The intent of this paper is to share the views of those who oppose capital punishment. I, for one, am part of the majority that is in support of the death penalty. I am in agreeance of the old saying of “An eye for an eye”. The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues in our criminal justice system. There is an increase in opposition against the death penalty, not only in the United States. Many Americans feel that capital punishment is wrong. It is hard for people to fathom the idea of putting someone else to death. It is not the physical mechanics involved in executions that are hard to handle. It is the emotions involved in carrying out the process. Many feel that the death penalty violates the eight Amendment of a …show more content…
The people that are mainly given a conviction of death are those of minority and the poor. Oppositionist feel that if a white or rich person committed the same crime would be sent away with a lesser punishment or a slap on the wrist. Economic and racial bias is an argument that is made across the board in our justice system. This is an argument that has caught the eye of many Civil Rights unions. It has been said that with the use of capital punishment, violent crimes will be reduced. This is the third argument. However, the opposition does not agree. There is no prove that the rates of violent crimes have been reduced. The opposition argues that capital punishment does not act as a deterrent for these crimes. They also argue that it is irreversible. The fourth and final argument involves the amount of time that a prisoner spends on death row. Prisoners tend to spend a lot of time on death row prior to executing day because retrials, technicalities, appeals, or other delays. Due to those reasons the opposition argues that having a person wait for years for execution is both costly and cruel. They feel that if a prisoner is going to wait that long then he or she should be convicted of life imprisonment without the option of being
From 1976 to March of 2015 1,392 people have been killed by the death penalty. The number of inmates on death row has reached over 3,000 (“Death Penalty Statistics”). These numbers show a hypocritical side of America. This is the part of American that focuses on “an eye for an eye” rather than on our constitution and its standpoint on cruel and unusual punishment. This idea that criminals need to get what they deserve through the death penalty is what can cloud people's judgment and waste the taxpayer’s money. The death penalty is a misguided form of punishment that should not be used in United States justice system.
A. Attention Getter: Thou shall not kill, only one of the ten commandments that some individuals unfortunately can not seem to uphold. What would the world look like if we did not have an “eye for an eye” mentality? The debate about whether or not capital punishment is ethical or immoral is significant because our country is spending unnecessary amounts on death penalty executions, in which citizens do not know enough about the subject matter to disagree or protest its use. While tax payers are paying for this procedure, the death penalty poses many moral insurrections.
Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent. The overwhelming conclusion from years of deterrence studies is that the death penalty is, at best, no more of a deterrent than a sentence of life in prison. The Ehrlich studies – which took
In this essay, I will argue for the implementation of the death penalty. I will establish a clear-cut profile for a criminal to be eligible for death row. I will put forth arguments for and against the death penalty as supported by various groups and try to defend my position. I shall also try to criticize the case against the death penalty with individual arguments. Finally, I will demonstrate that no alternative to capital punishment can be reached and try to convince you for its fairness. Despite ethical and moral concerns, the issue of capital punishment must not be dismissed without serious consideration and scrutiny.
Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individual State governments, have differing opinions. Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen to the opposition of Capital Punishment.
This passage presents a discussion about arguments concerning morality of the death penalty. This is an important debate to both proponents and opponents of the death penalty because of the serious implications of the punishment. The two positions argue whether or not the death penalty should be prohibited. Both viewpoints have valid claims warranting consideration. For example, evidence indicates that death sentence is both cruel and immoral. In contrast, opposing evidence suggests that is a moral punishment for certain offenders. While both sides of the issue have valid points, the claim that the death penalty should not be prohibited is the stronger position, the position supported by the preponderance of the evidence cited in the passage. The most convincing and forceful reasons in support of the position that capital punishment should still be used are that it is the only moral punishment for brutal and heinous crimes, that it is more humane than a life long prison sentence, and that it was found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court. Accordingly, these reasons and opposing viewpoint will be discussed next.
Capital punishment, or death penalty is an ongoing controversial issue that has been discussed among people today. Different people view capital punishment differently. Some may oppose such punishment while others may agree with it. Some people have viewed capital punishment as a deterrence of crime, and others have seen it as murder and thus unethical. Despite the fact that over 135 countries across the world have prohibited the use of death penalty with little evidence to support its use, the United States, nonetheless remains as one of the few major nations that still exercise capital punishment. According source available, capital punishment is not effective in deterring crime. Alternative punishments such as life in prison should be used. To various cultures or religions, it is considered to be unethical. It goes against certain people’s beliefs. The cost of capital punishment is not cheap, nor is the cost of executing an innocent human being. Over the years, multiple cases have indicated the possibilities of executing an innocent person because of mistrial or unfair trial. Death penalty is unethical; therefore, capital punishment should be abolished.
