The Death Penalty Should Be An Option

Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, has been a part of the United State’s justice system for the majority of the country’s existence. Today, 31 out of the 50 states still recognize the death penalty as a viable option when dealing with high profile crimes, most notably murder and sexual assault. While many people argue that the death penalty should be made illegal, there is also widespread support in favor of keeping the death penalty, leaving the nation divided on the issue. Both sides of the argument possess valid evidence that supports their claims, but in the end, the arguments in favor of the death penalty are noticeably stronger. The death penalty is an appropriate sentence that should continue to be allowed in the

Ever since the dawn of man’s search for justice, the death penalty, has been a consequence for particularly heinous crimes. Over the years society has debated whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. People who oppose of the death penalty view supporters as gun-slinging "rednecks" who live in the backwoods of America. Likewise, supporters view those who oppose the death penalty as uptight "suits" who live in mansions and believes that every person, no matter their crime, deserves to live. Those who oppose the death penalty argue that life in prison is a preferable solution to the death penalty. The supporters of the death penalty argue that Hammurabi’s code, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life, is an

Committing crimes as horrendous as mass shootings at schools should be dealt with the highest punishment available under the constitution. Mass shooters like Adam Lanza, who in cold blood murdered 20 children and 6 staff members in an elementary school located in the quiet town of Sandy Hook, Connecticut. There is no rehabilitation for a psychopathic killer who takes the life of TWENTY innocent children with neither hesitation nor reason. Adam Lanza is the prime example of a criminal who deserved to be tried with the death penalty as an option. He held no remorse, before he went to the elementary school and slaughtered 20 kids; he murdered his 52 year old mother while she was sleeping in her bedroom. These are characteristics of a man who deserved the death penalty as punishment for the murder of 26 people and suffering inflicted on the families. This man was neither innocent nor deserving of sympathy. In cases similar to Sandy Hook, the death penalty should be an option.

As far back as one can look into human civilization, justice for a murder victim has always been by taking the life of the killer. In today’s society capital punishment is needed to defend it from further harm, bring justice and/or vengeance to the victims of the loved ones, and encourage psychological deterrence. As of today, there are thirty-two states which offer the only just punishment for a crime without parallel and eighteen states having abolished the death penalty.

An early supporter of the death penalty was the Babylonian King Hammurabi. In his set of laws, he set the legal punishment “an eye for an eye”. This popular phrase was used to punish criminals with death for 25 crimes, although murder was not one of them.

In 1772 B.C., The Code of Hammurabi, a comprehensive and ancient set of Babylonian laws, was introduced. The code lists punishments for dozens of transgressions and is noted for its use of the “eye for an eye” reciprocity theory of justice. The Code of Hammurabi could certainly be considered harsh and despotic by today’s standards, but it introduced the death penalty, which still exists today. The capital punishment that is the death penalty, ignites an argument among people from two different sides of the spectrum, whenever it is mentioned. One side supports the death penalty, claiming it is a means of deterrence, while the opponents say that it is inhumane.

During the colonial era, Britain was the biggest influence on America when it came to utilizing the death penalty. The death penalty was used for minor offenses such as stealing, killing animals, and trading with Indians. As the late 1700s approached, a movement towards abolishing the death penalty began. Beccaria wrote an essay in 1767 called “Crimes and Punishment,” that had a significant impact on the world’s opinion towards the death penalty (Bohm,1999). Beccaria suggested

The Death Penalty, or capital punishment is nothing new in the world. SInce the dawn of civilization people were sentenced to death for sometimes even the most minor of crimes, such a theft. As the world has changed in the last few thousand years, so have attitudes toward the Death Penalty,yet it is still a punishment that is carried out throughout the world today. In the United States, as of July of 2015, 31 states in the Union actively carry out the death penalty. Only 19 states have abolished the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without the possibility of parole as the maximum sentence. However, with the declining popularity of the death penalty in the United States and throughout the world, the question that needs to be

The death penalty is a punishment given to people who commit heinous crimes. Since 1976, there have been over 1,390 executions. But does that make the death penalty, necessarily, a correct and justifiable form of punishment? “The death penalty is our harshest punishment,” states Ernest van den Haag, author of “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense.” Van den Haag, in his article, argues how the death penalty is effective and should be used. However, Jack Greenberg, James P. Gray, and Jeffery Reiman, all concur that the death penalty should not be used as a punishment for criminals. Jack Greenberg, author of “Against the American System of Capital Punishment,” argues how the death penalty is an

Judge Arthur Alarcon and Prof. Paula Mitchell of California have recently done a study on capital punishment and the cost that it has had on the state of California. Their findings may shock some, California has spent $4 billion in the past thirty years to up keep the death penalty, and the average capital trial cost $1 million more than non-capital trials (Alarcon & Mitchell, 2011). Capital punishment is a legal process where the punishment for a crime is death. This is a concept that has been around for a long time. One of the earliest written documents that support capital punishment is Hammurabi’s Code with the theory of “an eye for an eye” (Mark, 2011). The topic of capital punishment has become a very controversial one in the past couple decades. Many people are against it, saying that it is a “cruel and unusual punishment” and those for it fight say what a great deterrence it can be. While capital punishment may have had a purpose in the past, in our modern society I believe it should be an obsolete practice.

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is nothing new. It has been around for thousands of years. It is mentioned in the bible as punishment for over 30 different crimes. It is also found in the Code of Hammurabi, which dates back to 1750 BC. England, America’s “mother nation,” had seven crimes that were considered capital offenses by the end of the 15th century, and by the year 1800 there were over 200 capital crimes listed for the country (“Capital”). In the U.S. today the death penalty is a topic of concern for many. Former New York City mayor, Edward I. Koch, in his article, “Death and Justice” describes the situation perfectly. After using an analogy between capital punishment and cancer, and the “barbaric” methods we use to treat cancer, he wrote, “Murder is not the “disease” we are trying to cure. The disease is

Capital punishment used to be a routine universal practice. The torrid history surrounding executions dates back thousands of years and includes the majority of civilizations around the world. Throughout history, the death penalty has been utilized as a tool to manage society. Hammurabi, a successful Babylonian king, established what many scholars thought to be the first code of laws. Charles F. Horne, author of “The Code of Hammurabi,” explains: “The code . . . regulates in clear and definite strokes the organization of society” and these “grim retaliatory punishments take no note of excuses or explanations, but only of the fact” (Horne Online). Obviously, Hammurabi was aware of the advantages of capital punishment and eagerly supports it! Furthermore, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, “In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians” (DPIC Online). While capital punishment is clearly unnecessary for such trivial delinquencies, it is evident that this practice has been widely employed and passed down through the ages.

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

Capital Punishment was adopted by America when the state of Virginia carried out the colonies’ first execution in 1608 (“History of the Death Penalty”). Since then, usage of the death penalty has been instituted by 36 states, making execution the ultimate form of punishment. Although in theory the death penalty seems like a viable method of punishment, in practice, it has serious flaws that damage the integrity of the state. Capital Punishment has been falsely idolized as a deterrent, applied unfairly for generations, used as a vehicle for revenge, and made people blind to the fact that life in prison without parole is an equally acceptable form of punishment. The death penalty is an

The earliest historical record of the death penalty otherwise known as capital punishment goes back as far as the eighteenth century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon listed 25 crimes which were punishable by death. Since then, the uses of the death penalty have prevailed throughout the ages in laws and justice systems of different civilizations. For instance, the Draconian Code of Athens punishes all crimes with the death penalty. During those times, the death penalty involved suffering a gruesome death such as being burnt alive, impaling, crucifixion and stoning (Death Penalty Information Center, 2011).