...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...
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...The death penalty is a very touchy topic. Whether it’s grieving families or innocent victims, the death of another person is horrific but occasionally necessary. My stance on the death penalty is almost even weighted, but I do agree with it. A human will not very often be charged with this rare punishment, but when that action does occur, I do think it’s a reasonable consequence. If a judge were to go with this option, the defendant would have committed murder or another very dreadful crime. Euthanasia is also present in animals as well. When people say the death penalty, they usually don’t think of it being applied to animals. The only way euthanasia is a good alternative is if the animal is injured and in great pain or is harmful to humans. On the other hand, when it comes to humans, if the human has committed a crime worthy of this penalty, he or she deserves it. The short story Death and Justice was more convincing to me than Forgiving the Unforgivable. With the first story, it gave a few reasons why people find the death penalty appalling or inhumane and backed it up with reasons why those are bogus statements. It continually states the author’s opinion throughout the story. I enjoyed this story more, too, because it gave real life examples. I’m a very literal person and the story conveyed my inner thoughts better than the second one. However, my opinion may be slightly bias to the story because of how I view the death penalty. If I were to lean in the direction...
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...of the death penalty maintain the death penalty is wrong because it is irrevocable. What reply does Reiman offer to this position? A: Reiman’s reply to the viewpoint of the death penalty being irrevocable is such that “it’s not that the death penalty is irrevocable and other punishments are revocable; rather, all punishments are irrevocable though the death penalty is relatively more irrevocable than the rest” (Hinman, 2006, p. 153). In other words, Reiman feels that the death penalty being wrong just because it is irrevocable is too much of a blanket statement that discounts other options, such as the case of prisoners who are put to death but then found innocent and in matters of someone living life in prison then being found innocent. In the case of the former and the latter, money can be given to the ex-prisoner found innocent and that their name can be cleared. With that being said, someone put to death and then being found innocent and an innocent person being set free after a long incarceration are not irrevocable things—time has passed and cannot be returned. Reiman’s reply to these stances is that these situations are very few and far between. In contrast, Reiman explains that “we accept the death of innocents elsewhere...and it is not plausible to think that the execution of a small number of innocent persons is so terrible...especially when every effort is made to make sure that does not occur” (Hinman, p. 153). Therefore, Reiman agrees that the death penalty is irrevocable...
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...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...
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...(ProQuest Staff) The Death Penalty, “is the process by which convicted criminals are executed by a governing authority” (Issist and Newton). And “It violated the eighth amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment” (ProQuest Staff). The death penalty should be abolished because it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment and often results in the deaths of innocent citizens. The death penalty should be abolished because it violates the 8th amendment. To begin, the death penalty is cruel and unusual and should not be allowed, but only “Eighteen states have abolished the death penalty” (Issitt and Newton). Warner, committed a murder and was given a botched execution. He was, “In a renovated death chamber, the lethal cocktail began flowing into the veins of...
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...Death as a punishment. Is it cruel and unusual? Or is it justified? According to Opposing Viewpoints, 32 of the states in the US have the death penalty legalized. With the majority of the states having the death penalty legalized, it is not hard to see why. By using the death penalty as a form of punishment, it helps to deter further murders, it helps to give closure to the victim's family, and costs much less to the government than keeping prisoners in prison without parole. "Let a parking meter expire, and you risk a $20 ticket; park in a handicapped spot, and risk a $200 ticket. Which violation are you less likely to commit?" (Jacoby). The use the death penalty helps to discourage further murder. In a study done by Professors Hashem Dezhbakhsh, Paul R. Rubin, and Joanna M. Shepherd at Emory University they found that "each execution, on average, results in 18 fewer murders." (Muhlhausen, Dezhbakhsh) The data was taken from 3,054 United States counties from 1977-1996. This data proves that someone is less likely to murder when they know that the consequence for their actions is death....
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...Proposition: The Death Penalty is unjustified. Introduction The most sacred principle in the American criminal justice system is that a defendant is innocent until they are proven guilty. If this is truly the most scared principle of the criminal justice system, then why have innocent people been released after being sentenced and serving time on death row? Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, how many times has innocence been proven after execution has already been done? Many people believe that capital punishment is an effective way of preserving law and order by deterring people from committing crimes. However, this is not always the case. There are three main reasons why I believe the death penalty is unjustified. They...
