As of August 2017,the death penalty is legal in 31 states. Twenty people were executed in the United States in 2016. Although this number may seem high the death penalty rate has actually been on a decline since the early 2000’s. Since 1973 there have only been 159 death row exonerations. There have only been 54 women on death row and only 22 juveniles have been killed but the American judicial system. Many people commit crimes every day some crimes are so horrific that they can often be sentenced to the death penalty. The death penalty is one of the cruelest acts known to man and it needs to be abolished entirely. Some reasons as to why the death penalty should be abolished are as follows: the death penalty is systematically racist, innocent people can be put to death, it stops any chance of rehabilitation, and it’s simply savage. The death penalty is systematically racist because those who kill black people are less likely to get the death people rather than those whose victims are white. The imbalances in who makes up the jury are also a huge contribution to why certain people get treated certain ways. Jurys that are made up of more white than black people are usually more susceptible to giving people the death penalty, whereas juries made up of black people are more prone to giving shorter punishments. Until America is free of racial stereotypes and disadvantages the giving of the death penalty will never be a fair vote. In addition to the death penalty being systematically unjust it is also proven to be wrong on several occasions. According to the Huffington post article “Shocking Number of Innocent People Sentenced to Death” more than four percent of inmates who have been sentenced to death in the United states are probably innocent. This means that about 1 in every 25 inmates is wrongly convicted. The occurrence of people being wrongfully convicted and put to death is not something new in American culture. At the young age of fourteen George Stinney Jr. was convicted of beating two little white girls to death. Stinney Jr. was coerced into confessing to the murders of Betty June Bininker,11, and Mary Emma Thames, 8. When he was on trial he admitted to wanting to have sex with Betty. Since the cases
First, the death penalty has its ups and downs because they could kill again if the criminal is released or if he or she escapes prison. There have been cases where the criminal serves his/her time in prison, then gets released and then kills again. They usually do this for two reasons: committing crime is all they are accustom to or they never learned their lesson while behind bars. There have also been times where people have escaped prison and the only way they know they’ll get away is by killing anyone that gets in their way. Majority of the public believes that if the criminal gets out and kills again, it’s the justice systems fault because it’s their job to keep us safe.
The United States should abolish the death penalty because there is a chance of wrongful execution and discrimination. In 2011 Illinois became the 16th state to abolish it, the main reasons were because the governor believed
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.
Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished because of many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also. People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person life on their hands. This makes them just as guilty as the person who committed the crime: the only difference is that they didn't use weapon except their mouth to kill them. The death penalty should be abolished because it is racist, punishes the poor, condemns those who are innocent to death, and is a cruel punishment.
Racism is often an excuse people use to say how unfair the death penalty is against African Americans. This excuse has been proven false in a few studies. More white murderers have been put to death since 1976 then black murderers, showing that the death penalty is not unjust to African Americans and minorities (Fisanick 26).In contrast, almost half of the criminals, on death row are black. Even though that is the case, blacks commit more murders than whites making it proportional (deathpenaltycurriculum.org). Criminals should not be given a lighter or harsher sentence due to their race, but due to the crimes that they committed and the severity of them.
In fact, the death penalty is considered immoral for it goes against the Constitution and ethnic code. The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that the use of “cruel and unusual punishment” is considered unconstitutional. However, majority of the capital punishments are filled with discrimination and injustice. The fact that the majority of prisoners who are sentenced with the death penalty are African Americans, reflect the cons of our society. Aside from racial discrimination, socio-economic discrimination also contribute to the flaws within our justice system. One of the top reasons why innocents are being executed or accused, allowing the guilty to get away with their crimes is that criminals who are exceptionally
Death is something that a lot of people think about, but do people think about the Death Penalty? Having been given the death penalty means that someone is going to be put to death by a lethal injection or an electric chair; There are more ways, but the injection and the electric chair are the most used. There are many different opinions surrounding the idea of death penalties; which some people think the death penalty should be used more and some believe the complete opposite.
The death penalty is a corrupt form of legal justice. For example, “…Defendants in about one-third of the Texas cases were represented at trial by an attorney who had been or later was suspended or otherwise sanctioned…”(Leibman). This use of fraudulent attorneys in a case can lead to enough inaccuracies in the evidence to wrongfully execute a person. This action is against the constitutional right given to us of equal justice for all. In addition, “…One of you two is gonna hang for this. Since you're the nigger, you're elected…”(Texas Police Officer). A Texas police officer said this to 2 men, one black and one white that were connected to the murder of a 17-year-old girl. Race plays a big part in the sentence of guilty or innocent. However, supporters of the death penalty claim “…that it enforces the laws by issuing strict punishment to the offenders…”(President George Bush). The death
In Kellow Chesney's book The Victorian Underworld illustrates that the Victorians tried to use the death penalty as a means of controlling criminal elements in forms of hangings, lethal injection,Electrocution, and firing squads in order to prevent crime( the victorian underworld). in Victorian times, the death penalty was used as a means of controlling. There should be abolishment of this because of the countless innocent men and women being put to death for the stated purpose of preventing crime out of fear. So There should not be a death penalty because it violates human rights, it does not deter crime, and is a cruel and unusual punishment.
First of all, the death penalty puts innocent lives at risk. When people go up for the death penalty a lot of factors can determine if a person will receive death row or not. Race plays a major role in these kind of decisions. Most jurors will sentence a person that is a minority to death row with little to no evidence, before they will sentence someone who is not a minority. Which have happened in some cases, even if they have committed the same crime. One hundred and thirty-eight men and women have been acquitted from death row, and some of these individuals were days or even hours away from getting executed (30 Facts about Death Row, 2016.) Another thing that can play a role is a bad defense attorney (United States Death Penalty Facts, 2016,) A lot of death row cases have been overturned, because the defense did not do a lot of research about the incident when they were going through their trial. At least when the jury sentence someone to life
The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.
There are many controversial points of view on the death penalty in America’s society. Is the death penalty socially correct? Is it just? The death penalty is an execution sentence that a person convicted of a capital crime must face. A person can only be sentenced to death in 33 states (deathpenatly.org). There have been as of April 1, 2012, 3,170 death row inmates in the Unites States history, with an exception of the two inmates in New Mexico and eleven in Connecticut that remain on the death row due to the law not being made retrospective to these inmates. The controversy whether the death penalty is just or unjust has been a debate in America for many years. There have
No matter what, murder is wrong including legal murder also known as capital punishment and or the death penalty. As of today, the death penalty is legal in 32 states, including Georgia. The death penalty is used to show people the consequence of murdering someone, by murdering someone. The death penalty is not the solution to stop or decrease crime, nor is it the best way to bring peace to the victim or its family; instead it does the complete opposite.
The death penalty is a highly questionable use of punishment in our criminal justice system in the United States of America. Certain states view this harsh punishment for criminals as deplorable, while on the other hand certain states are not for the death penalty. The death penalty is the harshest punishment any criminal can receive in our criminal justice system. Plenty of criminals have their “death day” delayed due to new evidence being released in their case. Lawyers work their hardest during these rough times for their subjects so they will not be killed. Studies have shown that on multiple occasions, innocents have been put to death, while on the other hand, the harshest criminals in the world have been put to death for their unimaginable crimes to this great country of ours. Should all states get rid of the death penalty or keep it? Why get rid of it if civilians are still committing unimaginable crimes and terrorist attacks?
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.