The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

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.

The death penalty is a form of punishment that is not used as often as one may think. Even though most of the American population is not personally affected by the death penalty, the friends and families of victims see it as a form of justice for their lost loved ones. From 1976 to the present there have been over 1,400 inmates executed after being put on death row (Baker, 1). The death penalty is an expensive style of punishment, costing around 470,000 dollars more in cases that consider capital punishment as an option compared to the cases that do not (Erb, 1). With most of that extra cost being paid by state taxes, there are other government funded programs that would experience a loss of support if the death penalty is used frequently. The U.S. National Government should ban the death penalty for economical reasons.

The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime. 
A big part of abolitionist’s argument is that the death penalty is not humane. They pull in Amendment 8, “…nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” What the victim went though was indeed “cruel and unusual punishments’.” The murderers’ death is not cruel. The people will demand justice for what he or she has done (Bidinotto 19). Hanging and the electric chair are topics more reasonable to argue, but now because of lethal injection capital punishment has become more humane. The death penalty is not barbaric, the pain and agony that the victim went through is barbaric. Abolitionists were very upset in 1996 when rapist and murderer John Albert Taylor was executed by firing squad; they said his death was barbaric (Feder 32). Charla King, the poor 11-year-old girl he raped and strangled with a telephone cord, her death was barbaric! It makes no sense to think that John Taylor’s’ death was barbaric or inhumane. He

Majority of Americans have a clear and very strong opinion when discussing the death penalty, regardless of their side of the argument they stand on. Those who support this penalty claim that it serves as a disincentive to crime and that rightful justice is being executed or that it is more cost effective to execute the death penalty rather than a criminal serve a “life without parole” sentence. Personally, I feel that the death penalty is an ineffective, morally wrong punishment that does more harm than good to society. The objective of the death penalty is supposedly supposed to serve as a deterrent to others wo are contemplating committing the same crime or similar crime. In countries other than the U.S., for example, disprove this. In the countries, where the death penalty doesn’t exist, murders and other violent crimes that “deserve” the death penalty are at a much lower rate than in the United States. True, it seems redundant nevertheless, the evidence is clear.

The death penalty is the ultimate punishment for some of the most heinous and brutal crimes. The majority of death penalty cases in the United States is almost exclusively for the crime of murder, including but not limited to murder related to smuggling of aliens, genocide, murder committed in the federal government facility, and murder committed during an offense against a local law-enforcement official or other person aiding in a federal investigation, just to name a few. (federal) New York City alone has an annual cost of $167,732 which is what it takes to feed, house, and guard each inmate. According to a study that the Vera Institute of Justice released in 2012 found that the aggregate cost of prisons in 2010 and 40 states that participated was $39 billion. (NewYorkTimes.com)

Many crimes need to get punished and there are a multitude of different types of punishment that are defined by laws. The law that I choose was death penalty, which is quite a controversial topic. This law was to address the most extreme type of crime which is murder. This death penalty goes far back to Hammaurabi Codes, of course back then it was used for many reasons now the death penalty is just used for murder still following Hammaurabi’s Code “an eye for an eye”. Most states still have the death penalty and many due it by lethal injection. In Arizona, lethal injection was approved by voters in 1992 (Reufers 2017). The goal of the death penalty is deterrence. The reason it is deterrence is because it is the most permanent punishment there is for committing a horrendous act such as murder. The reason this law should be eliminated is for three reasons too many people on death row, no regulations, and too much money being spent on death row.

The Death Penalty is also known as Capital Punishment, where an offender is punished for their crime, done by the state by taking their life. Although many countries have abolished the death penalty, it still exists in few countries, including the United States. Some oppose the death penalty believing it to be morally unjust for those who are indeed innocent but are under the death penalty. Many philosophers believe it is necessary for punishment to deter crime and this punishment is justice for the victim. Haag was a professor at Fordham University, and supported the death penalty very strongly. He strongly believed that offenders needed to be punished severely to satisfy retributive justice. Hugo Adam Bedau was a philosophy professor at Tufts University. Unlike Haag he opposed the death penalty based on morality issues. He questioned the moral values of death penalty and believes in the natural right to life .

Immanuel Kant a philosopher has said, “a society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral” (ProCon.org). Kant a german philosopher brought this idea into society during the 1700s. Since then scholars and philosophers have debated if a death penalty should be allotted. In the United states the government has the power to take away life to those that they see fit. Certain states have stopped using the death penalty and this Over multiple years critiques“Currently out of fifty states, seventeen have abolished the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center). The death penalty should be legalized in all states. The perspectives I’m going to use to look at the death penalty is deterrence and morality. If you see the death penalty through the lens of irrevocable mistakes you can see that the opposing argument do not hold up.

