The Issue Of Abolishing The Death Penalty

The federal government has an obligation to make just laws. Currently, US laws allow for the death penalty for certain heinous crimes. The supporters argue that the 5th Amendment, which guarantees that no one shall be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” implies that depriving someone of his or her life is permissible under the constitution as long as there is due process. However, there are several reasons why the federal government must abolish the death penalty - it weakens US moral authority over other nations; there have been too many wrongful convictions for death penalty in the US; the death penalty is in conflict with the 8th amendment of the US constitution; and finally, the cost of death penalty

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.

As revealed in the article, “One in 25 Sentenced to Death in the U.S. Is Innocent, Study Claims,” by Pema Levy, “But if the innocence rate is 4.1 percent, more than twice the rate of exoneration, the study suggests what most people assumed but dreaded: An untold number of innocent people have been executed. (4)” It is alarming to know that there were multiple people who have been executed, yet proven to be innocent afterwards. Not only is this unfair to the person himself/herself, but also to his/her family and friends for allowing people to believe their loved one was a murderer. For example, a man named Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas. As stated in the article, “Texas Executed an Innocent Man,” “Eight years after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for setting a fire that killed his three children, in a case now widely faulted for its use of flawed arson science, his relatives are seeking a posthumous pardon from state officials. (5)” Although evidence proved his innocence eight years later, it will not bring back a guiltless man. Similar to Willingham’s case, people have been accused of crimes they did not commit and received punishments they did not deserve. Additionally, statistics show the murder rate in states without a death penalty decreased throughout the years compared to states with the death penalty. For instance, studies show

Premise 2: If we abolish the death penalty we run the risk of some innocent peoplebecoming future victims of the murderers (for example, the prison guards)Utilitarian’s recognize that punishment consists of the infliction of evil on another person, but they holdthat such evil is far outweighed by the future benefits that will accrue to society. Such as the death ofprison guards. Even though utilitarianists may believe that this will help prevent innocent people becomefuture vicitims, having the death penalty STILL runs the risk of convicting and killing innocent people.Premise 3: Whether we choose to keep the death penalty or abolish it, there is a riskthat some human lives will be needlessly lost.A utilitarianist would say we (humans) should always do what brings about the greatest benefit (pleasure) to thegreatest

Execution of innocent prisoners, does not produce an overall net intrinsic value compared to alternative punishments. According to statistical data collected, as of October 2015, a total of 156 people have been exonerated while on death row- since 1973. A total of 1,414 people have been executed since that time, meaning one out of ten people on death row are innocent. (“Exoneration of Innocent Men and Women”) This data brings forth the scenario of innocent victims being killed, by flaws in the criminal justice system. Murder of an innocent individual is not morally justifiable, because it would fail

The death penalty has had and will always have the danger of judicial errors. As the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center Richard Dieter has emphasized, “every time we have an execution, there is a risk of executing an innocent person. The risk may be small, but it’s unacceptable” (Death to the Death Penalty). According to the Death Penalty Information Center, among all 7,818 people who were sentenced to death since 1977, 1412 people have been executed and 155 people have been proved innocent. Therefore, for every nine people executed, we have found one person is innocent.

"Since 1973, over eighty people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence" (Innocence and the Death Penalty 1). Statistics say that of the three-thousand six hundred people on death row right now, at least one hundred of them are innocent (Capital Punishment 1). When an innocent person is executed, the real killer is still on the streets ready to victimize someone else (Pragmatic Arguments 1). The most important problem is that when an innocent person is executed, they represent another human being who did not deserve to die.

Fifty eight countries in the world participate in the use of the death penalty, in 2010 the United States ranked fifth in having the most executions even though only thirty five states in the US legalized it. The death penalty is inhumane and you can argue it violates the constitution by using cruel and unusual punishments, that said The death penalty has many flaws with the system and it it should be abolished because it has a risk of discrimination and wrongful execution, it is not effective, and the cost of the system.

The future of the death penalty lies unclear in the cross-country battle over whether or not it should be abolished. The death penalty should in fact be abolished because of the extreme costs and painful time involved to house and execute inmates, the indecision of which method of execution is the most humane, and the increasing number of innocent inmates being wrongfully executed.

In 1940, Lawrence Bittaker, an infamous serial killer from the 1970’s, was born to two unloving parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was adopted but eventually left abandoned by his adoptive parents who could not put up with him anymore (Chojnaki, M. & Danz, E. p. 1). By the age of 17, Bittaker dropped out of high school, never to obtain his GED. From the ages of 21 to 26, Bittaker was diagnosed “borderline psychotic” and “basically paranoid” multiple times by different doctors (Chojnaki, M. & Danz, E. p. 1). Bittaker was in and out of jail before murdering five teenage girls in 1979 with a partner, Roy Norris (Chojnaki, M. & Danz, E. p. 2). In 1981, Bittaker was sentenced to death. As of today, he is 70 years old and is still on death row at San Quentin Prison in California (Chojnaki, M. & Danz, E. p. 3).

in the United States because it is a financial burden on the American people and not an

People have been released from death rows throughout America due to the evidence of wrongful conviction. Wrongful execution occurs when someone innocent is put to death by capital punishment. Many people are claimed to be innocent victims of the death penalty. Newly available DNA evidence has allowed to exoneration or release of more than seventeen death row prisoners since 1992. DNA evidence is only available in about a fraction of capital cases. The Death Penalty Information Center has released and published a list of prisoners that have been executed but possibly innocent. This is

A phrase commonly presented in American society, “An eye for an eye,” is used to represent the ideology of the death penalty in the US. The death penalty also known as capital punishment is defined as punishment by death for a crime. In its simplest form, it is “state sanctioned killing (Jones).” Recent facts show that as of, “April 1, 2010, there are approximately 3,260 individuals,” waiting for their execution date while on death row in the US (“Death Penalty”) .It has been reported that, “since 1973 over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence (“Death Penalty”).” The execution of an innocent citizen, along with the violation of the, “cruel and unusual clause” and the extensive cost of killing an

The death penalty has been a controversial topic for a long time, and rightfully deserves to be when a man’s life is in the government’s hand. Although life sentences are the popular alternative, the death penalty is the best solution to heinous crimes because it saves the government money, teaches citizens that they are responsible for their own actions and actually saves lives. Capital punishment has been around since the 18th century B.C., when the code of King Hammurabi of Babylon established death as the penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty cannot be seen as “cruel and unusual punishment” since it has been around for so long.

The crime I think is the most severe is murder. Taking another's person’s life without their approval is the most horrible thing you can do. So therefor it deserves the most severe punishment. It is here the huge debate about the death penalty comes in. Should it really be allowed to kill murderers? Everybody's opinion is different when it comes to this subject, people agree on some things, but disagree on others. I am deeply conflicted when talking about this but most of the time i think of it as the easy way out. In my eyes dying instead of spending your life in the prison is like taking a shortcut in a marathon. You get to the goal either way but one of the options are cheating. No matter what way the prisoner gets they are still going to