Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty

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.

In today’s modern society where we pride ourselves on our scientific advancements, on our architectural wonders, and our forward methods of thinking, we still hold on to practices that are unjust, unfair, and highly unethical. We protect our people against discrimination, domestic abuse, police brutality and sexual offenses. We preach equality for all based on gender, race, religion, disability, and sexual preference. If we truly believe in these notions, we must let go of the barbaric practices that endorse the notion of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life. This primitive way of thinking has no place in our present or future. Do we want to be viewed as a country that encourages rehabilitation, or a society of retribution and vengeance. The death penalty, the ultimate government sanctioned form of retribution, must be abolished in our justice system – permanently.

Imagine being convicted of a crime, a serious crime, and waiting for the moment of execution. Moments pass like days, or even weeks, and the waiting begs the question; is it ever morally right to take another’s life? Every day innocent American citizens find themselves on death row crimes they did not commit. In a tremendous act of hypocrisy, the criminal justice system murders people to prove to society that killing is wrong. Capital punishment is said to be able to sweep the nation’s streets from crime. It has made no changes to deter criminals and lower the rates of crime. Since, capital punishment does not deter crime, it is immoral, unjust, and opens possibilities of the execution of innocent people.

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?

Throughout the history, the death penalty is considered to be the ultimate punishment for criminals. There are many arguments that the death penalty should be abolished because it is cruel and inhumane. Many nations have abolished it, but our country, is one of those fifty-eight nations that still practice the death penalty. Therefore, it must be maintained throughout society as a final resort against malevolent criminals, who do not fear other punishments.

The death penalty may seem harsh, but it's more than necessary in our country. This punishment deters other criminals and other crimes from happening. Innocent lives will be saved if we execute vile criminals with this punishment since they can no longer hurt or terrorize others. Criminals deserve to have their life taken since they've taken others and their rights. The death penalty is necessary since it deters criminals, save others, and make criminals pay for what they've done.

The United States justifies punishing someone for a crime by committing what is considered a crime against a person. The death penalty should not be considered an alternativecriminal punishment because its cruel and unusual. People make mistakes, and the individuals that are classified as criminals are humans too, so why is it acceptable to kill off people for making mistakes? Regarding the capital punishment, when one understands the history of this sentence he or she can identify the problems it creates, know the pros and cons of its existence, and easily establishes that the death penalty should not be a solution used to punish individuals.The history of the death penalty began as early as the 17th century. It is a punishment ofexecution, administered to someone legally convicted of capital crimes. In other words, it is killing a criminal for doing something very bad. What’s considered very bad? According todeathpenaltyinfo.org, you can receive the death penalty for crimes other than murder such as treason, aggravated kidnapping, trafficking, aircraft hijacking, bombing, espionage, and assault by incarcerated, persistent felons or murderers. There are multiple ways to execute an individualand each technique is cruel and unusual. According to the article “Capital Punishment”,published 2017, people are executed by using the techniques such as lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, and firing squad but Alabama only uses electrocution and lethal injection

The Death Penalty has been a part of humanity since its origin, with the first recorded laws dating back to the Fifth Century BC in Rome.[1] Over time, there have been many different forms of execution, from hanging, to burning at the stake, to the current lethal injection. I believe that the Justice System must enforce penalties that fit the crime. The argument against the death penalty is one that stands on murderers, and other people who commit the worst of crimes, being entitled to live long, easy lives, when their victims had theirs cut short. While there is a concern about executing innocent people, death row inmates receive much higher exoneration rates, they account for one percent of the prison population, but they receive twelve percent of the exonerations.[2] Lethal injection is also called into question as an execution method, and rightly so. It is too expensive, and the drugs used are often untested as a result of attacks on pharmaceutical companies that provide them. There are several other methods that are not only cheaper, but much more effective. When someone is executed due to lethal injection, there is a much higher change for a botched execution than any other method.[3] The Death Penalty is a punishment that the United States of America needs to maintain, however, it does require some reform in order to be the most beneficial to society. If used effectively, the number of prisoners serving life sentences would be reduced, and the cost to the taxpayers

