...Death Penalty Death penalty or capital punishment is the killing person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. People have different opinion about this issue. Some people support death penalty and some people are against death penalty. It is very hard to decide what is right thing with this issue, but both sides have good reasons why should and why we should not have death penalty. In “The Federal Death Penalty as a Safety Valve” the author asserts that “Fifteen states do not have a death penalty, and yet the federal government can federally prosecute capital cases on historically state-prosecuted violent crimes”(Mysliwiec 255). The author thinks that government has to much power when it comes to the death penalty. In U.S. states have power to decide do they want to have death penalty or not. This depends on who is majority in government. Usually republicans are for death penalty and democrats are against death penalty. In “Death penalty views in China, Japan and U.S” the author shows us the study where we can see the level of death penalty support and views on capital punishment among college students from China, Japan and U.S. (Jiang 1). This study is very interesting because we can see how young people from these countries are thinking and what is they opinion about this issue. It was found that Chinese respondents reported the highest level of death penalty support, followed...
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...the death penalty, is when a person is put to death by the state as a result of a crime. Crimes that can result in the death penalty are known as capital offences. The death penalty is a long debated topic across the world. The word capital comes from the Latin word capitalis, which translates to “of the head.” The word refers to the ancient time when beheading was used to as capital punishment for the crimes. Punishment by death is usually reserved for murder, treason, spying, or military justice. Only the mentally competent adults could receive the capital punishment. The process of capital punishment today is very costly. It takes millions of dollars and only a small amount of people are actually executed. The judicial system is not a hundred percent accurate either, therefore innocent lives could be taken. The increase in cost as well as inconsistent executions results in a flawed capital punishment system which should be abolished. The death penalty began in the ancient times when murder, treason, or killing the ruler of an enemy. In the western culture, death penalty laws were established as early as the Eighteenth Century. Britain had heavy influence on America’s use of the death penalty. Each colony’s laws regarding the death penalty differed. The abolitionist movement started during the colonial times. The northeast was soon influenced by the abolitionist movement in the early to mid Nineteenth Century. In 1846, Michigan was the first state in the United States to abolish...
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...society is the use of capital punishment, informally known as the death penalty. There are two main sides to this topic; some people want to abolish the death penalty, while others want to continue or even increase its use. The people that want to abolish the death penalty view it as unconstitutional, as they see it as “cruel and unusual;” while others view the death penalty as an appropriate punishment that fits the horrendous crime of murder. The death penalty has been shown to have a deterrent effect on crime, which is why the U.S.A and other nations worldwide should continue the use of capital punishment (Muhlhausen). HISTORY The death penalty has been around since the start of time. It is...
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...Should the Death Penalty be abolished? The international trend of stopping executing and abolishing the death penalty is obvious. For example, in 2011, there are nearly 200 countries in the world but only 21 countries execute the death penalty. In addition, 140 countries have already abolished the death penalty legally and practically (i.e. stop executing the death penalty). In the US, 17 states abolished the death penalty or sentenced the death penalty unconstitutional, including New Jersey (2007), New York (2007), New Mexico (2009), Illinois (2011) and Connecticut (2012). There are also a numbers of states that have suspended executions for many years. In 2007, United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution for the first time to implore all the members of the United Nations to stop using the death penalty. Since then, the United Nations General Assembly also declared the similar resolutions in 2008 and 2010 respectively and the most recent one was made in December 20, 2012. In 2007, 104 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 54 voted against it. By 2012, there were 111 countries in favor, 41 countries against. The death penalty has two dimensions: one is the humanity between the individual life, another one is the rights among social communities and social members. The first dimension is a punishment executed by a specific public institution to the murderer once the murder happened between the the social members. In this dimension, the trace of the...
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...Kathleen Predmore Abstract Capital Punishment should it be abolished or continue? Over 15,269 Americans have been executed since the beginning of the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. Some people see it as a barbaric means of punishment while others see it as an important tool for fighting pre-meditated murder and other horrific crimes. The death penalty has bee in existence since the Eighteenth Century B.C. At first, it was carried out by horrific means, boiling, beheading, and burning at the steak just to name a few. Later as man became more civilized, more humane methods were invented and used. It was not until the Nineteenth Century that the death penalty finally found opposition. Since then the civilized world has been at odds on whether to abolish the death penalty. In conclusion, the reasons for abolishing it as well as reasons against abolishing the death penalty are argued; however, the victims of the crimes and their families cannot be ignored. . Over 15,269 Americans have been executed since the beginning of the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. America remains a minority of nations in the world that still uses the death penalty for punishment of certain crimes. Many see this as a barbaric and against human values. Others see it as a very important means to fighting violent crime and pre-meditated murder. The death penalty’s history started as far back as the Eighteenth...
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...speaker once said, “Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all”. Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in the world. Punishment is only effective if it is constantly enforced, and capital punishment can't be enforced all the time. People who commit crimes of personal violence may or may not premeditate the crime. Death is irreversible and there is nothing that will make the victim come back to life. Since 1990, in the United States, there has been an average of more than four cases each year in which an entirely innocent person was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Notwithstanding, it can help control crime and in some cases, it can be just. It also gives closure to the families...
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...The death penalty, black point of the American democracy Unfortunately Death penalty still exists and is applied in the U.S.A. According to Amnesty International, 58 countries around the world have maintained the capital punishment. United States included. Who has never heard of this controversial and polemical debate? The death penalty is controversial due to its lack of coherence regarding to basic human rights. First of all, it was shown that the American model has advocated democracy and self- determination in the entire world. Consequently, the presence of death penalty in a democratic and developed country can appear as a strange contradiction. How this singularity can be perceived and explained ? As the sociologist Arnaud Gaillard explains in the newspaper “Le Monde”, several hypotheses are possible. Firstly, the violent environment shown by the legalization of guns or the important criminality would agree that death penalty has been part of the American culture for decades. Another plausible cause proposed by A.Gaillard is the young age of the population influencing the construction of the United States by its excesses. This argument can seem excessive since young people should be in favor of the system’s abolition. The youth are certainly more open-minded than the past generation. It is contradictory to Gaillard’s argument. Then, if we look at the death penalty itself...
