Since childhood, we have been taught that the most precious thing in this world is life; therefore murder is the worst of all sins that one could commit. But when it comes to capital punishment, this moral, which has been taught to us since birth, becomes arbitrary. This is where we as humans have failed. Capital punishment is simply the taking of a human life sanctioned by the state. How is that any different from simply murdering someone? There is no reason for the death penalty to be an option, even in particularly heinous crimes, when the alternative of life in prison without parole is on the table. Capital punishment is seen by many of its defenders as necessary due to the fact that it is the ultimate warning for criminals. People fear …show more content…
Based on a statistic from the Death Penalty Information Center, in the past 40 years, 140 people have been exonerated from and freed from death row (Innocence and the Death Penalty). Exoneration means that each and every one of the men and woman who were release had their convictions over turned, or were given an absolute pardon by the government based on new evidence of innocence. That is 140 men and woman who could have lost their lives unjustly at the hands of the government. This number could pail in comparison to the people who were actually innocent but lost their lives in the end anyways. Defendant of capital punishment claim that “No system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof” (Top 10). The world is an imperfect place, and the justice system can sometimes fail society, but does that mean people show pay with their own lives? The alternative to capital punishment is life without parole; a viable option that now sits on the table in place of capital punishment, and one that should be used to save innocent
There have been cases where inmates suffer greatly when injected with the deadly concoction. In the guide, “From Critical Thinking to Argument” Zachary Shemtob and David Lat described a case where an inmate showed signs that he was in agonizing pain after being injected with the mixture. Lat and Shemtob wrote, “When another Georgia inmate, Roy Blankenship, was executed in June, the prisoner jerked his head, grimaced, gasped, and lurched, according to a medical expert’s affidavit” (62). Could you imagine being a witness to that? It makes the belief that capital punishment is even more wrong than it was before. Additionally, our eighth amendment is supposed to protect us from cruel and unusual punishment. Blankenship was certainly not given that right. Our government needs to realize that the death penalty extinguishes our protection from cruel and unusual
Marshall and Essig come to an agreement when talking about the death penalty specifically. They both believe that it is unconstitutional, unfair, and ineffective. In Essig’s article, he uses examples of prisoners who sought to have a more painful death in order to highlight the hypocrisy of “painless execution.” For example John Byrd, who was a convicted murder in Ohio, specifically requested to be electrocuted rather than the needle itself. The legislature abolished electrocution and forced him to die by lethal injection. Another example is a prisoner named Earl Bramblett who declared: “ I am not going to lay down on a gurney and have them stick a needle in my arm and make it look like antiseptic execution”(Essig, 2003, p. 2). The author mentions both of these prisoners because he wants the reader to visualize the actual brutality of capital
"Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against)." BalancedPolitics.org - Free Balanced, Non-Partisan Discussion of Political & Social Issues for Debate (Pros and Cons - Decision Making Politics). 21 May 2009 .
Radelet, Michael L., updated by the Death Penalty Information Center. Post-Furman Botched Executions. The Death Penalty Information Center
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Sullum, Jacob. "The Death Penalty Is Just." The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA. Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1991. pp. 57-60.
Millett, Frederick C. "End the Death Penalty." 08 2002. Part I: Moral Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty. 16 Nov.
Mappes, Thomas A., Jane S. Zembaty, and David DeGrazia. "The Death Penalty." Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 105-53. Print.
One of the most widely debated and criticized methods of punishment in the United States is the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty is an issue that has the United States quite divided. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount of opposition. Currently, there are thirty-three states in which the death penalty is legal and seventeen states that have abolished it according to the Death Penalty Information Center. There is no question that killing another person is the most atrocious criminal act that one can commit. I am not sure why, but it seems that the United States government is being hypocritical when it says that capital punishment is acceptable because a criminal did murder an innocent victim, and therefore should be killed (Philips, 2013). This is rule is known as the "eye-for-an-eye, and tooth-for-a- tooth theory." Of course, if we used this system all the time, there would be no need for laws. A second argument that some people use to support capital punishment is that the fear of being given the death penalty is going to stop criminals from murdering. How many criminals would murder in the first place, even in a state where there is no capital punishment, if they thought there was a chance of getting caught? Most murderers feel that they have a plan to get away with murder (Philips, 2013). Unfortunately, most are right. In response to this I believe that the United States Bill of Rights in the Constitution prohibits cruel an unusual punishment. There is nothing more cruel or unusual than taking someone’s life.
Colson, Charles W. “Capital Punishment.” The Rutherford Institute. 11 Nov. 2002. 30 May 2010 .
Murder, killing, fatality, and mortality: all words that are associated with the disgrace that is the death penalty. Debated for decades, the death penalty continues to be a prominent topic for discussion across the United States. In 1977, the Death Penalty was reinstated by the use of lethal injection. Now, each state has their own take on the death penalty and on how its rules should apply to the criminal, of whatever crime they have committed, in said state. Have you ever thought about what a death sentence is? If you sentence a man to death for committing a murder aren’t you just a murderer yourself? These questions are frequently argued over, and there is always going to be two sides arguing: pro or anti-death penalty. Although many American’s believe that the death penalty is necessary for people who have done terrible things, the pros of not having the death penalty surpass the cons with factors such as money, mental issues, cruel and unusual punishment, as well as the possibility of wrongful convictions.
“The Innocence List.” Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 8 May 2014.
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.
While we may all want murders off the street, the problem we come to face is that capital punishment is being used for vengeance or as a deterrent. Capital punishment has been used worldwide, not only by the governments to instill fear, but to show that there are repercussions to ones actions. From the time we are born, we are taught to learn the difference between right and wrong. It is ingrained in our brains, what happens to people that do bad things? Capital punishment is renowned for being the worst thing that could be brought amongst ones life.
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013