty be illegal in the United States? Should the death penalty have ever been used at all? Most people would say that the death penalty should not be illegal, while I think it should be illegal and should have been illegal. There are many reasons why the death penalty should be illegal, but what is the death penalty?

Capital punishment raises the very difficult question whether or not it is ethical to kill a convicted criminal. People who oppose the death penalty often argue mistaken identity and wrongful conviction. They argue that long-term imprisonment is the better course of action, because it allows for the possibility that if a mistake was made in the conviction of a suspect, they would be able to correct it without ending the life of an innocent person. They also state that the threat of the death penalty is not a deterrent and people will commit crimes regardless, as often, criminal behavior is committed with the sense that they will not get caught. People who support the death penalty often state that the death penalty is a deterrent, far more than just prison time. They also argue that the death penalty could actually save lives because when a death penalty is carried out, there could be fewer crimes committed in the future.

Does death justify the loss of a loved one? The death penalty has been around for decades, raising questions and resulting in the issue of whether it is socially acceptable or morally incorrect. Instinctively we perceive death with horror, particularly the thought of killing someone else. But as human beings we also have a barbarian instinct that wants revenge when someone has hurt us deeply. Generally people who have suffered a tragedy, in which a loved one has been taken from them, would tend to support the death penalty. While those who have never experienced such an ordeal may see things with a different perspective and debate that a criminal’s life is a human life nevertheless. Arguments of why the death penalty should exist include

Who places the value on human life? That was the underline thought in each one of the essays read, which were written about the death penalty. Throughout this essay I will be using examples from multiple sources. Marie Cartier “Right to Life vs Right to A Life”, Edward Koch “The Death Penalty: Is it Ever Justified?”, David Bruck “The Death Penalty” which is a direct response to Koch, and lastly Zachary Shemtob and David Lat “ Should Executions Be Televised”. It should also be stated that when talking about the value of life, this author is referring to the criminal, on death row for murder. As insensitive as it may sound we are writing under the thought that what’s done is done, now what? Who has the right to determine if this criminal life has value or not.

The death penalty that is still in effect today in America, stems back to before the United States gained freedom from Britain. The formation of the death penalty as a punishment was taken by the colonists from the British. It has been under constant pressure from abolitionists since the day that it was established as a punishment. However, it was not until the nineteenth century when abolitionist movements began to influence the states on the issue of the death penalty to see the form of punishment abolished. Slowly states began to change the laws on the death penalty and some even stopped using the death penalty as a punishment option. These states have now lost an element of deterrence in which is the only way to halt some crimes from being committed. It also does not serve justice now that a innocent life can be taken while the murder continues to live. The United States death penalty is a benefit to America’s society because it deters capital offense, justice is upheld constitutionally, and it lessens the cost to house inmates.

There has been both a political and personal interest when it came to the death penalty and how people felt about it. There is a lot of states that currently still allow the death penalty and very few of them that finally disallowed the death penalty. I personally feel that the death penalty is wrong no matter who is taking someone's life.

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 has always been an issue or debate in the United States, typically being asked if it should be illegal or not. As of right now there are thirty-one states, including Ohio in which I live, that still use the death penalty as it is illegal in the rest. There are many supporters of it, there is also a huge amount of opposition. There are things included in both sides that can make the argument harder to be one-sided but I believe that the death penalty should be legal throughout the entire nation. Not only does it create deterrence, it also creates morality and retribution.

The Death penalty is a very delicate topic. People can 't just scream their believes to prove their point. Today, the United States of America is in the minority of countries that still use the Death Penalty as a punishment for certain crimes. Even though the controversy over the Death Penalty is overlooked most of the time, the country divides into two groups; those who believe that it will reduce the crime rate and give calm to families victims, and those who believe is barbaric and Inhuman. There are three different points of view were to see the death

The death penalty is a punishment of execution administered to someone who is legally convicted of capital punishment. The death penalty has been practiced throughout America since the 1600’s. The death penalty was influenced by Britain; it was created for a purpose of deterrence. The death penalty was designed to be a way to deter individuals by making an example of those who has committed selected crimes that ended in a sentencing to capital punishment. The first recorded execution was of Captain George Kendall for treason and mutiny by a firing squad. During this time known as the early period of capital punishment which is 1608-1929 there was an estimate of 10,598 executions. How it is that capital punishment is a form of deterrence

The death penalty is a tough debate and an overwhelming argument in this country. We as Americans put Timothy McVeigh to death by lethal injection just three months ago. Arguments can be made for and against the death penalty, but this is not the problem. Capital Punishment is supposed to be a deterrent to crime, but is the death penalty really a deterrent? Capital Punishment is not a deterrent for crime, and the effects of Capital Punishment are actually hurting the American citizens. Capital Punishment affects the American citizens by having those citizens pay millions of dollars for death row inmates, and these criminals affect those same citizens because the

Capital punishment, better known as the death penalty, is the act of killing or executing a person who was found guilty of a serious crime, by the government. Capital punishment became widespread during the Middle Ages and was applied throughout Western Europe for more than two thousand years. Although, the call to abolish it started in the 18th century, some of the first countries being Venezuela in 1863, San Marino in 1865, and Costa Rica in 1877. Great Britain abolished the death penalty in 1965 and was permanently outlawed in 1969. By 2004, eighty-one countries had abolished capital punishment, but some countries in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia still use it for ordinary crimes. At present day, China and the United States apply the