Should Capital Punishment Be Abolish?

The death penalty, or capital punishment, has been around as early as the Seventh Century B.C. and is still used in many countries today, including the United States. There are many arguments stating capital punishment should be abolished for many reasons, including that capital punishment violates the Bill of Rights, and life in prison is a more effective deterrent than capital punishment; there are also counter-arguments, saying that capital punishment should not be abolished for reasons such as capital punishment achieves justice for those who have been wronged and that it brings a sense of closure to families.

“The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?” In 1607 the British left the United Kingdom to the new world now known as the United States. When the British went to the United States they brought over the death penalty with them. When the British came to the United States there had been some spies that followed them from the European countries. They ended up finding a guy named Kendall who was a spy from spain. The first execution occurred in Virginia where they executed Kendall. After the first execution, it became a regular thing in the new world. People were executed for stealing grapes, trading with the Indians and killing chickens.

Whether the capital punishment, the legal punishment that deprives an individual’s life, is constitutional, moral or necessary is constantly debated. Although the United States maintain the retentionist view of capital punishment that executes hundreds of criminals each year, many revolutionists are challenging our current legal system and trying to abolish the use of capital punishment. In this paper, I will discuss the theory of the capital punishment, and the controversial points of the abolitionist and retentionist debate. Siding with abolitionist argument, I will be presenting my arguments beginning with retentionist view, then move into abolitionist rejection. I will also argue against the

The majority of the United States’ perspective and value of capital punishment is to punish and kill prisoners, but with that system nothing is accomplished. Plus, there is no evidence that the death penalty reduces crime. In fact, most people on Death Row committed their crimes in the heat of passion, while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or while suffering from mental illness. They represent a group that is highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their

Good afternoon Madam chairperson and my fellow students. The topic for our debate is “That Australia Should Reintroduce or Legalise the Death Penalty.” We the negative team, do not believe we should reintroduce the death penalty.

Capital punishment, or death penalty, has been here for thousands of years around the world. Capital punishment is when a criminal or offender is convicted of a heinous crime and is then sentenced to death. Ancient Greece was one of the first civilizations to start using capital punishment, followed by the Romans and religions such as Christianity and Judaism. The death penalty was used on anyone who committed crimes such as female adultery, violence against a King, religious deviance, counterfeiting, and murder.

Over the course of human history the earliest known concept of capital punishment has been around since the 18th Century BCE, where the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for twenty five different crimes (Reggio, 2015). From the 18th Century until now there have been many other societies that have used capital punishment for various crimes, such as the Hittite Code, Draconian Code of Athens, and also Roman law. Those different cultures used different methods for execution and followed different rules for people of different race, religion, creed, social status, etc. As history progressed, capital punishment itself has gone through many changes; the ways of execution have evolved from brutal and torturous methods such as burning at the stake, burying alive, bludgeoning to death, impalement,

In 1984, former NFL player Kermit Alexander lost his mother, sister and two nephews due to a gang related shooting on the wrong family. The Alexander's family was not supposed to be targeted, it was a miss communication between the gang members. Alexander was so full of rage that he prowled the streets at night in search of the members that did this to his family, his goal was to give revenge for what they had done. The only reason he did not become a killer himself was because the mayor Tom Bradley made him promise to let it go and let the law handle the situation from there and in 1986 the killer, Cox was found and sentenced to death. Capital Punishment should be allowed because it stops the killer's from being able to kill again, it provides some closure for the families who have lost a loved one, and it is a deterrent showing what will be done to you if you do these heinous crimes.

While some states chose to reinstate capital punishment, they reformed to limit how harsh the death penalty was and the terms in which it is given. “Pennsylvania adopted a law in 1794 to distinguish between first- and second-degree murder and limited the death penalty to murders committed with premeditation or in the course of carrying out another felony (first-degree murder). In 1846, Louisiana abolished the mandatory death penalty and authorized the option of sentencing a capital offender to life imprisonment rather than to death, a reform universally adopted in the U.S. during the following century.” (Capital Punishment.) The most common general offenses that result in capital punishment are things such as espionage, treason, and various forms of murder.

Death penalty, also known as a capital punishment, is a punishment that requires the government to kill or execute the convicted criminals. Death penalty was inherent feature in American history since the colonial era. Today, not all of the states practice the Death Penalty. As of July 1, 2015, there are 31 states with the Death Penalty and 19 states without the Death Penalty . Some states want to keep the Death Penalty to decrease the crime rate, but some states argue that there is no evidence that Death Penalty deters crime. People are still debating whether the US should or should not abolish the Death Penalty. Therefore, U.S. should not continue the Death Penalty due to the high percentage of wrongfully convicted people and moral issues.

According to Amnesty International, “today over two-thirds of the world’s nations have ended capital punishment in law and practice”. However capital punishment remains a part of the criminal justice system. One of many recent surveys among law officers in North Carolina find the majority of law enforcement supports the death penalty, while simultaneously acknowledging a flawed system that has convicted and executed innocent people in some cases. Given the slightest possibility of executing an innocent person, do you think America should follow the lead of some other countries that are completely abolishing capital punishment? Some say the threat of capital punishment can deter future violent crimes. Some theories point to the idea that

Critics point out that over the years, many have been falsely accused and executed. They say that the fact of over 150 death row inmates have been exonerated is proof enough that the penalty should be abolished ("Capital Punishment: Should" 4). This evidence suggests that many innocent lives have been lost to our mistakes. Other critics back the idea that the lethal injection method is inhumane and crewel. This is seen in the botched executions of Clayton Lockett, Joseph Wood, and Denis McGuire all of which awoke during execution and suffered a long and horribly painful death ("Capital Punishment: Should" 5). These three men are proof that the death penalty inflicts unnecessary pain denies the 8th amendment. Opponents also contend to the fact of prominent racism in regards to the penalty. Professor Katherine Beckett from the University of Washington states her findings that, "Jurors in Washington were 4.5x more likely to impose a sentence of death when the defendant was black than they were in cases involving similarly situated white defendants" (Holsinger 3). Clearly showing a strong and unjust connection between the convictions and race. Opponents argue this variety of examples and believe they have many strong points of which raise suspicion toward the

Though capital punishment might seem like the only way to get revenge, it is morally unjust. Who are we to decide whether a

Capital crime is something that is meant for people that are found guilty of committing a serious crime, such as murder, rape, or theft. These are offences that should not be taken lightly but by killing the offender, the government is carrying about the action that they are trying to prevent. Also, the wrong person may be sentenced to death. After this person is executed, there is obviously nothing that can be done for the terrible mistake to be reversed. The death penalty should be abolished because it is more expensive than life imprisonment, numerous innocent people are condemned to death row, and it is cruel and inhumane.

The issue of the death penalty is widely disputed. So disputed that maybe I shouldn’t have picked this topic. But nevertheless, the death penalty is an issue that needs to be addressed. Should the death penalty be abolished from our criminal justice system? Well, that depends on whom you ask. If you ask me… no. I personally don’t see anything wrong with the death penalty because there are a lot of criminals that are just too dangerous to society and death is the only punishment they deserve.