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?

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

The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.

The world is constantly evolving for the better and the worse, with this being said, not only will good come out of it but new evils will arise. We can’t stop the world from changing, but we can decide how we handle it. The death penalty should be legalized all around the world. The death penalty not only diminishes threats to society but it also brings closure to those who are grieving. In the United States alone, the death penalty is not legal in all 50 states, therefore overrunning the prisons with unnecessary bodies. Due to this, there has been an overall increase in the gang activity within state and federal prison. The death penalty shows that violent, brutal, and heinous crimes will not be tolerated and the offenders will be punished to the highest extent. Execution should be used as the highest form of punishment by the means of a rightful conviction.

"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 legality and use of the death penalty in the United States is a subject that has caused one of the greatest debates of our time. There are a variety of polarizing viewpoints and opinions on this issue. Some Americans find that there are cases where it is necessary for our justice system to utilize the death penalty and feel that it is a fair punishment. Others feel that it would be better to spare the criminal’s life and would rather subject them to a life in prison instead. Surprisingly, the United States is the only Western country to currently use the death penalty. Many Americans are not educated on the pros and cons of keeping or abolishing the death penalty. As this is a very controversial topic, one cannot explain every single differing

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,

Knowing the exact date and time of one’s death would be tremendously terrifying. For the people on death row, it is experienced every single day. Instead of paying their time, they get the easy way out. It puts innocent lives at risk, it is selected at random, and it costs taxpayers a fortune. The death penalty is not a fair justification and the United States should not practice this mechanism.

1.      Research:   The death penalty has the most extensive due process protections in our nation’s criminal justice system; innocents sentenced to death if truly innocent will be exonerated and not executed. An alternate to the death penalty is a life sentence, although life sentences are prone to pardon, commutation, escape, clerical error, change in law, and other possibilities which could release someone with a life sentence back into society. (Sharpe, 2009) When someone’s life is intentionally taken, the balance of justice is disturbed; retribution with the death penalty shows the intolerability of murder. Capital punishment brings closure to the families, as well as others who cared about the victims. The death penalty is also not morally wrong like some anti-death penalty campaigns argue; the crimes of rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, murder, and larson are the morally wrong choices (Fein, 2008). Capital punishment brings justice upon criminals, who commit infractions on these laws. As Dr. Budziszewski, a professor of government and philosophy of the University of Texas at Austin states, "Society is justly ordered when each person receives what is due to him. Crime

The Death Penalty has been a long standing part of the American justice system. For many years, the death penalty went without opposition, but as of recently it has gained it’s long overdue mass opposition. The Death Penalty is barbaric, and is costing our nation obscene amounts of money. While one would think that modern-day American citizens would have done away with this method, a good portion of Americans reason that it lowers the crime rate and it provides closure (or rather vengeance) to families of victims.

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.

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.

I feel that the death penalty was and is a very effective form of punishment. The death penalty is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. I also feel that the death penalty should be practiced in all fifty states and be the punishment for more crimes.Since 1976 there has been over fourteen hundred deaths caused by the death penalty. I also feel that if we see the ability to get the punishment at lower standards such as for rappings or for harder drug cases, then we will see that the crime rate will drop. I feel that this would be worth it even though each death penalty case cost about three million dollars a piece.

While researching about Capital Punishment also known as the “Death Penalty,” there were lots of disturbing facts about the subject and also learned enough about it to where I have come to the conclusion that it should be abolished. The Death Penalty is the most severe punishment known to man; it takes experienced law enforcement officials to execute the criminal convicted and it’s unnecessary to do so. There’s no excuse why it shouldn't be abolished because of a few reasons; it punishes the innocent to die, it’s a cruel and unusual punishment, there is a high cost to execute a person every time, and also it fails to present guilty criminals the potential to change and rejoin society. In this essay I will elaborate on the Death Penalty and why it is an unjust system