...eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him..” a quote from the Bible, Leviticus 24:20. It is kind of ironic how people would argue that the death penalty is going against the the Bible’s moral code of “Thou Shalt Not Commit Murder,” one of the the Ten Commandments in the Bible, when the Bible also encourages justice for those who has been done wrong. The death penalty is a form of punishment against criminals who committed a crime so wrong, the only way of justice would be sentenced to death. Many would argue that this form of punishment is morally wrong. It is true that execution may be considered as a form of murder too, but the intentions of the execution is not as...
Words: 1112 - Pages: 5
...A baby heart forms and starts beating in the fifth week of pregnancy; therefore, that would make abortion murder. The baby that is growing inside of the woman is depending on her, so when she makes the choice to end that baby's life; they are making the choice to murder another person. Someone that believes in the pro-choice theory would say that the decision is up to the woman, but the person with the pro-life theory would say that it is murder no matter what the situation. Most people consider it murder to kill a baby the day after it is born. Then why would it not be murder to kill it before it is born? There are many abortions performed each year in the United States. Seventy-five percent of all abortions in the U.S. are performed on women over twenty years of age, but the lawmakers try to concentrate on the 186,000 teens that have an abortion each year. In 1990, there were nearly 400 abortion bills were that were introduced to forty-one legislatures. So far, as many as twenty states have passed a law that requires a teenager to have parents consent before having an abortion. This may help reduce the number of abortions each year. The people that passed these bills feel that maybe the parents will feel differently about the situation and be able to talk their child out of it. Twenty percent of teens that are sexually active do not use any form of birth control. These are the teens that end up getting pregnant and getting an abortion. If these girls would use some kind...
Words: 820 - Pages: 4
...broadly divided into two categories; aggravated and simple. 2.1. Aggravated is when a person attacks with intent to kill or with the use of a deadly weapon. 2.2. All other forms of assault are considered simple and are also considered misdemeanors. 2.3. Similar to homicide research assaulters are more likely to be poor, to be black, to reside in large cities, commit the crime during the weekend, to live in the south, to be men and so on. 2.4. Research suggests assault is different form homicide in two ways. 2.5.1. Assaulters are less likely to use firearms for a crime. 2.5.2. During the summer season assault number rice significantly due to heat driving poor people out and a number of other factors. 2. Who is More Likely to Kill? The main striking trait about killers is that they are poor and blacks generally being poorer than whites are more likely to commit homicide. Similarly poor nations also have higher homicide rates. There are any findings like these but the book discusses them in detail further. 3.5. Class and Race Over 90 percent of murders in the United States are committed by unskilled, semiskilled and welfare recipients. Proving that poverty plays a role in homicide and besides there are several reasons for links between murder and poverty. 3.6.3. The poor are more likely to have stressful problems such as financial or marital issues and these tend to cause interpersonal conflict. ...
Words: 1293 - Pages: 6
...the Fifth Century, death sentences were administered by ways such as drowning, beating to death, burning alive or even crucifixion and in the Tenth Century A.D. hangings became the main method of execution. During the Sixteenth Century, under the power of Henry VIII, 72,000 people were executed by boiling, hanging, beheading, and boiling. People were executed if they had failed to report a crime or committed treason. During the 1700s, even small crimes were punished by death. These crimes included stealing or even cutting down a tree. A total of 222 crimes were punishable by death (“Part I: History of the Death Penalty”). Capital punishment in America was heavily influenced by Britain. When settlers came to the new world, they brought the form of capital punishment with them. Captain George Kendall was the first recorded execution in the United States for being accused of being a spy for Spain. This occurred in 1608, while in 1612 the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws were created, allowing capital punishment to be enforced for the smallest of crimes such as trading with Indians. The death penalty varied from colony to colony. The New York colony followed the Duke laws of 1665 where offenses such as denying God or hitting ones mother or father resulted in death (“Part I: History of the Death Penalty”). In the Twentieth Century, capital punishment was of great debate. Believing that the death penalty was cruel and unusual and that it violated the Eight Amendment, the Supreme Court...
Words: 3454 - Pages: 14
...tool in deterring crime. Then its executing innocent people at times. The Criminal Justice System is not infallible, and as long as states impose the death penalty innocent people will be put to death. Since the U.S. reinstituted the death penalty in 1973, 139 wrongly convicted people have been released from death row. Then comes the cost. The death penalty costs significantly more than a life without parole sentence, in some estimates about 10 times the amount. This is because of the heightened process that the death penalty requires. The average length of time from a sentence of death to an execution is 13 years. During that time the taxpayer is footing the expense of the appeals, both by the state and by the defense, since virtually all inmates on death row are indigent. Also the victims' needs. The death penalty ignores the real needs of victims. Seeking the death penalty diverts millions of dollars of our scarce resources that could otherwise go into providing critical services to the family of homicide victims. There is...
