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?

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.

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.

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.

The death penalty also known as capital punishment ,happens when the court makes the decision to put a prisoner on death row. Soon it will be the prisoner's time to be executed. On Deathpenaltyinfo.org they show the top five execution methods. #1 is lethal injection (injecting poisons into the bodies, #2 is electrocution A.K.A the electric chair, #3 is the gas chamber, #4 is where prisoners are strapped to a chair while executioners use them to practice shooting, finally #5 is hanging but the prisoners are normally injected first.

The death penalty has been a truly controversial topic in the past decade. Many different states having debates whether it is a constitutional punishment or if it violates the Eighth Amendment. There are thirty-one states that have decided that it is a just capital punishment and nineteen states have decided it contradicts the Constitution. That the death penalty violates the right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment(“Death Penalty Information Center). Although, there has been a significant decrease in the past years of people being sentenced the death penalty as states start to review the death penalty. Some state’s have also started to forbid their healthcare practitioners from taking part in the death penalty as it contradicts the Hippocratic Oath. As is the case in North Carolina, where someone who has committed a violent crime can still be sentenced to the death penalty, but because North Carolina uses the method of lethal injection they cannot execute those on death row. This is due to North Carolina healthcare professionals being barred from partaking in the death penalty. This can cause problems such as overcrowding as well as have negative effects to the prisoners, the families of the victims and on society.

The world has had the death penalty around for a long time, doing justice. Criminals who are on death row are obviously there for a reason, and it is almost always because of the crimes they have committed against the public. If we chose to let them live a life sentence out in jail, they will waste away and die as it is. The death penalty is not a crime in the world, or the country, it is a savior.

The death penalty.The punishment that serves to some people imprisoned. There are many viewpoints on this topic. Some people are for it, and some aren’t. The death penalty is used to serve someone who committed a really big crime such as a terrorist attack or a very small crime such as vandalism.The death penalty should be used for many reasons including being inexpensive, providing closure, the non -violation of the 8th amendment.The death penalty should be used as long as its suitable for the crime.

“An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” is how the phrase goes. Belonging to Hammurabi’s code, this ancient motto has become the basis of a great political debate over the past few decades - the death penalty (US History). The legal definition of the death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a sentence of execution for murder, treason, and other capital crimes, which are punishable by death (Legal Information Institute). This is an issue that has the United States quite divided. While there are many supporters of the death penalty, there is also a large amount of opposition. Currently, there are thirty-two states in which the death penalty is legal and there are eighteen states that have abolished it (Death Penalty Information Center).

A numerous amount of innocent people have been put to death in our history. The death penalty has been around for centuries therefore, there must have been millions of people that were highly accused before even proven guiltless. However, humanity has been this way since the beginning of time, starting with the crucifixion, which was still an execution that was ordered. I assume that there have been many diverse methods in the past and not enough testing that would reveal the truth of each person’s case. Lynching that occurred, especially in the south is brutally remembered till this day because of how many innocent people were hurt. This later resulted with lethal injection and it has been known that in history some individual cases were still not complete in the court of law before the person was already put to rest.

The death penalty has been a heated discussion for a very long time. A lot of people feel like if someone does something that is way over the top, then they have to face the consequences, and face the death penalty. Some people think that the death penalty is way too harsh, and we should punish them in a different way. Either way you think about it, there are positives and negatives to both sides. The death penalty is illegal in 18 states, but 32 states in America still have the death penalty, although rarely used. There are a lot of factors that need to be talked through before sentencing a punishment so serious. Once you sentence something like this, you can't change your mind, and you can't take it back. Usually someone that is going to get this sentence has killed multiple people, or did something really terrible to get themselves in that situation. The death penalty was first brought up somewhere around the Eighteenth Century, and has been around ever since then. I think that there are both good and bad arguments as to whether we should keep the death penalty or not, and they should be thought about very carefully before you sentence anyone to death

Snap. In an instant, a person can go from being alive, with hopes and potential for the future, to being dead, where those possibilities vanish. Death is irreversible, and yet in most parts of the United States, it is still legal to be sentenced to death. Every time the death penalty is used, the future possibilities for the convicted disappear. In addition, the death penalty is ineffective due to its economic issues, chances for error, and overall unsuccessful use as a solution to the crime.