Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Opinions on the death penalty
Opinions on the death penalty
History of the death penalty
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Can you imagine what it would be like waking up one day in a 60-square-foot cement enclosure telling a guard what you would like for your very last meal? Having to walk down to a room where people get to watch you die? Where you’re bound to a gurney or a chair and then two needles are inserted into your arms. Heart monitors are placed all over your chest by one of the execution team members. The curtain is lifted, and there is a room full of people staring at you. Waiting for you to take your last breaths. First you’re put to sleep with sodium thiopental, so you’re nice and calm in your last few moments. Then, your entire muscle system is paralyzed with pancuronium bromide and your breathing stops. Finally, they stop your heart when they inject …show more content…
While living on death row, they spend 23 hours in a 60-square-foot cell. The inmate gets to spend one hour in the recreation center, a larger cage, but must be shuttled there. Unlike the other inmates, they don’t get the privilege of walking outside with the others, conversing, and “enjoying” the company of the surrounding people. They are deprived of even something as simple as running barefoot through the grass. The only time they may get a chance to talk to another person, besides a guard, is when they exercise; which is done alone, but there may be another inmate in the next recreation cage over. Inmates spend 94 percent of their lives wasting away in their cells. During this time of isolation, they are trying not to go …show more content…
Everyone will always have their own opinion, but over two-thirds of the countries have abolished the death penalty. More than half of the United States public now prefers alternatives over the death penalty as the best punishment. It is not a deterrent; in 2008, 14 states had lower homicide rates at or below national rates without capital punishment. One of the arguments is money, but did you know it is cheaper to keep them alive than it is to kill them. The death penalty would still be more expensive than other alternative sentences, even if appeals were abolished. All the while, this money could be going to resources for crime prevention, mental health treatment, education and rehabilitation, meaningful victims’ services, and drug treatment programs. Execution is not the only punishment we have to give to those who have committed such crimes that we had to sentence them to the death penalty. We don’t have to put them in a 6’ by 8’ cell like the rest of the criminals in a low security prison. We can lock them up in the same 60-square-foot cell just as if they were going to die. 23 hours in solitude, no contact with anyone, none of those “luxuries” the other inmates get, the same routine. That alone is
Some people may consider the death penalty as inhumane. As stated in the article, Naked City, by Rita Radostitz, Texas uses three chemicals in the lethal injection process: sodium thiopental (an extremely short-term anesthetic), pancuronium bromide (which paralyses the diaphragm and other muscles so the inmate is unable to move or speak, even if he is in pain), and potassium chloride (which stops the heart).
In 1986, Warren Hill was sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend, and then was sentenced to death for a deadly prison beating of a fellow inmate in 1990. What is special about Hill’s case is that he has seen the death chamber four separate times. Although it is not uncommon for an inmate to have numerous execution dates, all of Warren’s reprieves were last minute, during his last hour of being alive. One in which he was already strapped to the gurney and heavily sedated. Brian Evans, head of Amnesty International USA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign, states that mock executions are a form of torture under international law. Just imagine being strapped to a gurney, knowing that your life has come to an end. You think of all the good and bad things that have happened in your lifetime, in which you have finally accepted death, only to have that stripped away from
The death penalty is legal in thirty-one states and illegal in nineteen states. There are at least forty-one federal capital crimes in the United States that can be considered or guaranteed with the death penalty. The death penalty should be abolished because it is unlawful to society, humanity, and civilization as a whole. It costs far more to execute a person rather than to keep them in prison for the rest of his or her life. Logically speaking, the death penalty is an illicit and wrongful punishment no matter what the crime. The emotion and anger toward the criminals that commit horrible crimes can overcome what is actually right for society. There are many more opposing factors towards the death penalty than there are supporting ones. Capital punishment is nefarious to say the least and there are other consequences and actions that can be substituted rather than directly executing a person for their actions.
