Persuasive Essay On First Degree Murder

While according to endsexualviolence.org, one in four women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

The death penalty is uncivilized and unfair in practice and life in prison is a worse punishment and a much more effective deterrent in preventing crime (ACLU, 2012). A life in prison involves the punishment to go on for decades, because prisoners are treated like animals and live in a

The case of Kennedy v. Louisiana in June 25, 2008 convicted Patrick Kennedy of aggravated rape on his 8 year old step daughter. Louisiana called for capital punishment for this sort of behavior against a minor under 12 years old. However, the court could not implement the death penalty toward Kennedy because the eighth amendment barred them from doing so. It was considered Cruel and unusual punishment as the rape didn’t result in, or wasn’t intended to result in, the victim’s death (https://www.oyez.org/cases/2007/07-343). The technicalities of the death penalty are very strict and all depend on the case at hand. The death penalty will only be used in positions where it is deemed

One of the many reason victim’s right advocates are for truth in sentencing laws is because “with probation, indeterminate sentencing, parole, and good time, the average time spent in prison by someone who wrongfully takes a human life is 7 years”

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, “there is an average of 237,868 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.” It is estimated that “out of every 100 rapes, 40 get reported to the police, 10 lead to an arrest, 8 get prosecuted, 4 lead to a felony conviction” and “3 rapists will spend even a single day in prison.” Furthermore, “about 95% of” the four percent of felony “convictions are obtained by way of a plea agreement” rather than through trial. In some states, like “California, there is a higher acquittal rate for rape than for any other felony" (926).

In this case, we see that the Supreme Court looked at the offender’s criminal conviction of rape and the sentence of death for the offender’s punishment (Brody and Acker, 2010). The court also looked at the sentences of other similar cases from across the country to determine any precedents that have been set in other cases. The court also evaluated the framing of the death sentence in other states across the country as they related to the use of the death for that of rape of an adult (Brody and Acker,

But, some punishment is better than none. Many victims believe that the rapist should be executed, however, this is not very humane.

In a recent study posed by the CDC, 19.3% of the women’s population in the United States have reported rape (Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization 1). That is nearly one fifth of the female population. While women who walk the streets alone flood with fear, men are being let off with a mere slap on the wrist for raping women. Another study shows that ninety seven of every one hundred rapists receive no punishment whatsoever. How can women feel safe if their perpetrator is freely roaming the streets? Although rapists are frequently punished, the rape punishment in the United States is far too inconsistent and should be more severe.

Many criminals take the lives of or hurt many people around them. They are later released after doing time in prisons to go on the streets again where they will do the same things over again. "[W]e reserve the death penalty in the United States for the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers. To sentence killers like those described above to less than death would fail to do justice because the penalty – presumably a long period in prison – would be grossly disproportionate to the heinousness of the crime. Prosecutors, jurors, and the loved ones of murder victims understand this essential point…” Death penalty does the justice right for seriously violent criminals instead of having them do time in prisons to be released.

17.7 million: The number of women who have been involved in attempted or completed rape. 293,066: The number of rapes in the U.S. a year. 284,275: The number of sexual offences that result in no conviction or jail time. 49,013: The number of repeat offenders still on the streets, most committing around 6 rapes. 4,000-17,000: The range of pregnancies resulting from rape. 107: The number of seconds between rapes in the U.S. 35: the percentage of men that would rape if they knew they could get away with it. 3: The number of rapes, out of 100, that will result in any prison time at all. 1: the number of likely victims that will seek help or justice for what happened. The statistics show that a woman is more at risk of sexual assault in the U.S. than in any other developed nation. The United States has one of the highest rape rates in the world. Yet there are still those out there that don’t believe that rape actually exists. Victims of rape are forced into a societal confinement that encapsulates them in their own self solitude.

A crime in America that is committed all too often is the act of forcible rape. Forcible rape is not a crime only against women. The definition was recently changed to aid in gender neutrality and to account for forcible rapes among same gender (FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, 2013). Forcible rape in now defined as, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) (2013), “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” Although the act of forcible rape is a serious crime, many incidents go unreported for one reason or another. Some reasoning of why a rape may go unreported include, being embarrassed to tell somebody that you were forcibly raped, the victim knew the criminal and is afraid that further injury may occur if they report the incident to the police, or the victim was possibly drugged and was not aware of the situation. I will describe some of the statistics and trends involved with the act of forcible rape, explain some of the reasoning behind why one feels the need to commit forcible rape on another person, how the social learning theory shaped those individuals into the criminals that they are.

Lifetime imprisonment and the death penalty are both punishments used for serious criminals who can be considered “a threat to society”. Life imprisonment can come with the option of possibility of parole throughout serving their sentencing or a life sentence without parole. The life sentence is a commonly used punishment between the two due to the fact in the United States of America only 31 of the 50 states still use the death penalty. The remaining states are left with a death penalty ban. Between the two punishments, the life sentence is the most practical and provides the most justice for the wronged compared to the death penalty that is very costly, inhumane but almost too easy and can and has put innocent lives at risk.

I began my research by looking into the death penalty or also known as capital punishment. The death penalty is the action of executing a person who has committed an illegal act equivalent to death. Crimes punishable by death vary depending on the state; some include murder, sexual assault, treason, and other serious capital crimes (“Crimes Punishable”, 2011). There are many different outlooks on the death penalty; some in favor of the death penalty believe it is the ultimate balance between good and evil and they often use the phrase, “an eye, for an eye.” By using death as punishment they can assure 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.