The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

The death penalty is the ultimate punishment. There is no harsher punishment than death itself. This nation, the United States of America, is currently one of fifty-eight nations that practice the death penalty, if one commits first-degree murder as of 2012. People that believe in the death penalty also believe that it will deter murders. In this paper I will argue that the death penalty does not deter criminals and that this nation should outlaw the practice.

For years the death penalty has been one of the most controversial topics in the judicial field. The death penalty has been abolished in 18 states leaving 34 states that allow it. It is argued that the death penalty goes against moral and religious beliefs along with being unconstitutional. I’m against the death penalty not because of sympathy for criminals but because it isn’t effective in reducing crime, cost more than it would to incarcerate a person for life, and worst of all it risks executions of innocent people. Capital punishment is an increasingly argued issue in today’s society. The main focus of the criminal justice system is to rehabilitate criminals and to protect society from those who are not. Ernest Van Den Haag argues that,

For the past decades capital punishment has been one of the most hotly contested political issues in America, but this debate is definitely a complicated one. Capital punishment is a legal, practical, philosophical, social, political, but also a moral question. The notion of deterrence has been at the very center of the practical debate over the question of capital punishment. Most of us assume that we execute murderers primarily because we

Many people question the need for the death penalty, the execution of those who have committed certain crimes, as a capital punishment. For instance, the author of “Against the American System of Capital Punishment”, Jack Greenburg, who is a Professor of Law at Columbia University, argues that the death penalty does not benefit society and is not necessary. Likewise, Kevin Johnson, writer of “Study Finds No Evidence Death Penalty Deters Crime”, also argues against the use of the death penalty by pointing out the flaws in the common research of deterrence. On the other hand, some may also argue for the many aids the death penalty offers. Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University, Ernest Van den Haag, with his “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense”, and authors James M. Reams and Charles T. Putnam, with their article, “Making a Case for the Deterrence Effect of Capital Punishment”, both give arguments for the grander justice the death penalty offers. While each of these articles give very well thought out claims for the necessity of the death penalty, using arguments including racism, and deterrence, Van den Haag’s claim gives the clearest and best arguments.

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.

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

Throughout United States history, there has been controversy over the death penalty. Should serious criminals be punishing with death, or should we outlaw the death penalty? Many people think that deterrence is one of the good justifications for the death penalty, but others believe that death penalty is the same type of crime that the criminals commit. The violation of the human rights is the main reason why some people want to outlaw capital punishment; also the state violates the human’s rights for inmates during the cruel time that they spend on death row. The evidence that capital punishment may very well deter murder had been in doubt, based on the irrational idea that killing another human life can be a bad example for society. In

Dating back to ancient times, all the way up until the mid-twentieth century, it was tradition to execute criminals after they had committed a heinous crime on another victim. To this day, capital punishment is a subject undergoing intense study, and is a hot topic of controversy. It is a challenging debate with many different viewpoints. Many people are pro death penalty, while others are quite against it, and there are others with amphibological feelings towards the subject. One of the many different questions that originate when the topic of the death penalty arises is if capital punishment is deterrence for crime. Capital punishment stirs up a fierce debate, but over the years research has proven it is not deterrence, and states without the death penalty have a lower crime rate than states than allow the death penalty.

The death penalty remains one of the most controversial topics in the study of criminal justice. Hundreds of convicted criminals have seen their fate by the hands of capital punishment in the course of United States history. Hundreds of others are still awaiting the day their sentence will be carried out. However, even though many of Americans still believe the principal role of capital punishment is deterring future crimes, thousands of others condemn the United States criminal justice system for its errors and fallacies, which result in erroneous capital punishment decisions and legalized violence against innocent people.

The United States have been divided over the controversy of whether or not the death penalty is a humane punishment to use against criminals. Eighteen states, as well as the District of Columbia, have banned it, the remaining states have not. The government and law enforcements believe the death penalty deters crime rates across America. This has yet to be proven right. In S. E. Cupp’s article, “The Conservative Case Against the Death Penalty”, she says: “The country needs to have a clear-eyed conversation about the death penalty, one that puts both anecdotal and emotional arguments aside in favor of some serious analysis.”

The death penalty has been considered an issue since the Eighteenth century, when the first established death penalty laws were in effect. There are vast differences in the way people view the death penalty; some oppose it and some agree with it. In the recent decades the death penalty has become a more popular controversial topic. The people who oppose the death penalty have very different reasons than people who agree with it. Death penalty advocates believe that the death penalty deters crime rates and is completely constitutional, whereas anti death penalty advocates believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional and doesn’t deter crimes. Through research and writings I will go in depth on this topic. Thus the question remains,

The main goals of the criminal justice system are to: rehabilitate offenders, and protect society from those offenders. Ernest Van Den Haag argues that “doing justice or deterring others” (102) are the objectives of the system. Therefore, the use of the death penalty is a means to an end. Opponents of the death penalty must convince its supporters that it does not fulfill either of these objectives while proponents rely on either argument for the justification of the system.

There have been controversies on the topic of capital punishment and its role within the society. Capital punishment is interpreted as a person committing a crime and being punished by death through lethal injection or electrical stimulus for it. Capital punishment is also referred by the term death penalty. The government implement capital punishment to control the future would-be criminals. The supporters believe that capital punishment is the only way to make criminals suffer. On the other hand, the opponents think it is inhuman and against our morals. The debate between the two sides just goes on whether to retain it or not. As a matter of fact, capital punishment is suitable for some of the crimes, but it is inhuman, and government spent a lot on it. Therefore, it should be abolished.