Words: 851 - Pages: 4
...Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth. Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole. Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which there always is), the drastic measure of capital punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process...
Words: 1059 - Pages: 5
...IS THE DEATH PENALTY Is the death penalty the right form of punishment for crimes such as murder? 1 IS THE DEATH PENALTY Is the death penalty the right form of punishment for crimes such as murder? 2 During this paper you will hear supporting and opposing arguments for the death penalty when a murder charge is sought. You will hear information on the trial, the families, and the way it affects the jury. The death penalty has long been an ongoing debate. There are numerous reasons to be pro-death penalty, as well as, con-death penalty. When is the death penalty appropriate? What types of crimes should be considered for the death penalty? Throughout the course of this paper were going to look at the pros and cons of the death penalty when dealing with murder charges. We’ll discuss the money that goes into a trial and sentence of an inmate on death row, weather the death penalty actually gives the family a sense of justice, as well as, weather the death penalty is the right punishment for murder. We will also look at if the death penalty is the only answer for murder and weather the evidence and information given to the jury plays apart in the way they vote. The death penalty can mean many different things to many different people. Many people think that if you take a life you should have yours taken away. The question there, is it really effective? Taking the life of someone else isn’t going to bring the dead back, but allowing them to sit in jail gives them many...
Words: 1076 - Pages: 5
...abortion should be allowed or not. Some people think abortion is very bad and that it should not be allowed at all. They think abortion is like committing murder as it is killing the human fetus. Others feel that the parents should have the right to choose and it is not murder until the baby is born. People who think it is bad say that the fetus is something alive, a human being who is partly formed and to do abortion is to kill it and commit murder. The people who think it is ok say that it is not murder until and unless the child is born. I think that abortion has to be seen about which stage the fetus is in. If it is in the very early stage, then it is not murder. But if it has already developed into a larger fetus, it can be considered as murder. There are other times when abortion is also fine. For example if there is a complication in pregnancy and the mother can suffer because of the child, it is ok to do abortion. It is important to understand the various ideas that go behind abortion. The right of an abortion for a mother should be left on her own decision as the mother knows best about her condition. She is going to be the 'host body' for the baby, even though her own, for nine months and according to Thompson, the mother should have the right to decide if she wants to foster and go through with the ordeal. Abortion should not be considered as murder in the early stage, which is the first ten to twelve weeks. Scientific research has proven that even though the...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...sense to kill people to show that killing people is wrong. An effective form of punishment has three basic characteristics: it is delivered immediately after the wrongdoing, it is administered consistently, and alternative behaviors are introduced. Society needs to get over the “eye for an eye” mentality in order for civilization to continue advancing (“Should”). The death penalty does not have any of the characteristics of an effective form of punishment. First, people who are sentenced to die are not put to death immediately. They spend years on death row. The average time on death row before execution is 10.26 years (“Death”). There are currently 3,300 men and women on death row in the United States (“Death”). Because those who are sentenced to death are not punished immediately after their actions, the death penalty is not an effective form of punishment. A good form of punishment is administered consistently. Not every person that murders someone is sent to death row. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia do not use the death penalty (“Death”). Among the states that do encourage it there are multiple methods of execution. These methods include lethal injection, electrocution, gas chamber, firing squad, and hanging (“Methods”). Not only are all murderers not punished equally, but also those that are sentenced to execution are not consistently killed in the same way. Finally, in an effective form of punishment alternative behaviors are introduced. With the death penalty...
Words: 530 - Pages: 3
...Death Penalty Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth. Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole. Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment. According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which there always is), the drastic measure of capital punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which...
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
...Throughout the years many have tried to oppose this form of punishment but to no full positive outcome. Some believe that we need “Capital Punishment” to deter crime and violence from taking over our society. There many views on the topic but in the end only one truth prevails. According to the article “Shot at Dawn” the execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies, both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. Some places that practice capital punishment it is reserved for murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. But in other countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy in Islamic nations. In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. People who approve of this form of punishment believe that by sending these criminals to their death that they are making society better. By getting rid of these unwanted people of the world that things will start to become more peaceful. That the cost of housing and feeding these criminals are breaking the economy. Others even go as far to say that it’s a form of justice for the victims’ families. Author Deborah...