The death penalty should be allowed to the criminal that truly need it; because of the justice system as well as to the victims who deserve closure, and because of the antisocial personity disorder. If one personal was a victim that got personally got hurt by a person who raped killed their loved ones, or harmed them by almost killing them, or killing them wouldn’t you want that person to get the justice they deserve? One would want to ensure that the death penalty is addressed to ensure the person doesn’t get a change to do it to other people. Furthermore, if the person had antisocial personality disorder they are people are called sociopaths, and psychopaths. one who want that person to get the death penalty, because those type of people are always going to kill people no matter what type of treatment is given to the person they will always have the habits to kill and have no emotion while doing it. If one thinks people like that should live are crazy. Finally, the criminal justice system most people trust and believe in the justice system and for most cases it provides the right DNA and put the right person in jail. Wouldn’t you want the right person to be put to justice with the death penalty? If given the opportunity to help prevent the person form doing it again would one want to do the right thing?

Is it moral to execute guilty criminals? And most importantly is it moral of us to execute innocent people? Society in California, views punishment as a norm. It is given to criminals whom committed deviant acts. In California, the punishment for capital crime like murder is the death penalty. The morality view behind the death penalty is that murder goes against morals. Giving the death penalty is a cruel and unusual punishment which violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. The death penalty was first established in the Eighteenth Century B.C.. In the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, the death penalty was given for 25 different crimes. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, America had more executions than any other decade. Since 1976, there have been 1,392 people who have been executed (DPIC, Death). There are currently 2,905 people on death row waiting for their execution date. The state of California has the highest number of death row inmates. There are currently 741 people sitting on death row in California alone. Now in the Twenty-First century there are states that have repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life in prison without parole. The death penalty is not carried out effectively. Therefore, it should be repealed in California; the death penalty is always cruel, discriminatory, and has condemned innocent people to die.

The death penalty is when someone like a criminal would do something so terribly bad that they are executed by lethal injection. The topic of this has been disputed for a lot of years and nobody has really agreed on if it is or is not effective. Study’s show that the argument is split a lot of people think it is bad and a lot of people think it is a bad thing most people don’t want there tax dollars to go to keeping inmates in prison and feeding them. But some people think that it is just too hard of a punishment to kill somebody instead of keeping them in prison.

in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which categorized twenty-five different crimes punishable by death. The death penalty law was also present in the Hittite Empire, Athens, And Rome. The early methods of the death sentence were carried out throw means of crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, beating to death, burning alive and impalement. Methods progressed to mostly hanging and commonality in beheading, boiling, burning at the stake, drawing and quartering. As America became to be populated by Europeans, the tradition of Capital Punishment traveled to the newly discovered land. In the 1700’s many theorists like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Bentham, and English Quakers like John Bellers and John Howard began to challenge the controversial law and push for abolition. The abolition movement, still present, persuaded nineteen state to outlaw Capital Punishment. America's death penalty outlines forty-one offenses a major being murder but including espionage, and treason. The death penalty is dangerous for the United States of America because, it is inhumane going against the eighth amendment, it puts many innocent people to death, jury members can be bias towards the inmate, it entails higher cost for taxpayers over the cost of incarceration and it does not deter people from commiting crimes.

In 1936 59% of Americans favored the death penalty and 38% did not. In a more recent study 47% favored the death penalty and 48% said they would rather have them sentenced to life in prison (Jones, “Support for the Death Penalty”). The death penalty is a very controversial topic that is primarily based on morals. There are many reasons why people favor it. For example and many believe if you are insane enough to murder someone you deserve it. But, there are also many reasons why people oppose it. For example, there have been innocent people sentenced to death. People are also frustrated because the money that the government uses to either kill or house a prisoner for life, comes out of their taxes. Everyone has their own story and belief on why they death penalty should or should to be legal.

Criminals are sadly apart of our society and have been since the beginning of time, and it

There are two sides to every coin and in terms of the death penalty there are two types of believers: those for and those against. Within current day society, it much simpler to acknowledge the flaws that the penalty holds than to spot its perks as to popular belief, the punishment is a way to “kill people legally” (“Commentary: No Defense for the Death Penalty”) to which is called upon by the