Steel bars slam shut, not knowing if today is going to be the last day on earth. Death may come by natural causes or by the hands of another human being. The death penalty is form of punishment to people, who have committed sadistic crimes such as murder. The death penalty is also one of the oldest punishments known to man as it was included in the Hammurabi code. Most inmates are put to death by lethal injection and sometimes, although not often the electric chair. The death penalty is a controversial topic in which some people believe that the death penalty serves as an example for criminals to think of the consequences of their actions. Other people believe that the death penalty does not in fact deter crime, but it is also an unconstitutional form of punishment. The death penalty has to be abolished because it is unethical, does not deter crime, and costs taxpayers money.
The death penalty is considered to be unethical that the majority of countries have abolished the death penalty. One of the reasons its been banned is because some people have been found innocent after being executed. The United States and Iraq are some nations that still implement the death penalty. The Death Penalty Worldwide database reported that in Iraq “At least 197 executions were carried out in 2011 and 2012.This brings us to a total of around 1,523 death row prisoners at the end of 2012. As of November 2013, there had been at least 132 executions in 2013 so far.” This explains that Iraq has a high number of executions, even higher than the United States. According to the Death Penalty Information Center the number of executions in the United States has been a staggering 1379, since 1976. In addition, many inmates are later found to be innocent afte...
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... CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. 535. Print.
"Iraq." The Death Penalty in Iraq. Northwestern Law Center for International Human Rights, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
Johnson, Kevin. "Study Finds No Evidence Death Penalty Deters Crime." Christian Century 129.10 (2012): 17. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 20 May 2014.
"Law Enforcement Views on Deterrence." DPIC. Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 20 May 2014
Levy, Pema. "An Unlikely Conservative Cause: Abolish the Death Penalty."Newsweek. Newsweek, 14 May 2014. Web. 20 May 2014.
Mills, Steve. "Cameron Todd Willingham Case: Expert Says Fire for Which Father Was Executed Was Not Arson." Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 May 2014.
"Washington State Courts - News, Reports, Court Information." Washington State Courts - News, Reports, Court Information. Washington State Courts, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014.
Koch, L.W., Wark, C., Galliher, J.F. (2012). The death of the American death penalty. Lebanon, NH: Northeastern University Press.
Whitehead, John W. "The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished." Criminal Justice. Ed. Noël Merino. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Death Penalty Is a Miscarriage of Justice: It Should Be Abolished."www.rutherford.org. 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
Radelet, Michael L., and Traci L. Lacock. "Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates?: The Views of Leading Criminologists." Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 99.2 (2009): 489-508. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 28 Feb. 2011.
or hundreds of years people have considered capital punishment a deterrence of crime. Seven hundred and five individuals have died since 1976, by means of capital punishment; twenty-two of these executions have already occurred this year (Death Penalty Information Center). Many U.S. citizens who strongly support the death penalty believe that capital punishment remains the best way to protect society from convicted killers. I, however, disagree; I do not feel that execution best punishes criminals for their acts. Instead, in my opinion, the administration of the death penalty should end because it does not deter crime; it risks the death of an innocent person, it costs millions of dollars, it inflicts unreasonable pain; and most importantly it violates moral principles.
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013
Lewis, Neil A. “Death Sentences Decline, And Experts Offer Reasons.” The New York Times, Late Edition. New York, New York: Dec. 15, 2006. Print.
"The Case Against the Death Penalty." American Civil Liberties Union. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU Foundation., 2011. Web. 01 Nov. 2014.
Guernsey, J. B. (2010). Death penalty: fair solution or moral failure. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. Retrieved February 8, 2011 from http://books.google.com/books?id=38slHSsFFrgC&pg=PA125&dq=death+penalty+in+other+countries&hl=en&ei=F6dQTZHLBsm_tgfD7rHBCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=death%20penalty%20in%20other%20countries&f=false
First, people should know the history of the death penalty. The death penalty has a long history dating back to the 16th Century BC. "In 16th Century BC Egypt, a death sentence was ordered for members of nobility, who were accused of magic. They were ordered to take their own life. The non-nobility was usually killed with an ax"(Burns). During the 18th Century BC, King Hammurabi of Babylon had a code that arranged the death penalty for 25 different crimes although murder was not one of them (Burns).
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.
Capital punishment is the execution of a perpetrator for committing a heinous crime (homicide), and it is a hotly debated topic in our society. The basic issue is whether capital punishment should be allowed as it is today, or abolished in part or in whole. My argument is that:
Markoff, Steven C. "Death Penalty ProCon.org." Death Penalty ProCon.org. N.p., 12 July 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Rubin, P. H. (2009). Don't scrap the death penalty. Criminology & Public Policy, 8(4), 853-859.
---- World Book Online Americas Edition. Ed. Franklin E. Zimring. Capital Punishment. 17 Apr 2002 14 Apr 2002.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.