Persuasive Essay On The Death Penalty

First and foremost, the death penalty is defined as the punishment of execution, administered to someone who has committed a terrible crime (Capital Punishment 1). This is also known as capital punishment, which is known for disregarding the human rights. Although many countries continue to enforce the death penalty, some countries think it should not be practiced. According to the United States, the death penalty continues to be a charged and controversial political and legal issue(Capital Punishment 1). In addition, the death penalty also focuses on if the death penalty is fair not unfair; let alone, if the criminal will receive the right justice and punishment for the crime he has brought onto himself. The death penalty is another option when rehabilitation and improvement are not available.

All throughout the historical criminal backdrop of Americans the punishment of death was given to crooks who violated the law. The death penalty is a very outrageous punishment for wrongdoing (Compton's) and is still being used today all throughput the world. A criminal can be sentence to death for different violations. Significantly, more were the strategies used to execute, many being merciless and uncommon. There have been many civil arguments on regardless of whether to cancel capital punishment. There are numerous upsides and downsides to this entangled issue.

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.

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?

Capital punishment is known to bring justice to those who have been lost and scare others from committing these horrible crimes. In reality, the death penalty causes intense mental pain and does not effect crime rates at all. To keep this pain from happening, the death penalty should be banned at the federal level and not be allowed. Continuing to allow this practice is inhuman and unethical for our country. While capital punishment seems to bring justice, in reality it causes more harm than good to the government and the families involved.

The death penalty or capital punishment has been used all over the world for many years. In the past, over 100 people have been removed from death due to DNA evidence because the legal systems got it wrong. The legal systems use the death penalty and other things like lethal injection to punish those who disobey the law in substantial ways in which they think that person should be killed for their actions. People argue that it should not be constitutional and others believe it should. While the majority of Americans believe in the death penalty, the number has steadily fallen over the past two decades. Some people have even stated that life in prison is a harsher penalty than the death penalty because of the harsh prison environment. It gives them their whole life to think about their crime. People also agree that innocent inmates might get put to death. Our three branches of government have taken part in the actions on the death penalty.

Leviticus 24:21 “The man who strikes and kills an animal should make compensation for it, but the one who strikes and kills a man should be put to death”. The death penalty has been around for a very long time and is not a new concept to our world. The usage of the death penalty dates back as far as the Babylonian era and was used for an assortment of crimes. This practice was also used greatly by the ancient Greeks and Romans, soon England began to practice this punishment and the founding fathers of our now great American colonies carried the capital punishment with them when they crossed over, where it is still used today as lawful punishment is a majority of states.

Capital punishment, more commonly referred to as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice in which one is sentenced to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. It is often carried out in several methods ranging from lethal injection to hanging. It has been around in the United States since the early 1600s. As of 2017, 31 states in the U.S allow the death penalty whereas 19 states have abolished it. Death penalty is considered to be one of the most controversial issues in the United States. There have been several Supreme Court rulings in the past regarding the death penalty, such as Gregg v.Georgia. The death penalty is also a debatable issue in terms of how it is educated to the students since some textbooks have a biased viewpoint. The death penalty should be kept in the United States due to the fact that justice must be served for when a person commits heinous crimes such as murder.

The death penalty like other issues have pros and cons, however, the death penalty is considered to be more controversial now than it was twenty or thirty years ago. Some would say that the death penalty, the executions are considered to be the ultimate and final punishment for a horrendous crime. “The death penalty historically has been viewed as a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment.” (Lippman, 2017) So, one asks themselves what exactly is the death penalty. The death penalty is the punishment one may get, if found guilty of a violent crime, it is the act of executing a person. However, there are many that feel that one should not execute a person, but to give them life in prison. That the death penalty is cruel and unusual

Even when a crime isn't done in front of you it still happens somewhere. One person is murdered every minute, meaning 60 individuals are murdered within a hour (Holguin). The death penalty is a punishment ment only to be rid of criminals whom have committed a crime, mostly murder. The criminal can meet their end in various ways: hanging, lethal injection, shooting, and electrocution. The death penalty should stay because it will deter crime, it's constitutional, and it follows the 'eye for an eye' law code.

Carlos Deluna was executed in Texas in 1989 and was sentenced to death on an eyewitness account proving to be a thin and an inaccurate statement displaying that the actual killer was a lookalike. Larry Griffin was executed in Missouri in 1995 with a trial that purely consisted of one witness whose sole testimony was undermined, leaving the first police officer on the scene to conclude that Griffin should not have been a suspect in the case at all let alone sentenced to death row. David Spence was executed in Texas in 1997 and was charged with the murders of three teenagers, he was put to death even though the police lieutenant who supervised Spence’s investigation did not believe him to be involved and claimed his innocence. (DP Info Center)

The use of the death penalty is an extremely hot topic. It is an issue that I would say divides our nation, and everyone has their opinion on it. Those who are for it say it is a necessary punishment, as some people are just too disgusting, their crimes too heinous to stay alive. Those who oppose it say that it violates the 8th Amendment, that too many people, after their executions, are found innocent. No matter which side you stand on, it is interesting to note that people do not bring up race too much on either side, and I feel like that is something that really should be discussed more, especially considering the way our criminal justice system does seem to discriminate against certain races. Through the use of not only our class materials, but my own research as well, I will be answering the questions: Is the death penalty racially biased and to what extent? Does the race of not only the offender, but of the victim as well, greatly influence who receives the death penalty?

The majority of the American public continues to support the use of the death penalty despite the fact that it appears to be losing popularity in statehouses and courthouses nationwide. Support for capital punishment runs higher among white people who view individual responsibility as a narrative for “true” Americans. Racial prejudice is part of that support due mainly in where they live. The more black people you interact with on a regular basis the more it will reflect your racial attitude. As the numbers of Black and other minorities increase, that greatly impacts White support for capital punishment.

I understand that because of what you have experienced you feel closure from the death penalty. I do see your point of view, so I can understand why you agree. However, I must say I disagree. It does not deter crime. A criminal is not going to stop and think “if I kill this person I will have to sit in prison or be sentenced to death”. It just does not cross people's minds. You said that you believe he knew exactly what he was doing. That statement is probably true. However, if someone commits a horrific act on purpose, they usually are happy with the outcome. I know you would like to think that after seeing the aftermath of their actions they feel remorse. The reality is that they know right from wrong. They just have no regard for that feeling of knowing they are doing something wrong.

The problem with the death penalty is that it is a big waste of money. Yes, in some cases it can make people feel better, like they are getting revenge on the people that did the crime to their loved one or someone they know but that is really cruel. In the article, The Price of Justice it shows how the price were a few years ago and it can only of up from there “in 1988, The Miami Herald reported that the cost of the death penalty in Florida was $3.2 million per execution compared to $600,000 for life imprisonment.103 Similarly, The Dallas Morning News reported in 1992 that the trials and appeals of a capital case alone cost Texas $2.3 million per case on average”. Making the criminal sit in a jail cell that is not that big with other bad people is more of a punishment then just killing them. And it is a lot cheaper to do it that way as well. The cost of the death penalty is not reasonable because the state can’t even perform the death penalty the right way. And we can use the money for better things for our states and for our society so we can improve our comity’s so