The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

In this paper I will be discussing everything you need to know about the death penalty such as its pros and cons. While the innocent can be killed, the death penalty has its pros because it prevents them from killing again if they are released or have escaped from prison, it helps overpopulated prisons, and it can help victims’ families get justice and closure. Not only can the innocent be killed, but in the past the death penalty was very inhumane. To some its feels right but to others they feel like 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Most people think that the defendant deserves the death penalty, but what does the defendants’ family think?

Again the existence of death penalty acts as a perfect deterrence to those potential criminals who are likely to commit crimes like murder and so on. Advocates for abolition of death penalty have sighted that death penalty does not have any effect in deterring crimes. Actually, they claim that the existence of death penalty leaves the crime rates constant or even higher. However, according to a study done by Van den Haag, the crime rates have increased to more than 10% whenever the death sentence has been abolished (68). Additionally, the same report pointed out

) Moreover, the pattern of this kind of murderer, the killer, is almost by definition a person who takes his chances like the soldier of fortune he thinks he is. (37) Most killers do not engage in anything like a cost-benefit analysis. They are impulsive, and they kill impulsively. If capital punishment does deter criminals, it can do so only indirectly. Potential murderers must have some standard of right and wrong. They must acknowledge morals issues. They must be without mental illness and they know and have the capacity to think about what they are doing. This conception of general deterrence seems deeply flawed because it rests upon a doubtful conception of how this murderous population internalizes social norms. Although the perpetrator

The death penalty has been battered backwards and forwards by the questions of abolishment and replacement, with mixed results. There seems to a jagged line in the sand on where people stand, and due to the continuous use today (albeit at a slower clip than in the past), it is still very much a prevalent topic of punishment. Those who argue for it believe that taking it away will take away a great deterrent, that families find peace, and that those who commit egregious crimes deserve only death. Anything less “would fail to do justice because the penalty – presumably a long period in prison – would be grossly disproportionate to the heinousness of the crime” (“Top 10 Pro & Con Arguments,” 2016). Those who don’t believe in this punishment as a modern-day, useful tool of deterrence and punishment for crime, continuously counter these arguments, as well as any others, daily at every turn. Though many states have made it illegal, others placing moratoriums or refusals to use it, the death penalty can still be found active today. But why can’t it be replaced with life without parole, and it if can why should it?

Death is something that a lot of people think about, but do people think about the Death Penalty? Having been given the death penalty means that someone is going to be put to death by a lethal injection or an electric chair; There are more ways, but the injection and the electric chair are the most used. There are many different opinions surrounding the idea of death penalties; which some people think the death penalty should be used more and some believe the complete opposite.

The death penalty has been debated for centuries. Within just America, it dates back all the way to 1608. In an article entitled “History of the Death Penalty” from the website Death Penalty Information Center, it states, “The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain.” So, it is safe to say that the death penalty has been around for a long time, and has been debated by many for just as long. Most people will claim that they are against the death penalty with no reason other than they believe it is immoral and wrong. Those people simply do not know the facts of how the death penalty actually helps the American Justice System. The death penalty prevents overcrowding in prisons, reoffenders, and is cheaper to the taxpayers.

“We oppose the death penalty for what it does to those guilty of heinous crimes, but for what it does to all of us; it offers the tragic illusion that we can defend life by taking life” by Joseph Fiorenza states that the death penalty is cruel and unjust. It may take lives of all those who are wrongfully convicted and may cost people millions of dollars. However, some may argue that the death of a criminal may bring closure to families of victims.

In Kellow Chesney's book The Victorian Underworld illustrates that the Victorians tried to use the death penalty as a means of controlling criminal elements in forms of hangings, lethal injection,Electrocution, and firing squads in order to prevent crime( the victorian underworld). in Victorian times, the death penalty was used as a means of controlling. There should be abolishment of this because of the countless innocent men and women being put to death for the stated purpose of preventing crime out of fear. So There should not be a death penalty because it violates human rights, it does not deter crime, and is a cruel and unusual punishment.

Many times the major question is do those convicted of a crime deserve to die or whether the state deserve to kill them. In other words what purpose would it serve by killing the person? What rehabilitation could they do if they are dead? This is one of the questions facing the justice system. Although the answer is not an easy one, it requires some thought and negotiation between the justice system and the state in order to determine the answer for each state. Each state must look hard and long at its financial situation as well as what is legally, morally and sometimes politically right.

Since the beginning of time there has always been the question of what to do with someone that has committed a serious offense that has resulted in serious injury or even death to a person. The death penalty has always been a topic of whether it is humane or inhumane to put someone to death over their crimes against another human being. The death penalty to some is either acceptable to where a person should be put t death for their crimes or is not doing anything to deter people from committing crimes. the death penalty is starting to become less of a punishment and more of a costly expense to taxpayers whom for “Each death penalty case in Texas costs taxpayers about $2.3 million.” The death penalty for some think it should be abolished while others would rather see it extended.

During the year of 1608, the first recorded execution took place, killing Captain George Kendall. Since that moment, as the United States of America expanded, the death penalty became part of the law. Killing 1465 criminals since 1796, the death penalty has kept numerous crimes from happening. The death penalty is supported by the victim of the crime’s family, follows the “eye for an eye” rule, is a deterrent of crimes and should not be abolished.

The Death Penalty is the punishment of execution to someone who legally by court of law convicted a capital crime. In the United States of America this is mainly used for aggravated murder. Additionally this means that the murder has circumstances that are severe. For instance it was planned murder, intentionally killed below the age of 13, killed someone while serving term in prison, killed a law officer, and killed someone or illegally terminated a person’s pregnancy while in the process of committing, trying to commit or escaping after the act of rape, kidnapping, aggravated arson, arson, robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary, aggravated burglary, terrorism, or trespass. The death penalty is balanced between pros and cons, where it

"Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by ... any … kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing ... from a premeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree." (Cornell) First-degree murder is very clear in its definition in US law. On the fateful night of November 14, 1959, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock seemed to have completely disregarded that very law when they made the decision to murder the innocent Clutter family after a planned robbery attempt and murder for cover up. Herbert and Bonnie Clutter and two of their children, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter, were brutally slain that night only for a total gain of fifty dollars for the killers. For the brutal murders of the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock should undoubtedly be punished by receiving the death penalty.

Why is the death penalty so ineffective and expensive? There are multiple reasons to both questions, ranging from the trial cost and appeals or to the 153 people that have been exonerated. Theres also the declining popularity of capital punishment with only 60% of americans saying that they support it, as of 2013. Also a 2014 poll by the Washington Post and ABC News found that a majority of Americans (52%) prefer life without parole as punishment for murder, with just 42% preferring the death penalty.(“Public Opinion About the Death Penalty.” Public Opinion About the Death Penalty | Death Penalty Information Center, Deathpenaltyinfo.org, deathpenaltyinfo.org/public-opinion-about-death-penalty.)

What is the death penalty? The death penalty is a punishment of execution. There are many methods of executions, such as lethal injection, beheading, hanging, electrocution, or shooting in the back of the head, either by one person or a firing squad. Many people have different opinions on the death penalty, whether it should be legal or not. The death penalty argument in the US has left the country divided for a long time. There are thirty-three states where the death penalty is legal and seventeen states have abolished it. In my opinion, the death penalty shouldn’t be legal throughout the entire country. It breaches basic human rights: the right to life and the right to live free from torture. There are multiple reasons why the death penalty shouldn’t be legalized, including, arbitrary, fallibility, high cost, and deterrence.