Pros And Cons Of The 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?

The death penalty is still in use in the united states. The state with the most executions is in Texas with a total of 545 from 2017 to the year 1976 (Number of Executions, 2017). The death penalty is a very big debate. There are many reasons why and why people do and don’t like the death penalty.

The world is constantly evolving for the better and the worse, with this being said, not only will good come out of it but new evils will arise. We can’t stop the world from changing, but we can decide how we handle it. The death penalty should be legalized all around the world. The death penalty not only diminishes threats to society but it also brings closure to those who are grieving. In the United States alone, the death penalty is not legal in all 50 states, therefore overrunning the prisons with unnecessary bodies. Due to this, there has been an overall increase in the gang activity within state and federal prison. The death penalty shows that violent, brutal, and heinous crimes will not be tolerated and the offenders will be punished to the highest extent. Execution should be used as the highest form of punishment by the means of a rightful conviction.

As of today there are 33 out of the 50 states of America that allow the death penalty although there are numerous debates on this law. The death penalty usually is issued when a man/women commits a crime that is so horrific that the only way to be able to punish the criminal is to have them sentenced to the death penalty. Most states definition of a death penalty is by lethal injection. Although some states offer other ways of death. Some states include death by lethal gas, hanging, electric chair, hanging, and firing squad each one being able to do same thing in the end. But is the death penalty an understandable way of convicting a criminal? Some may say it is inhumane to take the life of another criminal. Others may say if the criminal commits a crime so cruel such as murder and rape deserve not be alive in this world anymore. Which is what I believe is the correct way to sentence a criminal of that manner. If a person were to go out of their own way to murder another person they should also have their life also taken away.

Occasionally, we are faced with moral dilemmas that force us to decide whether our absolute laws should really be unquestioned. The death penalty is the law put into question for this situation. People who are deemed mentally deficient are still susceptible to the death penalty, but there is a question as to whether the death penalty should really be applied against such people. In the journal by Philip Fougerousse, mental retardation, or deficiency, is defined in three parts, “first is subaverage intellectual functioning; second is significant limitations in adaptive skills (e.g., communication, self-care, and self-direction); and third, [is that] the symptoms must have manifested before the age of 18 years” (2003). With this definition in mind, the habits and demeanor of those diagnosed as mentally retarded differ from everyday individuals. As such the question comes to mind as to whether the death penalty should be applied to the mentally retarded. If they commit a crime, in which the death penalty is the consequence, should they be completely held accountable, if their mental retardation causes them to not understand that they are doing wrong? You could compare this to a child not understanding what they did wrong, and being punished severely without ever learning. Consequently, someone judged to be mentally retarded, should not be punished with the death penalty due to their lack of understanding, but should face different consequences.

The death penalty is a form of punishment that is not used as often as one may think. Even though most of the American population is not personally affected by the death penalty, the friends and families of victims see it as a form of justice for their lost loved ones. From 1976 to the present there have been over 1,400 inmates executed after being put on death row (Baker, 1). The death penalty is an expensive style of punishment, costing around 470,000 dollars more in cases that consider capital punishment as an option compared to the cases that do not (Erb, 1). With most of that extra cost being paid by state taxes, there are other government funded programs that would experience a loss of support if the death penalty is used frequently. The U.S. National Government should ban the death penalty for economical reasons.

The death penalty and what people have done to be sentenced to the harsh punishment is considered a major deal. While Some people would think that the death penalty is the best option for serious crimes. While others may not think so. Do to their own personal opinions. The pros and cons when talking about the death penalty punishment are the reason why many chose for or against the penalty. The pros to the death penalty are: The prisons would have more room for the people that commit minor crimes, the taxes would be much lower due to playing less expense for the prisoners, the criminals will get the punishment and the families who were affected will get justice for the victim's death. The cons of the death penalty are The person who committed the horrible crime dies, which puts the value in every human beings life, in vain. While death is easy for both sides because being punished for something is hard as well as being the punisher. “The one prisoner who evidently preferred death to life in prison.” This quote came from chicagotribune. Showing that death is the easy way out, for a way to escape prison or jail. The quote “eye for an eye, the world goes blind.” This quote explains nothing will come with revenge or the death of someone who murdered another. This will only cause emptiness, which in this case is the blindness, or how the loved ones won't ever come back because they are dead and won't ever come back.

