...1. Philadelphia County ranks third among counties in the country in terms of the number of people on death row. However, capital convictions there are frequently reversed on appeal and later reduced to life sentences because the county did not provide adequate representation to many defendants. According to a 2011 study by the Philadelphia Inquirer, 69 Philadelphia death penalty cases have been reversed or sent back by state or federal courts after findings that the defense attorney’s inadequate performance deprived the defendant of a fair trial. When these cases were retried, almost all of the defendants received a sentence less than death, and some were acquitted altogether. Maricopa County in Arizona ranks fourth among counties in the country...
Words: 714 - Pages: 3
...capital sanctions are imposed on the state level for murder. Currently, thirty-two states have death penalty statutes. Of those thirty-two, only seven states carried out executions in 2014 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). Those executions total 35 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). As a result of the low number of executions carried out, experts in the United States have examined the efficiency of the death penalty. To accurately assess the economic costs of the death penalty, the difference between the costs...
Words: 3210 - Pages: 13
...For thousands of years, the death penalty has served as part of the criminal justice system. The U.S uses the death penalty for prosecuting certain crimes. The debate over the death penalty has progressed for many centuries. However, in the past years, the debate has increased in the United States. In the recent past, opponents have held that the death sentence is ineffective, racist, barbaric, as well as against the American values. Conversely, the majority of people view the death punishment as a vital tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. Both sides have appealing arguments. Regardless, the support of the society for capital punishment is wanting. The death penalty is cruel and immoral. The society punishes murderers by killing...
Words: 1258 - Pages: 6
...Response Paper 11 February 2011 The Death Penalty According to David Bruck, “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men” and I beg to differ. Death penalty is considered as a controversial topic today. Death penalty is the best way to bring justice because it is cheap, it serves as justice for the victims, and it gives a higher regard to the victim’s suffering in the hands of the murderer. Although some people oppose death penalty saying it is immoral and a waste of life, it is still the best way to bring justice to the victims of heinous crimes. Death penalty is the best way to bring justice because it is cheap. The government can save a lot of money with death penalty. When prisoners get sentenced to death, taxpayers would not have to pay tax to supply the needs of the prisoners who did a heinous crime. Instead of using the money to sustain murderers, the money could be use in many other projects that can help the citizens of the United States. We can use the money to make roads and give the budget to financial aid, towards education, and projects for the future of the country. We do not have to pay for these killers and murderers. Death penalty serves justice for the victims of these heinous crimes. If someone takes a life of another person with no reason, that person deserves to die too. If that person values his/her life, he/she should not take another person’s life. The idealism “eye for an eye” works in this topic. Without penalty, our...
Words: 477 - Pages: 2
...Death Penalty In this paper I will be talking about if the death penalty is wrong or if it is ok to take away someone's life, and I will also be talking about why we even started the death penalty. In my own opinion I believe that the death penalty is wrong and a few reasons why it is wrong. The people who would normally get the death penalty are the people who take others life. Also, in some states if you rape a child you could get the death penalty. Now, a few reasons why the death penalty is wrong is because it is still taking away someone’s life. If you are killing that person who took away someone else's life means that you are no better than them. The only difference there is between the killer and they person who is killing the killer is, the person who is going to kill the person in the chair has the judge knowing they are doing it, whoever the person in the chair families knows you are doing it. No matter what it is still wrong and you are still taking away someone’s life....
Words: 462 - Pages: 2
...three subtopics. Write your thesis statement in the box below: The death penalty is one of the most flawed forms of punishment in the court systems today. It does not penalize a convicted person of 1st degree murder, it echoes ancient roman/ medieval spectacles. | Thesis Statement Grading Criteria: Consider the following questions when developing the thesis statement for your essay. These criteria will be applied when this assignment is graded. The answer to each of the five questions below should be yes if you have drafted a quality thesis statement. 1) Does the thesis statement respond to the writing prompt? Yes 2) Did you take a position that others may oppose? Yes 3) Is the thesis statement specific? Yes 4) Does the thesis pass the “So what?” test? 5) Does the thesis statement not leave the reader with questions? Part 2: Gathering Resources Assignment Directions: Use the GCU elibrary to find three sources to use in your persuasive essay. Fill out the requested information in the table below about your sources. | Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Title and Author(s) | Challenging the Death Penalty w/Statistics: Furman, McCleskey, and a Single County case study.Shats, S. and Dalton, T. | Religious Characteristics and the Death Penalty.Miller, M K., Hayward, R D. | Ending death by dangerousness: A path to the de facto abolition of the death penalty.Berry, William W. | Persistent GCU Library Link |...
