The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

Debate over capital punishment is nothing new, but it reaches a whole new level when the accused is mentally ill. The question then becomes… was the perpetrator aware of his heinous actions by knowing right from wrong at the time of the crime or was the mental illness controlling his actions? While being sympathetic to the grief and heart break of the victim’s loved ones, I believe that execution for the mentally ill should not be allowed, because often their illness makes them incapable of knowing right and wrong of their actions. Many of those with mental illnesses often go undiagnosed and untreated, either by choice or by financial circumstances, because of the stigma and general lack of understanding associated with this type of diagnosis in our society.

Capital punishment (the death penalty) is a legal procedure which is known as the most severe punishment where the law authorizes execution as a punishment for criminals (Gerald, 2008). Many people claim that allowing such a punishment will help decrease the crime rate, and also give closure to the victim’s family, but if you as American citizens analyze this situation in more detail you can see that taking a life for taking a life is more of a personal matter than justice. When comparing the states that allow capital punishment with the states that have abolished it, the crime rate does not differ. Hence, those who argue that death row has a positive effect on making criminals

According to the Death Penalty Information Center, eighteen states have abolished the death penalty since its implementation (Facts About the Death Penalty). But what are the reasons behind doing so? Historically, public policy concerning capital punishment has shifted dramatically, from required capital punishment to jury nullification to a rise in the abolition of the practice. Public opinion has shifted alongside policy, with more and more Americans disapproving of the death penalty and the morality behind it, citing it as an inhumane and hypocritical approach to justice and punishment. I am with the the more progressive Americans that do not believe in administering the death penalty under any circumstances. Rather, I support life imprisonment or the insanity defense for capital offenses whenever appropriate. Capital punishment is ineffective because it lowers the state down to the level of the defendant, frequently discriminates against racial minorities and those of lower socioeconomic status, and it has been abolished in nearly every other modern democratic country.

There are 31 states with the Death Penalty and of those is California: which has the highest murder rate out of all 50 states. My point is the Death Penalty does not change the crime rate at all, in fact, states with the death penalty rule have more violence than those who don’t. In 2006, the FBI Uniform Crime Report revealed that the area of the U.S. that was responsible for the most executions (the South with 80 percent) also had the highest murder rate, whereas the Northern areas that had the fewest ­executions (less than one percent), had the lowest murder rates. Capital Punishment is useless and it wastes resources and time. It wastes the time of judges, jurors, prosecutors and police officers. According to a study conducted by the University of Florida, approximately 90 percent of the nation’s leading criminologist say that using capital punishment is an extreme waste of time and as well as

Death penalty is also known as capital punishment or execution. Societies from all over the world have used this sentence at one point in history, in order to avenge criminals. Most common reasons for being sentenced to death were war crimes, war treason, murder and espionage. Back then, the capital punishment was almost always accompanied by torture, and executions were public. The most used execution method was by hanging. If an inmate chooses the electric chair it takes anywhere between 2 min and 15 minutes. The criminal receives a jolt between 500 and 2000 volts for every 30 seconds, attending doctor waits for body to cool after each bolt and check if the heart is still breathing. While in some societies, violent death penalties are still being employed – like shooting, hanging, electric chair and gas chamber – in most countries, these have been replaced with a painless method – the lethal injection. When the person is put to death for the death penalty they use a lethal injection execution, in most cases. Sodium thipal makes the person go deeply unconscious but unable to feel himself being paralyzed from the “pancuronium bromide”. On death row an inmate waited an average of 15 years between sentencing and execution but a quarter of inmates die on death row from natural cases. The time has come to make punishment fit the crime, too oppose lethal injection, but not because these untried new drugs might obituary cause pain, but cause confusion, lethal injection conflates

Moreover, states without the death penalty have much lower murder rates. The South accounts for 80% of US executions and has the highest regional murder rate.” With that being said no one is aware if capital punishment is deterring crime from any state.

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

First off, the assumption that capital punishment deters crime is false. According to data you can find online on crime rates from 1973-1984, states that did use the death penalty had higher crime rates than the states that didn’t use it. This is an assumption made by people because they believe that capital punishment should decrease crime. But the fact is that it doesn’t. Many other places in the world have completely abolished capital punishment, which shows a need to advocate for the abolishment of this penalty.