Did you know that our government uses $90,000,000 of our tax money to kill 4% of innocent US citizens? Lethal injection is a very broad topic when being talked about. Many people also do not know what exactly lethal injection is and what really goes on during this process. Therefore people can not support their reason of keeping or banishing the death penalty. The death penalty should be forbidden as punishment to criminals due these reasons: the multi-million dollars spent on killing a criminal with lethal injection does not comfort the victim’s family, sentencing a cold-blooded killer to a comfortable ease by putting them to sleep without any suffering is not fair to any victim(s) nor the victim's family, and almost 4% of death row inmates have been found not guilty after the death penalty has been administered.

There are various topics of discussion that cause people discomfort, one of those topics is the death penalty. The vast majority of people can agree that justice should be served and there should be consequences for those who break the law. The question then becomes, where does one draw the line? All crimes are punishable through either jail/prison time, community service, or fines, however larger more severe crimes are punishable through the death penalty. Such crimes include, treason, airplane hijacking, and murder. The death penalty is meant to serve as a consequence to those who committed a major crime and a warning to other criminals. However, this form of punishment should be abolished.

The death penalty should be enforced because of overpopulation, resources, money, some crimes being so monstrous, and for the irreversible mistakes. Overpopulation is a problem in some places and slowly becoming a problem in others. This added with the fact that this population is graphicly “useless”. They also always have the chance of escaping or even killing or hurting others. This can be either other prisoners, security, or visitors. Most aren’t helping anything, in fact taking away from society, especially if they have done something so heinous to earn them even the consideration of a death penalty. Leading to my next point these people are using resources and space which sadly shouldn’t be worth the commonwealth’s taxes and consideration. Following that is why waste the money on these people who have taken away from society and earned their punishment. As inhumane as all this sounds in reality they have done more harm than good; hurting society. For even the local Michigan's sake the death penalty brings down some of the costs of maintaining these prisoners. There are 11 states that spend more on prisons than education. These states consist of Michigan being the largest following smaller states such as Rhode Island, Delaware, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Other bigger states include Colorado, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Oregon, Arizona, and all of this is as is since 2015. Some crimes are so heinous and take so much from people why should they be allowed to stay alive

On October 12, 2011 Laura Webb-Elody and seven others were killed in the Seal Beach Salon Meritage (Webb, 2017). Laura’s mother was also shot, but she did not die. The man went to the Salon where his ex-wife Michelle Fournier worked right beside Laura. He felt the need to punish Michelle so he shot her. He referred to the other victims as “collateral damage”. When he was done in the salon, he went to his car and felt the need to shoot the guy who happened to park next to him. People that saw this happen got his license plate number and then called 911. He was then pulled over and arrested. He still had possession of his three guns that he killed these people with, but he did confess to the crime. Bethany Webb wanted the man that shot her sister to sit in prison for the rest of his life so that he could suffer and think about what he had done. There are several reasons for why the death penalty is not a good solution for punishment. It is not cost effective, it does not allow the individual to sit and think about what they have done, and too many innocent people are killed because of capital punishment. The death penalty should be abolished in the United States Of America. If an individual commits a serious crime or murder they should suffer, which means life in prison.

Cameron Todd Willingham was a husband and father of three infants. On December 23, 1991, Cameron woke up to his house in flames. As a result of the fire, the infants perished. When the police investigated the fire, they came to the conclusion that Cameron intentionally set the house on fire in hopes of murdering his daughters. Cameron pleaded not guilty but he was placed on death row and executed on February 17, 2004. After reopening the case and examining the evidence using modern technology, it became evident in 2011, that the fire was an accident. That's right: Cameron was innocent! The justice system failed Cameron Todd Willingham. This is one of the many reasons why the death penalty should be abolished across the United States.

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.

An issue that has continually created tension in today's society is whether the death penalty serves as a justified and valid form of punishment. Whenever the word "death penalty" comes up, extremists from both sides start yelling out their arguments. One side says deterrence, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder. Crime is an evident part of society, and everyone is aware that something must be done about it. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action in which it should be dealt with. In several parts of