The Death Penalty, A Reason for Recidivism Essay

     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.

rights. It is the cold blooded killing of a human being in the name of

Ever since the beginning of time man has committed crimes. Crimes were described as acts which go against the social and moral norms of society and people. People have learned to deal with these crimes in many different ways. One of the most used forms of dealing with crime is punishing those who commit crimes. There are numerous ways in which people have punished those who commit crimes throughout history from making the criminal pay fines to banishing them from the community. However, in modern times, there are fewer acceptable forms of punishment that are used. For very unserious crimes, governments may simply make a criminal pay a small fine or do service for the community in some way. Offenders who

The death penalty is a legal punishment practiced worldwide, which includes execution being the punishment, mandated to someone convicted of a crime. The death penalty has existed since 1700 B.C. when the Code of Hammurabi was a legal document in ancient Babylonia. Ever since the Code of Hammurabi many countries have adopted this punishment including the United States. When European settlers came to America, Americans obtained the death penalty. During the establishment of the Constitution, framers continued the custom which led to the eighth amendment. “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb… nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law…” (Constitution 1).

The death penalty is when a person is put to death, by the state, for a crime that they have committed. The death penalty is also called Capital Punishment. The first recording of the death penalty was recorded in 1608 when a man named George Kendall was sentenced to death for spying in Spain. This happened in Virginia and after four years things such as, exchanging goods with Native Americans or killing chickens were considered crimes and people could be punished by death. Capital Punishment had then spread through Pennsylvania to Michigan, and then started spreading throughout the United States.

The Death penalty has been a controversial subject since the beginning of time. People are concerned about the morality of the death penalty thus making it a debatable subject. Because of this, James Freeman, columnist for USA Today, decided to write an editorial on the subject of “Does America need the death penalty?” While being a writer for USA Today, one would think that he would effectively use the appeals of rhetoric (ethos, pathos, and logos), but in fact he does not and concludes with a poorly writing argument.

The death penalty is defined as the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. The death penalty goes as far back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of Hammurabi. In the Code of Hammurabi it had a death penalty for 25 different crimes. Back then methods of execution were crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. (Source #1).

Upon completing a forum post in a Sociology class this semester I was given the task to watch a documentary discussion the death penalty in the United States. After watching several short films that include testimonies of the death row exonerate 's, I learned of just how easily these innocent people were almost murdered by a system that you and I are funding. The victims go on not only to tell of their own suffering but also the horror that their families endured. Many of them had several execution dates and were only granted their freedom by a stroke of luck and good-hearted determined people. Imagine that you have been stripped of your freedom, given poor legal representation, and now you’re being subjected to band of jurors play Russian Roulette with your life. This is how Timothy Thibodaux[H1] describes his experience with life on death row. Due to the inconsistencies of our federal justice system, one could say that it is better to let one hundred go free than to kill one innocent man. It is my opinion that the death penalty is not only costing our nation unnecessary tax dollars but also our credibility for being a nation with a respectable justice system.

   The law of God is, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (Bible 79 ), and every system of ethics and rules of our society echoes that law. For decades, state and federal leaders have struggled with opposing views of the death penalty. Many minds have endured this difficult question-Who says it is right to take another human's life because of an act that he/she committed?

The death penalty has been promoted for thousands of years, for countless crimes committed by humans. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also

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.

Although roughly thirty six people are executed each year, it is safe to assume that around eighty percent of those people put to death had killed a white victim. Because of this, the death penalty is discriminatory. The poor and minorities, especially African Americans, are the groups who get the metaphoric “short end of the stick.” Studies have shown that black defendants with less evidence against them than a white person who had committed the same crime were more likely to be sentenced to death. Black defendants are also more likely to be sentenced to death than a person of another race who had committed the same crime. An additional study showed that black defendants were almost three times as likely to get a death penalty sentence than

“Murder is wrong” (“Capital Punishment”). We’ve been taught this indisputable truth since childhood. The death penalty is defined as one human taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is a classification of murder. There are as many as thirty-six states with the death penalty, and it’s essential that they change it. The United States needs the death penalty abolished because it is filled with flaws, cruel and immoral, and is an ineffective means of deterrent for crime.

As a supporter of the death penalty, capital punishment seems to be appropriate for cases that criminals commits serious offenses. Recidivism is extremely low for high-risk cases, especially when handling serial killers or serial rapists. Certain criminals such as Jeffry Dahmer, who murdered 17 men and children, and who not only dismembered his victims’ bodies, he also ate some of his victims (citation needed); or John Wane Gacy, who murdered 33 men and children while dressed as “Pogo the Clown.” Before murdering them he raped the victims. His last words were “kiss my ass” (citation needed). Both horrific cases where these serial killers obviously got pleasure from murdering their victims and felt no regrets of the crimes they committed, there

   The Death Penalty is among one of the major punishments given by the United States Department of Justice. The following facts were given by the Office of Justice Program, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the United States Department of Justice themselves. During the year of 1995, Texas was the leading state with nineteen executions. This is about thirty-four percent of the executions in the United States. Also in that year, out of 56 persons who were executed, there were 33 white, 22 black, and one Asian. The persons executed were under sentence of death an average of eleven years and two months. Thirty-four states and the Federal prison system held 3,054 prisoners under sentence of death.