Some people feel as though that the death penalty is wrong and unjust and violates the right for people to live. However during wars we often disregard the rights of our enemies in order to fight for and protect our own rights. Murders take the rights of others to live. When people can no longer protect their own rights that is where law steps in. States without death penalty have consistently had a lower murder rate which some would like to point at no death penalty being the cause of this and is most likely to be consistent just as likely to have it within the states and higher murder rates would lead to death penalty being a solution and lower murder rates would make the death penalty not as likely for the death penalty to be legalized. Murder rates of states before penalty and after (input). Also connecticut murder rates have increased from the year of 2011. Almost all states murder rates rose in states as soon as they took away the death penalty shown by:

As of 2017, there are 31 states in the United States that allow the death penalty to be issued as a suitable form of punishment. Capital punishment has often been seen as a form of vengeance and restitution against society’s worst criminals. The death penalty is discussed over its appropriateness for any crime and the long-term benefits of allowing states to use it as a form of punishment. I believe the death penalty is the wrong way to give justice. However, my roommate, Rachel Krause, has a firm view of the death penalty and its usefulness for the state. She believes the death penalty is an effective way to ensure justice is truly obtained and can substitute as a more economical option.

Capital punishment, otherwise better known as the death penalty, has been instituted in the United State’s constitution for centuries with the purpose of being a deterrent to dangerous crimes and murder. However, as time has passed since capital punishment has been established, there has been much controversy seen regarding the issue leaving American citizens divided amongst themselves. With some opposing the validity of this form of punishment and others defending it, the debate revolving around this contentious aspect of the United State’s legal system is still raging in the modern era. While it has many supporters, the United States government should not allow for the death penalty to remain legal.

Capital Punishment has been up for debate as early as the 1700s. Human rights activists, religious groups, and economists have been consistent stakeholders in protest again capital punishment. Human rights activists believe that no judge or jury should be able to decide whether someone lives or dies. Religious groups consider all life to be sacred. And economists have proven that the death penalty is very costly on taxpayers.

Since the early sixteen-hundreds execution has always been a way to punish someone who’d murdered a person or committed a crime of treason. Ever since 1972 The United State Supreme Justice Courts created Capital Punishment, making a person applicable for the death penalty. In select U. S states a person could earn the penalty by aggravated rape, first - second degree murder, the killing of a Police Officer, killing a political figure / court member in or out of an active court hearing. Therefore, in 2017 only twenty lethal injections have occurred for now, but more participants are still on trial. Although there are restrictions to execution, in the Hall verses Florida Case Freddie Lee Hall would find that he’d be getting away from the death penalty by Judicial Court law.

A Social problem can be defined in several ways: by an influential group which defines a social condition to be threatening its values; when the condition affects a large number of people; and when the condition can be remedied by collective action. The subject of this discussion is the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, as a social problem(Sullivan, 2016). Capital punishment is a highly debated topic, and issues lie within the suggestions on both sides of the problem, whether it's to place more criminals on death row or to replace the death penalty with life without parole. But one solution which can help solve problems on both sides is to devote some time to the restructuring and purpose of our prison systems. If prison became more about rehabilitation instead of punishment, many of these problems could be solved.

The death penalty is a humane method of giving punishment to people who are savage killers. Capital punishment is lawful, dissuades ferocious wrongdoings, and is a fair punishment in the enormous majority of death row circumstances. Furthermore, capital punishment was reinstated by the U.S Supreme Court in 1976, and since then, more than 1,420 prisoners have been executed. In addition, lethal injection is the most common form of execution in the United States, which is a series of injections of three drugs that cause an overdose that is fatal to the prisoner. Although rarely used, other methods of execution are electrocution, death by firing squad, and hanging. However, there are some who believe that there are too many people who are punished for crimes that they did not commit; and that capital punishment is unconstitutional, inhumane, and is not effective at preventing crime. Furthermore, lethal injection is one of the most humane and common methods of execution in the United States.