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...Latasha Mitchell Professor: Moreau Religion 330 Assignment 3 March 26, 2014 Christians and the Death Penalty We believe that God instituted the death penalty after the Flood. In Genesis 9:6, God says, "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man." The stated reason for the death penalty here is that every person bears the image of God. To kill an image bearer of God is to show contempt for God himself. Elsewhere, the Bible says, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord." (Romans 12:19) Christians may not take justice into their own hands, but must allow God to deal with justice. Christians are to forgive; it is God who judges. One way that God judges is through the government. The next chapter in the Bible says that God created government to maintain order. It goes on to say that the government is "God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Romans 13:4) So, when God says that he will take vengeance, this is how he does it -- through his servant, the government. But Jesus' actions do not suggest that the death penalty is not God's will. Jesus' teaching primarily has to do with personal ethics, not the function of the government. It is our job as individuals to forgive. It is God's job, in part through the government, to provide justice for...
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...What is the death penalty? Its prisoners being sentenced to death for their crimes. Prisoners aren’t put to death as much as they were back in the day. We believe the death penalty is needed because, it keeps prisoners from rotting in jail there whole life. Another reason is an eye for an eye. The last reason is that it will lower the crime rate. People think that the death penalty is bad saying it’s morally wrong and no one deserves it. The truth is, it is right. People should have to pay for what they have done. Why sentence a guy to life in prison when you could just give him the death penalty instead. It keeps prisons from getting full and keeps them from wasting space. Putting a person in prison for the rest of their life is basically the same as letting them go free. They are in prison but that just means there are stricter rules than the outside life....
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...The death penalty has been around for a long time. It has been and still is a substantial part in the punishment of those who did not obey the law. This punishment instilled fear in many, it made everyone ‘deathly’ afraid. It would put those who defied the laws in a ‘grave’ situation.(Pun). This is where the question come in as to whether the death penalty is Constitutional, or even humane. This act has been around ever since the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon and is still being used today for criminals who is seen to be lost souls, non redeemable. Of course, the saying, ¨an eye for an eye,¨ is reasonable. What if the people that have the person has been raised by and cared for one day suddenly died because...
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...In my argumentative essay I am choosing to write about the subject of the death penalty on prisoners. This is a very touchy subject to many people but it should not even be discussed at all. It should not be something that we have to worry about or even argue or fight about. This subject is about whether certain prisoners should be executed instead of being given a life sentence. There are many different opinions on this subject but I believe there is only one correct one and I will explain the to you in this essay. The death penalty should be allowed to be given to prisoners and convicts who rightfully deserve it. The death penalty is simply killing those convicts and prisoners who are convicted of crimes where they are given the death penalty. The form of the death penalty used today is lethal injection. It is...
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...Should the death penalty be illegal? This is a question America has struggled with for hundreds of years, the answer to this question varies by person. Hammurabi's code very much valued the “eye for an eye” policy but we are long past the days where the American public is judge, jury, and executioner. The justice system has a come a long way from when it first began. Does giving someone a lethal injection or strapping them to an electric chair make you any less of a murderer? A life is still a life, no matter what way you choose to look at it. The way I see it, the idea of carrying out a life sentence and having to rot in a jail cell is enough of a deterrent. The 8th Amendment of the constitution forbids against “cruel and unusual punishment”...
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...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...
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...sentence and executed 38 people by the means of the death penalty (mic.com/articles). That statistic shows that the United States death penalty is not a punishment that is tossed around lightly. However, it is a punishment that the United States needs to keep. The writers of the Constitution wrote that there should and will be a death penalty (Is the death penalty unconstitutional?). Many people who oppose the death penalty say that it has racial bias, well according to Roger C, race is not a factor in the sentencing of the death penalty. Many people also try to say that it is far too expensive, this is false because sentencing criminals to life without parole adds to the expenses that prisons and taxpayers already have to pay ( does the death penalty cost less than life without parole?). The death penalty is fair, and effective and needs to be kept at all costs....
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...The word “murder” often makes people think of knives, criminals, and guns. However, a method of murder that no one talks about is the death penalty. The death penalty is an inhumane technique of serving punishment to criminals with major crimes and currently legal in thirty-one states (“Death Penalty”). It is “...the most extreme form of criminal sanction that the criminal justice system can implement” (Ross 183) and has been a controversial topic throughout the United States. Those for the death penalty often say, “a life for a life” or that it is “costly to keep them in prison” (Ziesel 289). Those against it say it is “wrong to take a life” or “punishment should be left to God” (Ziesel 289). This tactic has a discriminatory nature, violates...
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