The Death Penalty Should Not Be A Controversial Topic

The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues on American soil. Blacks are more likely to face the death penalty than whites in the commission of identical crimes(CNN, 2014). The history of capital punishment dates back to the days before Christ. The Old Testament adage 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' has survived throughout the ages despite the New Testament's rendition of 'thou shall not kill'. Today's American victims endure a more demure of style of cruel and unusual punishment; death by lethal injection has replaced the barbaric traditions of the past.

Capital punishment, the state imposed penalty of death, continues to be one of the most controversial issues in contemporary American public policy. Since the earliest days of its employment in the colonial era until today, citizens have struggles with the issue of when and under what circumstances the taking of a human life by the state can be morally or legally justified. For some opponents of the death penalty, the simple answer is that the taking of a human life is always morally and ethically wrong, even when conducted under the auspices of state authority as a legal punishment. In contrast, proponents of capital punishment have contended with equal fervor that the death penalty is morally justified as a form of retributive justice,

While the topic can be overwhelming and complex, it is important to study the racist institution of the death penalty because execution is the ultimate expression of which individuals are valued by our society and which are considered dispensable. What the US expresses through its executions carries some racist undertones when we look at the races of the persons being executed, but it takes on a clearly racial direction when we consider the race of the original murder victim. For example, "the most comprehensive study of the death penalty found that killers of whites were eleven times more likely to be condemned to death than killers of African- Americans."3 On the flip side, "only 31 of the over 18,000 executions in this country's history involved a white person being punished for killing a Black person."4 In capital punishment, we find the modernday counterpart to lynching. Of course, lynching often meant sporadic acts of individual racism. Selective killing today is an official, bureaucratized act of the state and therefore an official statement of what our government stands for. And what the government stands for is the most complete disempowerment possible - death - for a large number of Black individuals.

Punishment takes various forms, but the decisive end of life arouses the emotions of all, not just those directly affected, to dispute the ethics of capital punishment. At the core of the controversy, two educated assessments are made; abolitionists attempt to prove that the death penalty is unnecessary and unjust, while its advocates proclaim the opposite. Avid abolitionist Jack Greenberg writes in his article “Against the American System of Capital Punishment,” that not only does the current system fail to deter but it is enforced unfairly because of the bias infesting our courts. Ernest van den Haag counters this belief with his article, “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense,” which shifts the focus away from deterrence, stating that

If there is a desire by the American people to maintain the death penalty, let us at least be spared the hypocrisy of a justification by example.  The death penalty is a penalty, to be sure, a frightful torture, both physical and moral, but it provides no sure example except a demoralizing one. It punishes, but it forestalls nothing; indeed, it may even arouse the impulse to murder. It hardly seems to exist, except for the man who suffers it-- in his soul for months and years, in his body during the desperate and violent hour when he is cut in two without suppressing his life. Let us call it by the name which, for lack of any other nobility, will at least give the nobility of truth, and let us

E Capital punishment is an intolerable denial of civil liberties and is inconsistent with the fundamental values of our democratic system (The American Civil Liberties Union, 2012).The death penalty system in the US is applied in an unfair and unjust manner against people, largely dependent on how much money they have, the skill of their attorneys, race of the victim and where the crime took place (ACLU, 2012). People of color are far more likely to be executed than white people, especially if the victim is white (ACLU, 2012).

Capital punishment has been a long debated topic of discussion for decades in the United States. Additional controversy over the United States death penalty has risen from a 2014 botched execution in the state of Oklahoma. The incident occurred when the lethal injection was administered and the “drugs meant to kill a convicted murderer did not, though he later died of a heart attack.” (LA Times) The article from the LA Times discusses political backgrounds and climate for capital punishment. There is an argument that we should abolish capital punishment in the United States, while some argue we need to uphold crime and punishment. The article discusses

