Liberal Death Penalty

The Republican Party believes that the government should not have a big part in the average American's life. They believe in taxes being lowered and less spending on social programs, they believe in the advancement of women in the military, marriage should be between man and woman.The republican party also believes that criminals can't cause harm or damage to anybody or anything if they are locked behind bars, that the death penalty should be enforced on major criminals and big drug kingpins, that our taxes should be going towards cleaning up our environment and finding better energy sources. They believe that we should help poor nations, that Americans should have a right to firearms without having to obtain a license to posses one, that the government should open more public land for hunting, that we should track each foreign traveler and should not have aerial surveillance over U.S soil, That increasing our minimum wage makes our country more competitive.

Holly Near once said, “Why do we kill people, who kill people, to show that killing people is wrong?” The contradiction of the purpose for having the death penalty is superb. If the government believes that killing people is wrong, why do the government kill people who perform the act they are against? The death penalty is a punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. Capital crime can be classified as first degree murder, murder with special circumstances, rape with bodily harm or federal treason. The death penalty in America was influenced by the British. When British settlers came to America they bought the practice of capital punishment to each colony. Laws regarding the death

Finding myself on the political spectrum was rather easy. I would classify myself a centrist or moderate. My views do not completely align with either major ideology and on major issues I'm split between the liberal and conservative sides. One thing that both liberal and conservative ideologies believe in is Democracy. I believe that we must protect democracy at all costs. The rights that democracy affords us a citizens of the United States are unique and require the upmost respect. I hold the liberal view that the government should protect the public safety. I believe the government is responsible to protect its people and act in the publics best interests. Therefore, I also hold the views that gun control and protection of the environment must be enacted and legislated to protect the public. I believe in equal opportunity and access because if you aren't playing on the same starting field how are you expected to move up and succeed. I hold the conservative

Over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries use of the death penalty was increasingly restricted to the most serious offences. It was removed from pickpocketing in 1808, and from many more offences in the 1820s and 1830s. By the 1840s only those found guilty of the most serious offences (murder, wounding, violent theft, arson, sodomy) were sentenced to death (though only murderers were actually executed), and the 1861 Offences Against the Persons Act abolished the death penalty for all offences except for murder and High Treason.

In the 1800s during the time of prison reform, the use of capital punishment and conviction with the death penalty became increasingly stigmatized- less and less was this an acceptable form of punishment and grew to be seen in a much more negative light. Throughout American history, the death penalty through hangings and other execution styles was a part of public society and was often a form of entertainment. Gradually these executions moved out of the public limelight and into a more private sphere, often within the prison walls, and eventually made their way to death by electric chair and lethal injection. Increasing focus on morality led the states and country to tend toward these more ethical ways execution, yet the death penalty has still

Throughout history, many governments were implementing the death penalty unfairly because of the unjust rulers, such as the Romans and the Ottomans. For example, they were executed people who were demanding for their rights. Furthermore, the penalty ways were very ugly and inhumane. To be more precise, Romans used the saw to cut up the accused into two halves and this execution-style was the favorite of the Roman emperor Caligula. Also, Ottomans were using the stake in the death penalty to make the victim suffer as long as possible before he died.

According, to the quiz, I am a liberal democrat and my topology quiz showed that I am a solid liberal. 4 Solid liberals are more focused on social safety net and take very liberal position on virtually all issues. I believe that the success and development comes with change rather than following the long standing norms and principles. Liberal democrats believe in open and independent society. I believe that good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace and stability. Military strength gives rise to hatred and violence. Good understanding comes with good diplomacy.

Von Drehle, David. "The Death of the Death Penalty." Time. Time, 8 June 2015. Web. 04 Nov.

The liberal ideology is based in the values of individualism, in that the individual themselves is important in their pursuit and struggle for freedom. There are some factors that are common in liberalism, some of which include: liberty, formation of equality and dominance of individuals in bearing within their society. This essay will discuss these ideas of liberalism in relation to how they support the controversial issue of capital punishment. Capital punishment is the sentencing of someone who has committed a serious offence to death. Capital punishment was practiced in Australia since the British colonisation and formally abolished when it was last used in 1967. Only in 2010 did federal legislation prohibit capital punishment in all Australian states and territories. The attitudes towards capital punishment are multidimensional and complex, which makes determining the public’s opinion a complicated issue. There has been research that has found that an individual’s attitude towards capital punishment is reflective of one’s ideological self-image. There is worry that liberals could ground retributive justice in concrete, in that they could enforce more if that’s what they feel the public is looking for. Another issue for both the public and the government is that many people are ignorant on the factual issues that have to do with the death penalty, which can affect people’s opinions and therefore their actions on the

James Felner, author of “Mentally Retarded Don’t Belong on Death Row,” states that, “A person is considered mentally retarded if he or she has a significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, which generally means recording an IQ score of lower than 70, and exhibiting deficits in adaptive behavior before the age of 18.” According to the American Association on Mental Retardation, it has three components:

Early death penalty laws were first established in the Eighteenth Century B.C. in Babylon under the Code of King Hammurabi. It codified the death penalty for 25 different types of crimes. In addition the Death Penalty was also included in the Fourteenth Centuries B.C. Hittite Code as well as in the Seventh Century B.C.’s Draconian Code of Athens. The Death Penalty allowed death as the only punishment available for all crimes. In the Fifth Century B.C. Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets (1) . Methods of death sentences included beheading, crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, boiling in oil, disembowelment, flaying alive, hanging, stoning, strangling, being thrown to wild animals, being torn apart and impalement were the way sentences

The most severe punishment attainable is the death penalty, and although it is extremely serious and irreversible, it is necessary for the justice of the United States. The death penalty is a controversial issue brought up for debate year after year in America. The country is split between supporters of capital punishment and non supporters. John Wayne Gacy was a man many people loved. His friends said he was a joyous guy who loved to entertain children, Gacy would dress up as Pogo the clown for neighborhood parties. Soon the name “Pogo” would change to “Killer.” In years later John was charged with raping and killing 33 boys and young men, 29 of whom were found underneath Gacy’s house (John). It is important that the death penalty is discussed, decided, and refined so the country can better agree on the

Capital Punishment was adopted by America when the state of Virginia carried out the colonies’ first execution in 1608 (“History of the Death Penalty”). Since then, usage of the death penalty has been instituted by 36 states, making execution the ultimate form of punishment. Although in theory the death penalty seems like a viable method of punishment, in practice, it has serious flaws that damage the integrity of the state. Capital Punishment has been falsely idolized as a deterrent, applied unfairly for generations, used as a vehicle for revenge, and made people blind to the fact that life in prison without parole is an equally acceptable form of punishment. The death penalty is an

Bright, Stephen B.: "The death penalty as the answer to crime: costly, counterproductive and corrupting"; 35 Santa Clara Law Review 1211 (1995)

In his paper, “The Minimal Invasion Argument Against the Death Penalty”, Hugo Adam Bedau argues against the death penalty. Bedau’s purpose is to convince people to favor the lifetime imprisonment over the death penalty with an argument that had been previously used by other authors called “The minimal Invasion Argument”, which he considers to be “the best argument against the death penalty”(Bedau, 4). In this paper I will describe Bedau’s argument and show how he has some weaknesses addressing the concept of the minimal invasion argument by ignoring what in my opinion is the main reason why the death penalty has not been abolished; this reason being our incapacity as humans to “define” our environment. When