...The human rights activists are against this type of punishment I believe in second chances. The Disadvantages of Death Penalty * Though there are scientific methods available to investigate the crime, nothing is guaranteed. You cannot remove the chances of punishing innocents completely. * The cost involved on the death penalty prosecution is greater than the expenses occurred in the life imprisonment of the accused. The appeals against such capital punishments take too long to decide, and often it takes years to decide the fate of the death penalty. All these things make the death penalty an expensive option for the governments who spend millions of the dollars of the taxpayer money on death penalty prosecutions. * It is reported that some of the jury members are not completely impartial as they decide the penalty on racial or religious basis. * Some of the accused are mentally ill, and it is ethically wrong to put mentally ill patients to the death. * In most cases people who can afford to hire the expensive lawyers often survived from such kind of capital punishment. People who are poor, and cannot afford to get a quality legal assistance becomes the victim of this penalty. * Some of the experts believe that life prison is a more effective punishment to control crimes as compared to the death penalty. The countries where the death penalty is banned have less capital crime rate as compared to those countries where the death penalty is practiced. ...
Words: 1581 - Pages: 7
...William Polk Mr. Taborn ENG. 100 July 25, 2012 William Polk Mr. Taborn ENG. 100 July 25, 2012 ------------------------------------------------- Pro Capital Punishment ------------------------------------------------- Pro Capital Punishment ABSTRACT Capital Punishment is a highly controversial and emotional issue which most people seem to have strong arguments for and against. In the United States, controversy over capital punishment began in colonial periods when, against the consents of the English Crown, some settlements enacted only a few capital laws. Soon after the War for Independence and the adoption of the Constitution, America’s death penalty debate started in earnest. Capital Punishment is a subject that must be addressed with today’s violent society. The use of Capital Punishment in America has become a controversy among Americans. Controversy whether to ban Capital Punishment or not has become a top priority for most politicians. On one hand it brings justice, yet on the other its taking a life. After examining the benefit of capital punishment, one will likely conclude that the benefit of capital punishment outweighs the harm of expenditures, deterrent compensations, and retributions. The economic argument that people must always consider is the cost of the death penalty opposed to life imprisonment. According to California state records, the operating expense to finance the penalty costs...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
...Argument for Capital Punishment Since the 1970's, almost all capital sentences in the United States have been imposed for homicide. There has been intense debate among Americans regarding the constitutionality of capital punishment. Critics charge that executions are violations of the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the Eighth Amendment; while supporters of the death penalty counter that this clause was not intended to prohibit legal executions. In the 1972 court case of Furman vs. Georgia , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment was no longer legal. However, in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the court allowed capital punishments to resume in certain states, and shortly thereafter, Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad in Utah. Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States,a separate penalty trial has been required for some capital cases, at which time the jury reviews circumstances that suggest the need for capital punishment. In 1982, Texas became the first state to execute a prisoner using lethal injection; other common methods of execution used in the United States include lethal gas and electrocution. In recent years, the Supreme Court has made it more difficult for death row prisoners to file appeals. Nearly 3 of 4 americans support the death sentence as a form of punishment. The other third has condemned it and their list of claims against it is long. Opponents challenge proponents on issues of deterrence, economics, fallibility...
Words: 1933 - Pages: 8
...Running Head: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT The Problem of Capital Punishment Charles W Lortz Kaplan University CM220-T The Problem of Capital Punishment The issue of capital punishment is a troublesome topic that encompasses many moral and empirical aspects of human justice. Ultimately, the key issue regarding the death penalty is as follows: is the death penalty as appropriate form of punishment for the United States of America’s judicial system to impose? This key issue incorporates the empirical and moral claims of those both for and against capital punishment in America. The main empirical issues center on whether or not the death penalty is imposed with bias, whether it serves as deterrence for future crimes, and whether it is an economically beneficial option for the country. Moral concerns include the idea of justice being “an eye for an eye,” whether or not capital punishment is “playing God,” and if the death penalty is a cruel and unusual form of punishment. The position we recommend to our legislators is opposition to capital punishment because evidence demonstrates that it is biased, unjust, fails to deter crime, is not cost effective, and cruel and unusual government action. The death penalty in America dates back to the colonial period. Its use was fragmented at best throughout the colonies and eventually the states, with each state having its own laws concerning the use of capital punishment. As long as it has existed in the United States, there has been controversy...
Words: 3366 - Pages: 14
...the criminal justice system. This paper will attempt to assess the previous, current, and imminent trends in the criminal justice system. This paper will attempt to evaluate and identify recent and future trends, and contemporary issues that the criminal justice system is faced with. The criminal justice system is viewed as a system that presents a harsh existence. Some view the system to be too lenient. There are many people who believe that the criminal justice system has been judged to be one sided. Criminal justice has had trends that have taken place for many centuries. A major issue within the criminal justice system which has had many trends and this is capital punishment. Capital punishment has always existed in the criminal justice system. And it was way worse centuries ago when the form of capital punishment was beheading, this was done with an axe or a sword, this was a cheaper way of executing a criminal and axes and swords were easy to come by. Beheading was considered to be less painful and dishonorable type of execution according the Greeks and the Romans. Beheading was used for its citizens by the Roman Empire. This form of...