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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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...The Death Penalty Can one justify an action of a cold killer? Furthermore, should death penalty be abolish? Lastly, is it possibly to end the debate about death penalty and the abolition of it? William Otis comes with his arguments in “The Death Penalty Saves Lives”, 2006, for why death penalty should not be abolish and his opinion of the abolitionists own arguments for it. The death penalty or capital punishment is a legit system where a person, who has committed a serious crime, it put to death by the state as punishment. The death penalty consist of two parts, the death sentence, which is the judicial decree that the person gets, and the other part is the actual execution. Death penalty has been used for many decades, and are still being used today, but of course not as often. In the past, it was performed by most societies and the most common execution method was beheading, which were most often public. In the United States, death penalty is a legal punishment in 32 states as well as the federal civilian and military legal systems. Since 1976, the most common method used to execute an inmate is lethal injection. Furthermore, in that same year the death penalty was reinstated after a ten-year long moratorium, which is a temporary stopping of a certain activity, thirty-four states have performed executions. A year that is very interesting, as far as death penalty goes, is 2012, because it was the year with the lowest executions in USA and, furthermore, by information...
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...in the Death Penalty The death penalty is a punishment in which a person is executed for having committed a serious crime. This punishment has been carried out in many different ways all over the world and has been around for many centuries. Since it started here in the United States, however, we have been seeing racial discrimination in sentencing to the death penalty. An African American man who kills a white man is more likely to be sentenced to this punishment than a white man if he kills an African American. African Americans form most of the minority group here in the United States and they are a majority that are falling in this discriminating situation. Being sentenced to the death penalty is an unjust way of punishment for any crime committed, and it is even worse to be sentenced to the death penalty because of the race or class standing of a convict. The race of the convict and the race of the defendant in capital cases are major factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. This is ethically wrong. It is choosing to end someone’s life because we do not like their physical appearance or because they cannot afford their way out of it. This is unconstitutional and is definitely not a way to practice for our safety. It is a choice made by a judge that can easily be protected by the law, and that is unfair. We need a system that affords the same fairness to everyone, that does not accept racial discrimination as evidence to sentence to the death penalty...
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...and rehabilitation. Retribution argues that perpetrators of crimes should be punished by imposing a level of pain or punishment equal to or greater than the pain suffered by the victim. Deterrence can be further classified into two forms: general and specific. General deterrence seeks to influence individuals prior to the commission of a crime through fear of the known penalty. Specific deterrence focuses on seeking to impose punishment on the individual for lesser crimes in attempts to deter repeating or escalating criminal behavior. Incapacitation serves to remove individuals from society to ensure the safety of its members [3]. Capital punishment, commonly referred to as the death penalty, is the most extreme form of punishment imposed on an individual. It is currently defined as “the execution of a convicted criminal as punishment for the most serious of crimes [2]. Despite its current definition, its use throughout history has not always been so clearly defined and limiting. This paper will serve to discuss capital punishment and its application across time and the world. Application and Evolution Even before recorded history, early man formed tribal societies. These tribes were necessary to ensure survival in their sometimes harsh environment. Food, shelter and protection were afforded with increased numbers and banishment or shunning of an individual was used as man’s earliest implementation of a death sentence. Although they did not actively execute the individual, loss...
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...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 of law. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan argued against the death penalty: “In brief, the Court found that the best available evidence indicates...
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...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...
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...The death penalty needs to be abolished globally. It is an outdated, unfair and often inhumane punishment. In addition to the fact that many television shows and movies have been made about people wrongly convicted on death row, the whole “an eye for an eye” from the Bible is completely outdated. (BIBLE GATEWAY) Furthermore, there have been numerous incidences where prisoners who had been convicted and sentenced to death, while being administered the lethal injection or on the electric chair, did not actually die the first time around. Many who are convicted and sentenced to death row are mentally disabled, having an IQ of 70 or less. One reason the death penalty should be abolished is that the cost of the death penalty far outweighs the cost of incarcerating a prisoner for life. A study of Indiana death penalty trials concluded that relative costs of incarceration with the addition of a death penalty sentence and direct appeal rose 38%. (JANEWAY) And a report by the Comptroller of the Treasury for the State of Tennessee concluded that when prosecutors sought the death penalty in murder cases, the average cost of the trial rose 48%. (MORGAN) Many states are finding that with rising budget costs and deficits it is better to abolish the death penalty than to sink further into debt. (BISSONNETTE) Another reason the death penalty should be abolished is that is an inhuman practice that is outdated. The old adage, “an eye for an eye”, no longer applies in the modern world. In addition...
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...those days where they use an axe or a sword to behead a criminal, and this was the method used, and the tools used were always readily available. Throughout the history capital punishment has been an aspect within the criminal justice system, but not accepted by many. Capital punishment is still used but there has been so much controversy, different methods has been used in the past and present, and have advanced with technology, with lethal injection and electrocution. When creating the new method, there were many items being viewed to forbid cruelty and barbaric. Today these methods are used in certain states; although this is legal there are states that want to do away with the practice of capital punishment, and this remains an issue in the criminal justice system. This will always be an issue in the future because there are people who are against the death penalty as others are for it, this will cause more debate as time goes on. There are countries that outlaw capital punishment,...
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