There are three main “degrees of murder.” There is third-degree murder, which is a little more complicated than the other two. When people do not meet the standards for first-degree, or second-degree, murder they are usually classified in this category. A third-degree murder is a murder that is not premeditated. The next level up is second-degree murder. This degree is classified as an intended, but not premeditated, murder. The highest degree is first-degree murder. This is an intended and well thought out plan to murder somebody. Being charged with this degree is saying that you thought about how you were going to seek out and kill your victim. People who are guilty of first-degree murder could be tried for the death penalty. This is …show more content…
This makes a huge point to my argument. Psychologists are people who learn about why human beings think what they think and do what they do. They help to stand up for people who have been put down by society.
“A young African-American man shot and killed an Alabama police officer in 1981. He was examined in jail and found to be psychotic then and at the time of the killing. In 1982 the Alabama Lunacy Commission found him competent to stand trial, and he was sentenced to death. He was consistently described as psychotic in prison records; but another state forensic evaluation in 1988 again found him competent. After reviewing his records and examining him, I concluded that he had been psychotic when he killed the officer and was psychotic still. A federal appeals court judge ruled that the original trial had been unconstitutional because the defendant was not competent at the time. The prosecutor declined to retry him, and he was sent to a state mental hospital.”(Beck) The banning of psychologists is a way for the prosecution to have a lead. With no facts on a person’s mental issues then the people of the court are bias. They have no idea if this person has had things in the past that have permanently scared their thinking process. Things that even may have, ultimately, made this person insane. “In a report submitted on Jan. 2 to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and the state legislature, the 13-member
Mental Illness has been prevalent all throughout our history from Isaac Newton to Abraham Lincoln to Sylvia Plath and so on. These illnesses can be as minor as a slight bipolar disorder or as severe as schizophrenia. In recent years, mental illnesses are becoming more prevalent in our criminal justice systems than anywhere else. Mental illness is becoming an association with crime and based on the information that has been found, this paper will attempt to further define the problem of mental illness within our criminal justice system and offer alternatives or insights as to how to possibly help with this problem.
We kill people to show them killing is wrong. The death penalty does not punish people for killing but for murdering someone. Murder is "the unlawful, malicious, or permitted killing of one human being by another" (Carmical 1). The slogan should be ?We execute people to show people that murder is wrong.? The death penalty is racist, it punishes the poor, it causes the innocent to die, it is not a deterrent against violent crime, and it is cruel and unusual punishment. The death penalty is wrong and it should be abolished.
Senator for Utah Orrin Hatch once said, “Capital punishment is our society’s recognition of the sanctity of human life,” (Brainy Quote). While the arguments for both sides of the debate over the morality of the death penalty are vast, the bottom line is that the death penalty does not disregard human life, but rather it reveres it, as Hatch said. Morality is defined as, “The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct,” (The Free Dictionary). One who seeks to protect a person who has committed a heinous crime such as murder is arguably not in accords with what is right and wrong. Therefore, although killing is generally accepted as being wrong, the death penalty is sometimes the only solution to bring justice to a
Throughout the history of man there has always existed a sort of rule pertaining to retribution for just and unjust acts. For the just came rewards, and for the unjust came punishments. This has been a law as old as time. One philosophy about the treatment of the unjust is most controversial in modern time and throughout our history; which is is the ethical decision of a death penalty. This controversial issue of punishment by death has been going on for centuries. It dates back to as early as 399 B.C.E., to when Socrates was forced to drink hemlock for his “corruption of the youth” and “impiety”.
There are many reasons to both support and oppose the death penalty. Many people can feel very strongly about whether or not they approve of this method of punishment. I feel that the death penalty is wrong, and I believe that there is much support to back this up. I believe that the death penalty is wrong because it is not an effective deterrent, racially and economically bias, unreliable, expensive, and morally wrong of society.
Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individual State governments, have differing opinions. Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen to the opposition of Capital Punishment.