The death penalty is when someone like a criminal would do something so terribly bad that they are executed by lethal injection. The topic of this has been disputed for a lot of years and nobody has really agreed on if it is or is not effective. Study’s show that the argument is split a lot of people think it is bad and a lot of people think it is a bad thing most people don’t want there tax dollars to go to keeping inmates in prison and feeding them. But some people think that it is just too hard of a punishment to kill somebody instead of keeping them in prison.

Whether the death penalty should be kept legal or not is a widely controversial topic for many Americans. Some states have already started outlawing the death penalty, however, most of the United States still allows the death penalty. The death penalty is a punishment that is wrongly used and should be abolished because of potential innocent lives being at risk due to false convictions. Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty does not deter crime either. The policy of life without parole should be the most serious form of punishment for felony crimes.

The death penalty may seem like a good idea, but did you know it's only available in 31 states ? The killing of criminals is something allowed by the government and that is a good thing. An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth , the death penalty should not be banned because it brings closure to the victims families and justice is better served.

The death penalty is an issue that has the United States quite divided. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount of opposition. Currently, there are thirty-three states in which the death penalty is legal and seventeen states that have abolished it. I believe the death penalty should be legal throughout the nation. There are many reasons as to why I, and many others, believe that the death penalty should be legalized in all states, including fear of consequences, retribution, and mortality.

The Death Penalty is also known as Capital Punishment, where an offender is punished for their crime, done by the state by taking their life. Although many countries have abolished the death penalty, it still exists in few countries, including the United States. Some oppose the death penalty believing it to be morally unjust for those who are indeed innocent but are under the death penalty. Many philosophers believe it is necessary for punishment to deter crime and this punishment is justice for the victim. Haag was a professor at Fordham University, and supported the death penalty very strongly. He strongly believed that offenders needed to be punished severely to satisfy retributive justice. Hugo Adam Bedau was a philosophy professor at Tufts University. Unlike Haag he opposed the death penalty based on morality issues. He questioned the moral values of death penalty and believes in the natural right to life .

“A clear majority of voters (61%) would choose a punishment other than the death penalty for murder, including life with no possibility of parole…” (DPIC, 2017). More than half of the population in the United States is classified as being religious. Religion is a delicate topic because of how people feel towards it, presenting a very loyal and intense belief, no matter what religion. Whether the death penalty be abolished or supported, if religion taken into consideration; there is a strong belief that though it may be the capital crime, death penalty should not be an option. There are five forms of death penalty in the in United States, in most countries lethal injection is the primary method, as for the second options include electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and only in Washington; hanging. Death penalty is a commonly asked question of whether it is good or bad, considering three significant points being that millions are spent; discrimination and a gamble; misconduct, perjury and false accusations are all matters to believe that the death penalty is ludicrous.

in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which categorized twenty-five different crimes punishable by death. The death penalty law was also present in the Hittite Empire, Athens, And Rome. The early methods of the death sentence were carried out throw means of crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, beating to death, burning alive and impalement. Methods progressed to mostly hanging and commonality in beheading, boiling, burning at the stake, drawing and quartering. As America became to be populated by Europeans, the tradition of Capital Punishment traveled to the newly discovered land. In the 1700’s many theorists like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Bentham, and English Quakers like John Bellers and John Howard began to challenge the controversial law and push for abolition. The abolition movement, still present, persuaded nineteen state to outlaw Capital Punishment. America's death penalty outlines forty-one offenses a major being murder but including espionage, and treason. The death penalty is dangerous for the United States of America because, it is inhumane going against the eighth amendment, it puts many innocent people to death, jury members can be bias towards the inmate, it entails higher cost for taxpayers over the cost of incarceration and it does not deter people from commiting crimes.

Many crimes need to get punished and there are a multitude of different types of punishment that are defined by laws. The law that I choose was death penalty, which is quite a controversial topic. This law was to address the most extreme type of crime which is murder. This death penalty goes far back to Hammaurabi Codes, of course back then it was used for many reasons now the death penalty is just used for murder still following Hammaurabi’s Code “an eye for an eye”. Most states still have the death penalty and many due it by lethal injection. In Arizona, lethal injection was approved by voters in 1992 (Reufers 2017). The goal of the death penalty is deterrence. The reason it is deterrence is because it is the most permanent punishment there is for committing a horrendous act such as murder. The reason this law should be eliminated is for three reasons too many people on death row, no regulations, and too much money being spent on death row.