Words: 1293 - Pages: 6
...Capital Punishment January 26th, 2014 Since capital punishment is the legal process in which the state puts to death a person that commits a certain type of crime, the death penalty should deter criminals from committing violent crimes. “The executions of people who have been found guilty of offenses believe that some crimes, especially murder, are so serious and so destructive to society that the perpetrators deserve the most severe punishment” (Capital Punishment 2014). In the article, Capital Punishment, the issues focused on the moral argument that killing is wrong, the mental capacity of people facing the death penalty, and the fairness of the death penalty in which wrongful executions of innocent people, and the lack of uniformity in applying capital punishment. “Advances in technology, such as new and improved methods of DNA testing and other laboratory procedures, have shown that the justice system can make mistakes” (Capital Punishment 2014). An opponent of capital punishment argues that this type of punishment discriminates against minorities and the poor, encourages a culture of violence, and that it violates human rights. On the other hand, an advocate of capital punishment argues that it deters crime. The unstated premise in the article is that killing is always wrong. If killing is always wrong, then the death penalty is wrong. Killing is always wrong. Therefore, the death penalty is wrong. “Opponents of capital punishment argue that there are no circumstances...
Words: 516 - Pages: 3
...Since the 1970's, almost all capital sentences in the United States have been imposed for homicide. There has been intense debate among Americans regarding the constitutionality of capital punishment. Critics charge that executions are violations of the “cruel and unusual punishment” provision of the Eighth Amendment; while supporters of the death penalty counter that this clause was not intended to prohibit legal executions. In the 1972 court case of Furman vs. Georgia , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment was no longer legal. However, in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the court allowed capital punishments to resume in certain states, and shortly thereafter, Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad in Utah. Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States,a separate penalty trial has been required for some capital cases, at which time the jury reviews circumstances that suggest the need for capital punishment. In 1982, Texas became the first state to execute a prisoner using lethal injection; other common methods of execution used in the United States include lethal gas and electrocution. In recent years, the Supreme Court has made it more difficult for death row prisoners to file appeals. Nearly 3 of 4 americans support the death sentence as a form of punishment. The other third has condemned it and their list of claims against it is long. Opponents challenge proponents on issues of deterrence, economics, fallibility, and rehabilitation. Their...
Words: 1929 - Pages: 8
...The Death Penalty: Moral or Immoral? The death penalty, otherwise known as capital punishment, has been a topic of heavy debate and discussion since some of the earliest stages of the United States. For a long time, a majority of the general public approved of capital punishment, but within the past century, especially, opponents have made significant moves in trying to prevent its further use. A majority of what makes the death penalty so controversial are the moral and ethical issues involved in taking people’s lives as a punishment. Although morals hold some weight, the most significant reasons for debate consist of the capital punishment’s legal fairness and accuracy. The death penalty is the use of death as a punishment for committing capital crimes such as first-degree murder, rape, and treason. The problem is, why does the United States still use the death penalty? The government uses different ways to put those who have committed capital crimes such as first-degree murder, rape, and treason, into permanent sleep. The different grueling methods used to bring death to the inmates include the uses of the electric chair, the gas chamber, hanging, and the most “civilized” approach, lethal injection.1 Under these judgments, I believe that the death penalty should be abolished. Punishments need to be enforced when a person is guilty of a committing a serious crime such as first degree murder, which is the unlawful killing of another human being with malicious intent.2 Those...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
...assessment we will also attempt to evaluate and identify recent and future trends and contemporary issues that affect our criminal justice system and try to determine the value of the criminal justice system in a changing society (University of Phoenix Student website, 2010). Many have viewed the criminal justice system as simply presenting a harsh existence. Some have viewed it as being too lax. There are many individuals that could agree that at one point or another, the criminal justice system has been judged to be too much on side or the other. Criminal justice has had trends that have taken place over centuries. A major issue within the criminal justice to which there have been many trends has been the issue of capital punishment. Capital punishment has existed for centuries. Beheading was something that goes back a very long way in...
Words: 1573 - Pages: 7
...and the opportunity to others to take away ones place in society requires the society to make null and void the existence of such individuals. Thus, those that violate these rights to life must pay the ultimate penalty. Capital punishment is a punishment for human rights violations. In capital punishment the condemned individual is punished by being put to death either through electrocution, hanging, lethal injections, gas chamber, or firing squad. Angel Diaz allegedly shot to death the owner of Velvet swing lounge in a robbery that he was involved in. He was sentenced to death through lethal injection by the state of Florida. His execution through lethal injection in December 2006 was flawed and thereby termed botched. It took 34 minutes rather than the 15 minutes expected. Everyone has a right to life, liberty and security of person therefore moral judgment and coherence recognize and respect the difference that underlay capital punishment to not be included human rights violations sphere. It would be logically skewed and lacking in sound moral judgment to think that capital punishment is a violation of human rights when it is a punishment to those that violate the rights of others. My position is clear like the light of day; that I am pro capital punishment purely from the above facts and my research has led me to believe that this is a clear position to take. The unfortunate circumstances that Angel Diaz went through during the execution need not happen because the...
