Zachary Shemtob's Article, Executions Should Be Televised

Though it may seem that the debate over the death penalty only most recently surfaced, the dreadful tradition of capital punishment arrived in the United States at the time of the colonists. In the 17th century, most people were hung, beheaded, burned alive, or crushed under stones. All of these were in public, where a large crowd gathered to watch the horrible sight, similar to the tradition in old Europe. Eventually, the 19th century favored hanging as the most common form of execution. This marked the start of a more humane approach accepted as constitutional as executions moved away from the public eye. More developments came in the 1800’s as a movement to abolish capital punishment arose. This effort was stalled for a time during the Civil

“Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate.” The New York Times. The New York Times.

Zachary Shemtob and David Lat wrote an artical, " Executions Should Be Televised", was first published in the New York Times in 2011. Shemot and Lat argue that execution should be televised or opened to public. The following is a summary of this artical.

entertainment. In the past and even into the modern times, executions have been made public for

"More than 4,500 people have been executed in the United States since 1930. There is no way of knowing how many have been executed in U.S. history because executions were often local affairs, with no central agency keeping track of them (Maloney, 1999)." Over 4,500 people were executed and this doesn't even include the unreported deaths. Decades ago, death penalty cases were not even to be reported in many times. For many years, people have been rationalize themselves for death penalty as " an eye for an eye"(2010).This "eye for an eye" statement is no longer giving any excuses for killing humans. The controversial idea of whether humans are rational enough to decide someone's life or death has been questioned. Humans absolutely don't have

In the United States, the use of the death penalty continues to be a controversial issue. Every election year, politicians, wishing to appeal to the moral sentiments of voters, routinely compete with each other as to who will be toughest in extending the death penalty to those persons who have been convicted of first-degree murder. Both proponents and opponents of capital punishment present compelling arguments to support their claims. Often their arguments are made on different interpretations of what is moral in a just society. In this essay, I intend to present major arguments of those who support the death penalty and those who are opposed to state sanctioned executions application . However, I do intend to fairly and accurately

Another subtopic that has caused much debate along with the death penalty is the increasing influence of today’s media reporting on capital punishment cases and pushing to have televised executions as a form of retribution for some viewers and a kind of morbid reality show- entertainment for others. This also brings in the question of whether or not media coverage of executions

When discussing the death penalty, rarely do we acknowledge the impact executions have on the men and women who facilitate the process. Although this process is solely voluntary, the side effects are not. According to several executioners, the first experience is far from what they had anticipated. To bring to light the stories of these men and women, Jim Willet facilitates an audio recording which covers the process of executing an inmate and the aftermath which is often felt by the executioner.

In April 1985, Edward I. Koch published his essay on capital punishment in the liberal magazine New Republic. Koch was a hardworking congressman who eventually became the gutsy mayor of New York between 1978 and 1989. In his essay “Death and Justice”, he addresses common arguments liberals make against the death penalty. According to Koch, “Life is indeed precious.... had the death penalty been a real possibility in the minds of these murderers, they might well have stayed their hand” (3). Koch wants to guide his readers to see that the justice system is failing innocent people whose lives are of tremendous value. He undeniably stirs things up for the strong sided liberal party readers who tend to protect murderers from being executed. However, as someone who was once a congressman, his modes of persuasion with ethos, logos, and pathos, are incredibly effective and on point.

In the essay "Executions Should Be Televised" by Zachary Shemtob, "a professor at Central Connecticut State University", and David Lat, "a former prosecutor", both the authors agreed that even though executions is violent, it should still be televised so the public can make their own decisions. The author's thesis is that "executions in the United States ought to be made public." The authors explain that "the public wants the utmost accountability and transparency but the public, except the press and some few select witnesses, are only provided with the details in the morning papers and the people should know what is being done in their name

The death penalty, or capital punishment, has always been a topic of much debate in the United States. There are those who support it and those who oppose it, and each side has their fair share of points being made, backed by supportive evidence. The topics range from the morality of this punishment, including the methods of execution as well as fairness issues in regards to sex and race. The first issue that will be addressed is in regards to the death penalty working to prevent violent crimes.

The use of capital punishment in the U.S. is a growing concern for most American citizens. According to statistics, seventy percent of Americans are in support of the death penalty, while only thirty percent are against it. These statistics show that few people are against capital punishment (“Fact” 1). With the use of the death penalty growing the controversy is becoming more heated. With only twelve states left not enforcing it the resistance is becoming futile (“Fact” 4). Many debates have been made and even clauses have been invoked, such as, the “Cruel and Unusual Clause” that was invoked by the Supreme Court in 1962 (Meltsner 179). The use of death as a punishment has been viewed as “cruel

An innocent man is wrongly executed whilst a man who raped and murdered a mother and her thirteen year old daughter spends the rest of his life with three meals a day and cable television. Which of these is the bigger injustice? The use of the death penalty to punish serious crimes is a very controversial topic and there is much debate surrounding the issue. This paper will briefly discuss arguments supporting and against the use of the death penalty.

“On Jan 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments challenging the lethal three-Drug cocktail used in most U.S executions. In a perfect world, perhaps, the government wouldn’t wait 30 years to determine whether an execution method makes sense” Von Drehle, D (2008). So many Americans are being sentenced to death, and we stand back and wonder how this can be happening. It happens because we have criminals and so we will continue to have crime, and instead of trying to figure out the who, what, where and why we would rather put them to death. The reasons to abolish the death penalty go on and on, what about the

     On discussing the appeal of the highly-rated CBS television show, "Survivor," host Jeff Probst said the "appeal of the show lies in the idea that it is truly a human experience" (Mason par. 3).  Now imagine a show in which American television viewers are permitted to watch the live execution of a Death Row inmate.  Would broadcasting a live execution have the same "appeal" as "Survivor"?  Or would televising an inmate's execution have horrific and harmful consequences on the American public, putting the issue of capital punishment, as well as their ethical standards, in jeopardy?