Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty

In this paper I will be discussing everything you need to know about the death penalty such as its pros and cons. While the innocent can be killed, the death penalty has its pros because it prevents them from killing again if they are released or have escaped from prison, it helps overpopulated prisons, and it can help victims’ families get justice and closure. Not only can the innocent be killed, but in the past the death penalty was very inhumane. To some its feels right but to others they feel like 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Most people think that the defendant deserves the death penalty, but what does the defendants’ family think?

Following the decline in the support of the death penalty, a moratorium on executions began in 1972 during the case Furman v. Georgia. Furman argued that the death penalty was arbitrary and violated the constitution (Mallicoat and Brown 255-280). In a five to four vote, the Supreme Court

The Gregg vs Georgia (1976) case study is important because the state of Georgia was in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that capital punishment (the death penalty) was constitutional so long as the procedures involved in its execution did not oppose the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Gregg vs Georgia which involved a prosecution for a double murder committed in the development of a robbery. The ruling was rejected the legal argument that capital punishment in and of itself establish “cruel and unusual punishment” and thus disregard the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

The death penalty has been around since the time of Jesus Christ. Executions have been recorded from the 1600s to present times. From about 1620, the executions by year increased in the US. It has been a steady increase up until the 1930s; later the death penalty dropped to zero in the 1970s and then again rose steadily. US citizens said that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was believed that it was "cruel and unusual" punishment (Kurtis 67). In the 1970s, the executions by year dropped between zero and one then started to rise again in the 1980s. In the year 2000, there were nearly one hundred executions in the US (Biskupic 34). On June 29, 1972, the death penalty was suspended because the existing laws were no longer convincing. However, four years after this occurred, several cases came about in Georgia, Florida, and Texas where lawyers wanted the death penalty. This set new laws in these states and later the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was constitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Biskupic 34).

Today, the debate on whether or not the death penalty should be restored is being viewed by each state, this is due to the rise

The second major decision from the Supreme Court was in the Gregg v. Georgia case. Here the court approved a series of reforms intended to eliminate arbitrary and discriminatory death sentences and established the two-phase system for the death penalty. The first phase is the "guilt phase" which is conducted on its own to find guilt or acquittal, without the job of issuing punishment. The second phase is the "penalty phase". Here the same jury decides if the defendant is to live or be given the death sentence. Each phase allows the jury to focus on one task, instead of letting death sway their decision on guilt. This bifurcated jury system is in place today.

“In a monumental 1972 decision by the US Supreme Court, all but a few death penalty statutes in the United States were declared unconstitutional” (Radelet & Borg, 2000,

Also “offenders aged fifteen and younger at the time of their crimes was unconstitutional” (“introduction to the death penalty”). This shows that there are many factors that prevent a person from getting the death penalty and these limitations protects them from it. In recent years, “the United States numbers of death sentences are steadily declining from 300 in 1998 to 106 in 2009” (“introduction to the death penalty”). This shows that the usage of the death penalty is declining and many people are not being punished with the death penalty. This also shows that the death penalty is still being used in certain crimes in the United States. This is showing that the death penalty might not be used as much in the future.

Throughout history shifts have occurred that have made the way we look at the death penalty change. The one that has changed the way that we looked at it the most happened during the early and late 1970s, in that time the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was unconstitutional and decided to revise it. However, another change occurred in the late 70s and early 80s where the court decided that they would no longer precede over death penalty cases and established a process where they moved away from adjusting the death penalty. 12 years after the court’s decision a young man by the name of Daryl Atkins was put on trial and was found guilty and given the death penalty, however they ended up reversing that ruling because the country

Nationwide, based on the Death Penalty Information Center Database, five hundred fifty-nine people were executed between 1981 and 1999 (1). Equally important, the number is declining in some states. Probably because the United States Supreme Court abolished the possibility of sentencing juveniles and mentally handicapped to death. Instead, the Supreme Court gave the jury permission to use the punishment of life in prison as an alternative. For this reason, "In Texas, the number of death sentences imposed each year dropped by about 50 percent after jurors were given the life-without –parole option in 2005, a trend that has been mirrored throughout the United States" (Gaines and Miller 277).

     In the 1930’s there were more executions than any other decade. The average executions were one-hundred and sixty-seven per year, which is an incredibly high number of deaths(“Amnesty Facts”). During the 1960’s people began challenging the legality of the death penalty. Many people said that it was “cruel and inhumane” and it violated the Eighteenth Amendment(“Amnesty Facts” ). In 1972 the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was cruel and inhumane which is unconstitutional according to the Eighteenth Amendment. The United States reversed this decision when a “cleaner” way to bring about death was

“Would you choose to be the person that pulls the switch that snuffs out a human life?” (www.oadp.org) Really think about that. Would you want to be the person who does the execution? Many things come into factor when thinking about the death penalty. Cost, guilty or not guilty, humanity, social changes, and so much more.

The death penalty is a last resort punishment or is used to protect civilians from criminals having the opportunity to kill again. It is used on those only most deserving. Those considered deserving are cold blooded killers. Dick Hickock stood by and aided Perry Smith as he brutally murdered a family of four, the Clutter family, in their own home. These men never intended on the murders occurring, they hold no regard for the horrible things they have done, and they are dangers to society.

According to Deathpenaltyinfo.org, as of July 1st, 2017 there were approximately 2,817 prisoners on death row. CNN.com says that, as of now, the death penalty is only legal in 31 out of the 50 states. Did you know that the average death row inmate will spend roughly 15 years in prison before they meet their final day; nearly a quarter of death row inmates die of natural causes while waiting for execution, and exhausting all of their appeals? How about that in Virginia death row inmates are now able to play games, watch TV, send emails, and have physical contact with visitors along with much more? Death row is for criminals that have committed heinous crimes and have been convicted by 12 unanimous jurors to death. So, why give them that many privileges?

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.