Words: 436 - Pages: 2
...of the harshest available punishment. Thus arises one of the great moral dilemmas of our time. Should taking the life of one who has taken the life of others be considered an available punishment? Is a murderer's life any less sacred than the victim's is? Can capital punishment, the death penalty, execution, legal murder, or whatever a society wishes to call it, be morally justifiable? The underlying question in this issue is if any kind of killing, regardless of reason, can be accepted. In this paper I will discuss if the modern American form of capital punishment can be morally justified Opponents of the death penalty have a distinct advantage when arguing their point over advocates. Their advantage is the fact that taking the life of another is immoral, and if you remove all outstanding circumstances capital punishment is nothing more than legalized murder. This argument alone is not strong enough, though, because of the many circumstances surrounding capital punishment, such as the fact that the convict being executed has more than likely taken someone else's life. The first justification for the claim that capital punishment is immoral is the idea that it creates a climate of violence. If a society punishes a murderer by murdering them what are we saying about violence? Our society teaches its children that violence does not solve anything, and yet our highest form of punishment is no different than the crime it punishes. Capital punishment also furthers the desensitizing...
Words: 3205 - Pages: 13
...Death Penalty 1 The Death Penalty Student PHI 200 Instructor Date Death Penalty 2 The Death Penalty The death penalty is a decision that causes frustration and tension within society as there is a battle of its justification and validity. It seems to be a great divide between opinions of justification, retribution, and deserved punishment to the potential of killing an innocent person and simply the fact that execution is murder. Crime is an everyday threat to our lives and will always be, the questions is how do we deal with it and to what extent do we take the punishment. This has been a question that goes as far back as Biblical times. History tells us that capital punishment is an acceptable and efficient deterrent of crime. Even today the death penalty remains an effective punishment in some states for heinous crimes and murder, while others have abolished this penalty. The death penalty has been challenged in the realm that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which states that the United States cannot use cruel and unusual punishment. Punishment itself is an infliction of suffering which is legal and somewhat cruel. It is not however unusual as it has long been used in history. During the eighteenth century B.C. the death penalty was codified for 25 different crimes, in the Fifth century B.C. death was the only penalty for all crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning...
Words: 3014 - Pages: 13
...Capital Punishment which is also referred to as the death penalty is a process in which a person’s crimes are of a certain manner or type and they are given the death penalty as punishment for these crimes. This is a subject in which I have mixed opinions and emotions about. Each situation is different and should be examined individually to determine if capital punishment is the best alternative or way to deal with the offender. The punishment should fit the crime. Criminals are punished as a way to pay them back for the crimes they have committed, and we execute the worst of them out of moral necessity for greater good of society (Burns, 2005). There are situations in which I feel that capital punishment, the death penalty should occur. In circumstances where a person is a repeat offender of horrible crimes such as murder or anything involving children should get the death penalty. These offenders are more harmfulto the world and the people in it. The fact that the offenders have repeated their crime and been incarcerated more than one time for the same major offense shows that they have notbeen rehabilitated nor have no intentions of becoming better than they were. There is no pointis releasing these people back into society or to continue housing them in a state prison somewhere. There are many reasons that people are against capital punishment all together. The first reason that people do not agree with capital punishment would be the fact that we...
Words: 366 - Pages: 2
...death, the individual is held in death row pending any habeas corpus or appeals, and if these fail, until the convict is convicted. Those opposed to capital punishment have contended that the isolation of a convict and the uneasiness over his or her destiny constitutes a kind of mental depravity and that long-term death row convicts are particularly prone to become mentally unstable. This condition is commonly known as death row phenomenon. In severe cases, some convicts may try committing suicide. Issues relating to the administration of capital punishment are vast and varied. Often, talk about the use of death penalty concentrates more on sentimental arguments pertaining to the moral issue emanating from the administration of death penalty. This paper attempts to study the issues that surround capital punishment by making use of the system analysis approach. It shall endeavor to explore the dehumanizing effects brought about by the recommencement of capital punishment. While there are no clear-cut answers regarding the matter of capital punishment and death sentence, this paper will attempt to shed more light on the normally intricate social issue. Impact of Death Row on the Correction System In June 1972 in a case concerning Furman v. Georgia brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, the court submitted that capital punishment was unlawful and unconstitutional and revoked the state death penalty legislations across the entire U. S. Several death sentences were adjusted...
Words: 1667 - Pages: 7
...Charles Laverne singleton was sane, he was not supposed for infliction. Charles was executed for felony capital but he became insane while in jail. The courts question was what constitutes true sanity? Nevertheless, the question would be is death penalty moral ethical? In philosophical stand of view, medicine is not supposed to heal sick people, not to prepare them for infliction. If at all there is, any law that directs doctors to treat people so that the state can execute them is an unethical law (Jones, 2014). To begin with, existence of death penalty in United States, as well as, any other society raises questions. This argument sets up to examine the ethics of capital punishment.in real sense capital punishment sets ultimate warning against all...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