The concept of capital punishment is one that has successfully caused massive controversy in America throughout history. Also known as the death penalty, this is an extreme form of punishment that is placed upon a person who has committed a crime (in most cases, murder) that the government deems worthy of execution. In current times, the death penalty usually comes as a result of extreme cases of murder in which the court decides the convict deserves to die. Because of its intensity, the topic is one that many American citizens have debated about over time. Many oppose the idea because they believe it to be inhumane and unacceptable in many ways. However, as long as there have been those who are against it, there have also been

IN THE FIRST HALF of the twentieth century capital punishment went into decline. The annual number of exactions in the United States reached what was probably its all-time peak in 1935, at 199. It then began to drop sharply. Nineteen forty-seven was the last year with more than 150 executions. Nineteen fifty-one was the last with more than 100. In 1961 the death penalty was carried out only 42 times; in 1963, only 21. Finally, in

It’s no secret that the death penalty is a very controversial issue in the United States. The death penalty has been around for centuries, but so has the movement to abolish it. Does the death penalty really need to be abolished? or are people just too sensitive to the issue?

The death penalty is always a controversial subject. This controversy is because people have different perspectives on the decisions of the criminal justice system and capital punishment. These different outlooks and opinions of the justice system and the death penalty lead to debates. Some of these debates are based on whether the race of the defendant and victim affect the decision of the death penalty. One of the major concerns are the number of death sentences among murder convictions based on the race of the defendant. The Death Penalty Information Center published a study called “The Death Penalty in Black and White”, in 1998. This study follows 667 murder convictions in Philadelphia between 1983 and 1993. The study was conducted to

Capital Punishment (also known as the death penalty) continues to remain as one of the most controversial topics when it comes down to guilty criminals. The death penalty ‘is a government sanctioned practice by which a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime’. Crimes that usually end in death penalty are known as capital punishments or capital offenses. The topic of the death penalty has been quite a controversial topic since it first began. It has become such a problem that some states and countries have even decided to destroy the death penalty from their system of government. A total of 102 countries have decided to completely get rid of it. As of 2016, about fifty eight countries still use the death penalty. A total

The execution of criminals has been performed by nearly every society to date. The death penalty came to the Americas when European settlers brought the idea of capitol punishment from Britain. The ideology behind taking someone’s life for crimes they have committed is a simple one. If a person commits a hennas crime such as murder or rape, they shall receive the death penalty. In more recent times we now see many countries abolishing the death penalty. The trend suggests that the capitol punishment policies still implemented in the United States may be outdated, but yet there is a large majority in the United States who feel capital punishment is necessary. In contrast there are many that feel that it’s immoral, unconstitutional and should be abolished. The political issue is whether or not capital punishment should be outlawed in the United States. An explanation of capitol punishment and some positions from those who are for and against capital punishment will be given. Next, review the positions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and interest groups on the issue and how these positions interplay with values of freedom, order, and equality. Then argue as to why capitol punishment should be outlawed.

Some may say the death penalty is one of the most ethical and controversial issues of all time. The issue brings forth anger among many individuals among todays society. This anger has developed over time throughout the history of the death penalty. Over time, the policy has been developed, started and evolved over time. Different states and countries choose to address the penalty differently resulting in more of a controversy. I personally believe that this policy is severely wrong and needs immediate attention. The numbers of people who live on death row are shocking. These high numbers create issues for citizens of the country, and if they were simply put straight to death there would not be so many issues for citizens. It is for the better interest of the states that the death penalty be utilized in all states. Through changing this policy, the crime rate will be lowered, the guilty receive what they deserve, taxpayers money is not spent on keeping the guilty in prison, and prisons are not overcrowded.

If we go back the late 1960’s into the 1970’s, the United States was going through a different time. Not only was the technology available, but the beliefs and views of society were different as well. From 1968 to 1972 there was a blanket stay of execution in the United States of America. This means that during this time that there were no executions being done. Now it is up to the states to decide on whether the death penalty is allowed in that state. Considering that the first legal execution of someone was in 1608, there has been a lot of time for the viewpoints on the death penalty to change. There will always be individuals who support the death penalty, and there will always be individuals who oppose the death penalty. This essay will