"More than 4,500 people have been executed in the United States since 1930. There is no way of knowing how many have been executed in U.S. history because executions were often local affairs, with no central agency keeping track of them (Maloney, 1999)." Over 4,500 people were executed and this doesn't even include the unreported deaths. Decades ago, death penalty cases were not even to be reported in many times. For many years, people have been rationalize themselves for death penalty as " an eye for an eye"(2010).This "eye for an eye" statement is no longer giving any excuses for killing humans. The controversial idea of whether humans are rational enough to decide someone's life or death has been questioned. Humans absolutely don't have
Using insanity defense as an available option for criminals to get lesser punishment is a very controversial topic. There are many flaws within this law that should be taken into consideration when deciding if insanity defense should be abolished. Taking into account the strengths and weakness of this topic, it is clear that the insanity defense should most definitely be abolished.
There are several levels of murder which are labeled by degrees and the severity and punishment varies with each degree. The first one is first degree murder which is considered the most serious. First degree murders include elements of premeditation and deliberate planning of killing someone. The second one is second degree murder which include elements of committing a harmful act against another person without just cause. Second degree murder differs by not including premeditation and deliberate planning. The final level of murder is third degree murder which is not premeditated and includes elements of it taking place during the commission of a crime. According to US Legal attempt to commit murder is defined as, “person should have deliberately, intentionally or recklessly with extreme disregard for human life, attempted to kill someone. There should be some substantial step towards committing the crime.” To convict someone for attempt to commit murder there must include the elements of the person showing intent to commit
To be found guilty of first degree murder, it must be proven that killed someone with malice aforethought, meaning it was planned, premeditated. First degree murder is to kill malevolence, to kill either intentionally and deliberately or recklessly with the utmost disregard for human life. Premeditation may be fashioned immediately and does not require a lengthy period of contemplation. The death penalty is recognized in Thirty-eight states. Capital first-degree murder or aggravated first-degree murder is categorized in killings viewed as deserving of capital punishment. Life imprisonment or death penalty is the punishment resulted in a conviction. States who do not recognized the death penalty, aggravated murder carries life imprisonment.
The Death Penalty Discussion In today’s world terrible crimes are being committed daily. Many people believe that these criminals deserve one fate; death. Death penalty is the maximum sentence used in punishing people who kill another human being and is a very controversial method of punishment. Capital punishment is a legal infliction of death penalty and since ancient times it has bee used to punish a large variety of offences.
In the world we as people live in violence. Violence has gotten so out of control that it has affected everyone. The one thing about violence is that it also leads to crimes. And crimes leads to some people being imprisoned, while others are put on death row. But if crimes are crimes, what makes them minor or major? Who decides if they are minor or major? Nowadays minor and major crimes are being pushed together. For example, someone gets shot and the shooter gets 5 years in prison. But if someone is raped it cannot be proven and the victim is left suicidal while the rapist goes about their day. Both are major crimes but one has a sentence and the other one does not. With this happening in the world it makes me wonder if we as the people
Psychologists are very important people; they help millions of people with their everyday struggles and problems that they have to deal with. Not only do psychologists help people with problems that they cannot handle on their own, they also are scientists who study human minds and behaviors.
Twenty-six percent of individuals responded with a ten when asked if the victim’s family gained more attention. Seventeen percent said the victim’s family did not. However, the remaining results varied from four to nine, with nine meaning the victim’s family gained more attention from the criminal justice system. Question seven asked individuals to describe the death penalty using one word. The word that was used the most was “cruel.” The use of that word by participants was not surprising at all. The next common used word was “justice.” The use of these two words were simply interesting. This is simply because with they can almost act as antonyms. This indicates there were definitely mixed beliefs about the death penalty. A few negative words that were used to describe the death penalty were tragic, inhumane, abomination, unlawful, judgmental, wrong, and flawed. In comparison, words such as deserving, karma, complicated, and irrevocable were also used to describe the death penalty. The last question included in the survey was a short response question. Participants were asked to discuss the different ways that the families of the accused could cope with death penalty. I was very pleased with the responses. One-fourth of participants indicated that prayer was the answer. They insisted that religion and faith were the appropriate approaches to dealing with the tragedies experienced during the death penalty. Some individual even suggested something as simple
Capital punishment has been around for many years as a way of executing criminals. Despite what most believe, capital punishment is not functional in the American society. Defenders of the death penalty often claim that the execution of criminals will teach others not to do bad, initially decreasing crime rates. Unfortunately, statistics prove that thought to be wrong. Capital punishment also has great flaws. For example, many innocent people have been put to death because of capital punishment. There also is no consistency. Two of the same crimes can be convicted in two different states and the consequences with be different for both offenders. The death penalty shows to be