Should any individual be killed for their crimes or mistakes? Adam Liptak, a writer for the New York Times, found that, “According to roughly a dozen recent studies, executions save lives. For each inmate put to death, the studies say, 3 to 18 murders are prevented.” Therefore, the death penalty must be upheld in the United States of America in order to protect its citizens and to properly enforce justice.
The death penalty ensures fair retribution for the loved ones of the criminal’s victim. In 1977, Clarence Ray Allen was convicted for murder after arranging the death of a witness against him in a burglary case and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole. In 1980, Allen organized the killings of the witnesses who had worked against him in his previous conviction. Finally, Allen was sentenced to death, but it wasn’t until 2006 that he was executed (Ardaiz). During those twenty-six painful years, the families and loved ones of the victims had to spend their days knowing that the one who had torn apart their family was still alive. As James A. Ardaiz, a former judge, and the prosecutor on the case of Allen, so succinctly put it, “Retribution is not only a need of society; it is a right of those victimized.” One person who the death penalty brought peace to was John Rizzotti. Rizzotti’s 78 year old great grandmother was sexually abused and murdered in1980 by Manuel Babbitt, and Rizzotti says that his family found relief in Babbitt’s execution in 1999. Rizzotti recounts that the legal process from conviction to execution was frustrating, but he believes that the families of murder victims have the right to see the murderers put to death. “What he did and how he did it was so unbelievably gruesome that there w...
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...ies Union, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.
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Holmes, Sue M. "N.M. Prison's 1980 Riot Still Haunts 25 Years Later." ABQjournal: N.M. Prison's 1980 Riot Still Haunts 25 Years Later. The Albuquerque Journal, 02 Feb. 2005. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.
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Since 1967, a total of 1392 executions have occurred in the United States ("Executions by Year"). What a shocking amount! This staggering number creates questioning on the topic of capital punishment. Is the death penalty really constitutional? Research and study over the topic leads to the conclusion that capital punishment should not be instituted in the United States for various reasons. The death penalty is immoral, unconstitutional, and inaccurate due to human errors.
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This essay will discuss the various views regarding the death penalty and its current status in the United States. It can be said that almost all of us are familiar with the saying “An eye for an eye” and for most people that is how the death penalty is viewed. In most people’s eyes, if a person is convicted without a doubt of murdering someone, it is believed that he/she should pay for that crime with their own life. However, there are some people who believe that enforcing the death penalty makes society look just as guilty as the convicted. Still, the death penalty diminishes the possibility of a convicted murderer to achieve the freedom needed to commit a crime again; it can also be seen as a violation of the convicted person’s rights going against the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Gray, James P. "Essay: Facing Facts On The Death Penalty." Loyola Of Los Angeles Law Review 44.3 (2011): S255-S264. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Pasquerella, Lynn. “The Death Penalty in the United States.” The Study Circle Resource Center of Topsfield Foundation. July 1991. Topsfield Foundation. 03 Feb 2011. Web.
Rubin, P. H. (2009). Don't scrap the death penalty. Criminology & Public Policy, 8(4), 853-859.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.
Palmer, Elizabeth A. “The Death Penalty: Shifting Perspectives.” CQ Weekly. 13 Aug. 2000: 1324-1330. 14 Apr. 2011.