Words: 650 - Pages: 3
...The Death Penalty; when people hear this term many thoughts and emotions are immediately brought to mind. The death penalty is considered by many to be the harshest form of punishment for crimes against society, but is it too harsh? Many would argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment and that it punishes not just the one convicted but also all of those involved. In this paper we will look at not only the one receiving the punishment but also those involved, including the family of the victim, the jurors, the executioner(s), and the family members of the one being convicted and argue that the sociological impact that the death penalty creates is too devastating for its continued use in the United States. “The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. (deathpenaltyinfo.org)” This is where the term “eye for an eye” originated as well as the belief that the crimes punishment must equal the severity of the crime. United States law was heavily influenced by Great Britain due to Britain maintaining primary control of the original 13 colonies. Currently, in the United States, the Death Penalty is mainly used as a form of punishment for first degree murder however some states still use it for acts of treason. Opposition of the Death Penalty began obtaining a foot hold during the Abolitionist movement when Cesare Beccaria's 1767 essay, On...
Words: 1023 - Pages: 5
...A politician would probably disagree with Freedman because he would believe a price tag cannot be put on doing the things that are right. He would probably see the statistics Freedman gave as irrelevant. Freedman says, “In Florida, each execution costs $3,200,000, six times the expense of life imprisonment” (141). The politician would see these costs as very high but taken out of context. He would most likely look to the statistics of how the death penalty has actually been a crime deterrent, as proven by Jay Johansen in his article “Does Death Penalty Deter Crime?” Johansen says that the “[h]omicide rate is a mirror image of the number of executions. Consistently as the number of executions goes down, the homicide rate goes up, and when the number of executions goes up, the homicide rate goes down” (138). He would see this as proof that capital punishment is a deterrent, and it should remain legal as long as it continues to deter crime. A politician might use Johansen’s statistics to prove that the death penalty should not be abolished. He might see that even though a capital punishment case costs more, if the crime rate goes down than we have fewer criminals to take to trial. If we have fewer criminals to take to trial, we are actually saving more money in the long run by keeping capital punishment legal. A politician might be angry that Freedman does not show the actual statistics of the crime rate as executions were outlawed and then when executions...
Words: 527 - Pages: 3
...Oral Article Rebuttal - Capital Punishment BCOM/275 18 October 2012 Debra Brown Capital Punishment Article Rebuttal This paper is to examine an article based on an argument that a 23 –year- old Texas mom of five children received 99 years for gluing her two –year- old hands to the wall and beating her. The child suffered bleeding in her brain, which put her in a coma for a couple of days; a broken rib, multiple bruises, and bite marks, and skin torn from her hands on the wall. * Elizabeth Escalona savagely beat her two- year- old child to the edge of death because of potty training issues. * For this monstrous crime Elizabeth received 99 years in prison with eligibility of parole in 30 years. * Lawyer asked for probation or a prison sentence of fewer than 10 years. My argument is the crime Elizabeth Escalona committed was so heinous she should be punished by death. Remember, this happen in the Texas judicial system that is known to have the highest number of executions per year in the United States. Because Texas is the capital of capital punishment Elizabeth Escalona should receive the death penalty. Her lawyer asked the judge for probation or a prison sentence of less than 10 years stating that she came from a broken home, abuse and childhood of drug use and gangs. This is no excuse for the crime committed. The state of Texas has established government assistance...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...Vagueness, Ambiguity, and Clarity in Writing CRT/205: Critical Thinking December 7, 2012 Gecobie Davis When I looked further into Capital punishment laws I found a very interested story about when it first started. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes, and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. I think the United States should ban using capital punishment because many of them don’t do serious crimes then others. Look at the case of Brian Dugan is one of the people that the United States reconsider to use the capital punishment. I think if a person breaks the law any type of form of fashion they are responsible for their own actions. Brain Dugan execution took more than twice as normal time to do and appeared to some families member that was in a suffering process at the time of crime happen(Chicago tribune, 2011). I feel like the government is doing what they can to put these criminals in jail for killing, murdering, raping, and kidnapping another human being. I think by giving them life in...