The death penalty has been an issue of controversy, causing many states in America to repeal it and call it inhumane. However, the truth is that many citizens are strongly divided on the issue and have strong opinions on whether the death penalty should indeed be kept and reinforced or whether it should just be abolished altogether. When analyzing this issue from a sociological perspective, conflict theory is best used as an argument against the death penalty. This sociological conflict theory is heavily tied in with class conflict a conflict that outlines how socioeconomic factors affect a group of disadvantaged people more so than those that are better off financially. It is because of the disproportionate number of lower class minorities that end up on death row that makes the death penalty an inhumane and cruel way of punishing individuals for crimes that they have committed.
Since the mid 1900’s, capital punishment has brought many individuals into many diverse view points throughout the years. Capital punishment is a way of punishing a convict by killing him or her because of the crime he or she committed. Capital punishment will always have its pros and cons. There are opponents who absolutely disagree with capital punishment. And then there are advocates who support the idea. In the advocates view point, capital punishment is a way to minimize the threat in the world today. In the opponent’s point of view, opponents disagree with capital punishment, because of the high expenses it brings to the states. Also, opponents argue that capital punishment
In the United States, the use of the death penalty continues to be a controversial issue. Every election year, politicians, wishing to appeal to the moral sentiments of voters, routinely compete with each other as to who will be toughest in extending the death penalty to those persons who have been convicted of first-degree murder. Both proponents and opponents of capital punishment present compelling arguments to support their claims. Often their arguments are made on different interpretations of what is moral in a just society. In this essay, I intend to present major arguments of those who support the death penalty and those who are opposed to state sanctioned executions application . However, I do intend to fairly and accurately
In society there many things that are debated among the people based on their beliefs, morals, and values. For this paper chose the death penalty because it is one of the highly debated topics in not only today’s society but also in the past. The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, it used as a procedure of retaliation against those who commit violent crimes such as murder and other capital crimes. There are many forms of this punishment, for instance, the electric chair, lethal injections, and the firing squad. There are many feelings and arguments in relation to capital punishment. Some people believe that the death penalty is moral because they deserve it and it provides protection to the society. However, in this paper I will argue that capital punishment is totally immoral because it is not fair, is it unnecessary, and unethical.
The death penalty is a controversial capital punishment which is involving a crime. It is controversial because some people are for it and some people are against it. In this paper, I am going to show you why I think we should abolish the death penalty; it doesn’t deter the rate of crimes, and innocent people get accused of crimes they didn’t even commit.The purpose of the death penalty is to give closure to the victim’s family, to punish crimes, and to prevent the crime from repeating again. They incorporate the capital punishment to try and scare future victimizers from making the same mistake as the others. The goal of the death penalty is met simply by removing an offender from society. Therefore, opponents of the death penalty can and
The notion of sentencing another human being to death is difficult to completely comprehend. The physical procedure 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 comprehension. This act has been critiqued by many people from all around the world and it is our responsibility as a society to see that capital punishment is wrong and inhumane. Some oppositions to the death penalty include racial bias in death sentencing, capital punishment is irreversible, capital punishment costs more than incarceration, and poor quality defense leaves many sentenced to death.
When people hear the word death, it evokes many emotions; fear, sadness, uncertainty, the terror of the unknown. But, that hasn’t stopped anyone from enforcing the death penalty. Electrocution, Lethal Injection, Hangings, the Gas Chamber and the Firing squad are only a few types of execution methods practiced by the government over a prolonged time period. Some may think these sound like types of torture methods. Not humane ways to end a person 's existence for unspeakable criminal acts. ( add more ) . In having the death penalty, does it really deter crime? Are criminals in the right state of mind when committing such heinous acts? Do they consider the consequences in a logical way, having their twisted, warped perspectives of reality? All these questions a more will be answered through this informative and perspectivally essay addressing the issue of the Death Penalty, explaining why it should be abolished and wiped off the face of this earth, never to be conceived of again. I believe that it should be exterminated for many reasons, mainly because it violates human rights, it does not deter crime, and it’s running the risk of executing innocent people.
The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.