Words: 606 - Pages: 3
... “Granted, any norm, to be effectual, must be embedded in the thick of life.”(Goodman, 2010) Discussing the different areas in which Goodman talks about in his article the first is Genocide, Famine, and Germ Warfare. “All living beings make claims to life.” (Goodman, 2010) Goodman tries to compare murder and warfare in this article. I can agree with him on the fact that murder is wrong, but at the same time there must be some type of line drawn to determine whether this act is committed on behalf of wants, needs, or desire. There are many different facets of murder, all having the same end state of death. Some commit this act of violence on the cause of jealousy or envy which speaks on that individual’s character. Sometimes murder may be committed in acts of self-defense, in these cases I would say that this violent act would possibly be excusable due to the constraints of the situation (either he dies or I die). In this term it is a matter of survival going to the mere basics of humanity. Within the confines of murder comes genocide. Genocide unlike murder is purposely geared toward a specific type of human, whether it is based on sex, race, religion, or whatever the acting party is aiming for. In my opinion this is a far worse act than murder, because it targets the whole of the group in the specifics to wipe them out. “Genocide targets individuals as members of a group, seeking to destroy a race, a culture, a linguistic or ethnic identity,...
Words: 763 - Pages: 4
...There are many possible suspects in the Jack the Ripper case. Some suspects seem more probable than others, however. Based on information that has been obtained from what happened during the “Autumn of Terrors,” as many call it, there are many facts that seem probable about Jack the Ripper. The specific suspects that have been publicized fit some of these possible qualities and tendencies of Jack the Ripper, though none fit all the standards. A background in medicine along with a history of some sort of mental illness are likely characteristics of the Ripper. Also, he was most likely someone that was often seen around his victims long before their murders. Jack the Ripper was most likely someone with a background in medicine. At the very least, it is feasible he had more basic anatomical knowledge than the average citizen of his time. Based on autopsies and reports from medical officials who saw the bodies after the murders, it is evident that the Ripper was able to remove his desired organ without disturbing any surrounding areas too severely. Dr. Frederick Gordon Brown, the medical examiner who performed the post-mortem exam on Catherine Eddowes, also believed the murderer had medical knowledge based on the exam he performed on Eddowes’ body: “I believe the perpetrator of the act must have had considerable knowledge of the position of the organs in the abdominal cavity and the way of removing them. It required a great deal of medical knowledge to have removed the kidney...
Words: 1567 - Pages: 7
...involuntary or reckless, manslaughter. Under Virginia law, murder is defined as "the unlawful killing of another with malice aforethought." Stapleton v. Commonwealth, 123 Va. 825, 96 S. E. 801; Premeditation, or specific intent to kill, distinguishes murder in the first from murder in the second degree; proof of this element is essential to conviction of the former offense, and the burden of proving it clearly rests with the prosecution. Shiflett v. Commonwealth, 143 Va. 609, 130 S. E. 777; Jefferson v. Commonwealth, 214 Va. 432, 201 S. E. 2d 749. Joe a resident of Norfork, Virginia, is angry with his boss, Jerry, because he has just been fired. Joe goes to a bar and drowns his sorrows in 4 pints of been. Joe leaves the bar with a new degree of “liquid courage.” He goes into the hardware store and purchases a knife, he then staggers straight to Jerry’s house. He bursts into Jerry’s house, hunts down Jerry, and kills him with the knife. Joe is arrested and tried for first degree murder. The prosecution alleges that the murder was premeditated and announces that it will be seeking the death penalty for Joe. Joe claims that although the murder was planned and voluntary, he was so drunk that he could not have properly formed the intent to kill and should therefore not be subject to the murder charge. According to Virginia Code § 18.2-32. First and second degree murder defined; punishment. Murder, other than capital murder, by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, or by any...
Words: 953 - Pages: 4
...In Philosophy in the Bedroom, Sade seems to go into the extremes to preach his view on libertinism. It’s almost disgusting in how Dolmance and Madame De Saint-Ange educate Eugenie in their views, yet Eugenie takes their teachings as enlightenment. Why? As much as I hate to admit it, it is refreshing to see the other side of things. Coming from the extreme opposite of this ideal, Sade’s characters speak an almost ugly truth. Sade often shuns from religion and authority in favor of a more rational way of thinking. In many instances he replaces God with Nature as a form of measuring ideals. In many ways he focuses a person on self rather than society. I think trying to understand his repressed view can draw us closer to an even richer median of self. One of the first teaches that Dolmance preaches to Eugenie in her education is the existence of God. He opens by stating that man owes his existence only to Nature’s schemes. He states that we are bound only to reproduce, since reproduction is necessitated by the globe’s existence. Sade criticizes God as a phantom. He even questions then necessity of God. If Nature can create, produce, preserve, maintain, and hold equilibrium, what is the need to seek out a foreign agent? To Sade, God is an illusion and piety to this illusion is foolish. I find that Sade proposing that God is an illusion is a bold step, yet offers a viable alternative in the purpose of man. Many people today are influenced by their belief in God. They credit their...
Words: 2474 - Pages: 10