Words: 394 - Pages: 2
...few key words: fairness, equality, common good, merit and morals (What Is Justice?). These words form a foundation to allow society to function properly with free will and choice without totally controlling the people. As stated before, every person may have a different meaning to what social justice is and who deserves social justice, which presents issues around the world. The death penalty is a major issue that is problematic to the question of “what is social justice?” Society looks at criminals as outsiders, uncivilized and dangerous. So society decided to form the procedure of the death penalty, which sentences a person to death who has committed a capital crime. Some people find the death penalty just while others do not. Some individuals feel that the death penalty helps society. By killing the criminal you eliminate any further opportunity to commit any more crimes and keep safe the greater good. Also individuals support the idea of merit or “an eye for an eye”, that if a person kills somebody then they also should be killed. On the other hand, people who do not believe in the death penalty use morals to define their social justice. They believe that no person deserves to die by the hand of no man other than God, no...
Words: 691 - Pages: 3
...There has been a lot of controversy over the past several years about the death penalty and whether it was “constitutional” or “unconstitutional.” There is in deed many reasons that the death penalty is bad, but never the less I think that the people that commit these horrendous crimes do not deserve to breath one more breath. This is my stand on the issue of the death penalty. I may be for the people being executed, but I am definitely not oblivious to the rest of the peoples opposing views on this topic and I will take them in consideration in my arguments. Many citizens of the United States say that killing a prisoner who committed the violent crimes is getting cruel and unusual punishment, but they had to commit a heinous crime to be...
Words: 338 - Pages: 2
...exactly is this teaching me though? When I was younger, my grandmother taught me not to let anyone push me around. She said if someone punched me, I should punch them back twice as hard. But then I got to thinking; if someone punches me and I punch them back, does that not make me just as bad, or even worse, than them? And if the person that punches me was taught the same thing I was, would the cycle ever end or would we just go on punching each other forever? Everyone knows that it is immoral and against the law to kill. But that does not always prevent people from doing it. Our government tells us not to kill, but what is the consequence if we do commit homicide? The death penalty. State sponsored execution is hypocritical. As a result of killing, murders and other criminals are sentenced to death. How is a person going to learn anything from this hypocritical decision? How can this be justifiable? “What goes around comes around” many people would say. But those who fight fire with fire end up with ashes. I believe an eye for an eye will make the whole world...
Words: 308 - Pages: 2
...concern. Adults still discuss the Rosenbergs around the dinner table while Jim’s children learn about how easily they’ll survive nuclear fallout if they just duck and cover or fill their bathtubs with drinking water. Donovan is asked to serve as Abel’s defense attorney by his boss (Alan Alda), who just wants Donovan to be a warm body—someone to sit next to the traitor to make sure the judicial process runs appropriately. One gets the impression—ably assisted by Hanks’ steely-eyed determination, which recalls the movie icons of cinema's golden age—that Donovan has never just been a cog in a machine. And so he actually tries to mount a defense for Abel, arguing that the seizure of evidence was unconstitutional and making the case that the death penalty would...
Words: 625 - Pages: 3
...Historically in Canada, the death penalty existed as the maximum punishment for criminals convicted of committing capital offences before it was abolished from Canada’s Criminal Code in 1976 (Thompson, Andrew.S. 2008, p. 172). Presently the highest form of punishment is as a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years (Roberts and Stalans, 1997, as cited in Lambert, E., Baker, D., & Tucker, K. 2006, p.3). Many Canadians support the return of the death penalty, an illustration of this would be when the House of Commons held a free vote“…in 1987 …regarding the reinstatement of the death penalty”, although the free vote was defeated “46% of the votes cast were for reinstatement”. (Lambert, E., Baker, D., & Tucker,...
Words: 329 - Pages: 2