While one person lays with their wrists circumscribed to the worn leather of the gurney, another person holds two skin-piercing needles. The individual holding the needles is an inexperienced technician who obtains permission from the United States federal government to murder people. One needle is held as a precaution in case the pain is too visible to the viewers. Another dagger filled with a lethal dosage of chemicals is inserted into the vein that causes the person to stop breathing. When the cry of the heart rate monitor becomes monotone, the corrupt procedure is complete. Lying in the chair is a corpse when moments ago it was an individual who made one fatal mistake that will never get the chance to redeem (Ecenbarger). Although some people believe that the death
The death penalty isn’t effective in reducing crime; it just continues to grow. Thirteen states do not have the death penalty: Alaska, District of Colombia, Hawaii, Iowa, Main, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. "DEATH PENALTY ARGUMENTS." DEATH PENALTY ARGUMENTS. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. There may be crimes going on over there, we can’t stop the crimes, but we can help reduce it and make the world a peaceful place. Prisoners may be given parole depending on what conditions to place on their release. Parole gives a criminal an option to repent and to have a good behavior. Sometimes parole goes too far. Some criminals tend to take advantage of this opportunity and end up back into prison. Instead of the death penalty, there is life imprisonment; to stay in jail all your life and repent for the bad deeds. This way the criminal may be ashamed of his or her actions. By killing them, they won’t learn anything from this. However, in most cases many people favor the death penalty because they want reparation for the wrongdoing in the victim’s family. In Edward Koch’s, it states “If we create a society in which injustice is not tolerated, incidents of murder- the most flagrant form of injustice- will diminish” (484). Murder is a major issue, but it can be solved from many others options. The
One of the most repetitive and controversial topics discussed in the criminal justice system, is the death penalty. Capital punishment has been a part of our nation’s history since the creation of our constitution. In fact, as of January 1st, 2016, 2,943 inmates were awaiting their fate on death row (Death Penalty Information Center). Throughout my life, I have always been a strong advocate for the death penalty. During the majority of my undergraduate degree, I was a fierce supporter of capital punishment when discussing the topic in classes. However, throughout many criminal justice courses, I found myself in the minority, regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. While debating this topic, I would always find myself sympathetic to the victims and their families, as one should be, wanting those who were responsible for heinous crimes to
For centuries, the death penalty has been used by nations throughout the world. Practices such as stoning, the guillotine, firing squads, electrocution, and lethal injections have all been common practices to condemn criminals who had enacted heinous crimes. In concurrent society, however, capital punishment has begun to be viewed as a barbaric and inhumane. From these judgments, arguments and controversies have erupted over whether or not the United States should continue to practice the death penalty. With advocates and critics arguing over the morality of the death penalty, the reason to why the death penalty exists has been blurred. Because of the death penalty’s ability to thwart future criminals through fear and its practical purposes, the practice of capital punishment should continue in the United States.
The death penalty has been around for millions of years throughout the world. There have been hangings, drownings, crucifixions, and so much more. For the United States, however, the death penalty has been a controversial topic over the last hundred years. Some citizens believe that the death penalty should not be practiced in the United States any longer. Others believe it is a vital aspect of the United States’ society. This topic is controversial all over the United States, and each state handles it differently. This essay will examine each side objectively and also discuss how certain states practice or do not practice the death penalty.
When a person is found guilty in this country, they may either serve a term in prison or be put on death row. On death row, the person awaits their death as a punishment for the crime they committed. The United States remains in the minority of nations in the world that still uses death as penalty for certain crimes. Many see the penalty as barbaric and against American values. Others see it as a very important tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. The death penalty should be abolished because of its financial costs to tax payers, it’s barbaric, and its ineffectiveness.
At present there are five methods of execution. The most commonly used form of execution is by lethal injection. In this method the convict is first injected with sodium thiopental, which puts him to sleep, then he is injected with pavulon, which finally kills him. The next most common method of execution used is electrocution in which the person is tied with leather straps to a chair and electric current of two thousand or more volts is passed through the body. The initial shock of the electricity causes the person’s body to surge forward. The shock burns the internal organs of the person, which leaves them dead. During this process urination, vomiting of blood, change in skin color, and even swelling or burning of the skin may occur. This method of execution is currently used by only eleven states. The third method is gas chamber execution in which hydrochloric acid and potassium is used to kill the convict. One of oldest methods of executions is hanging and last method is by shooting (Loeb). All the five methods are inhumane and cruel. The convict dies within a few seconds. He never gets the time to realize his mistake, repent over it or to correct it. Killing that person does not kill crime. So, I do not see any purpose of the death penalty. Instead, if the convict is given the punishment of life imprisonment, he has the time to realize his mistakes and correct it in some form. It h...
The death penalty is not a fast procedure nor cheap. “Despite extraordinary efforts by the courts and enormous expense to taxpayers, the modern death penalty remains slow, costly and uncertain” (Von Drehle). Not only is the money spent on lethal injections, but also on lawyers. Every trial that involves capital punishment, includes a lawyer, judge, more potential jurors, more witnesses, and more appeals. A lot of money is spent on these things. Some people think that it is more expensive to keep a criminal alive, and that’s actually not true. “In fact, in Furman, Justice Marshall recognized that ‘when all is said and done, there can be no doubt that it costs more to execute a man than to keep him in prison for life”’ (McLaughlin). Even though the death penalty has existed for a long time now, crimes keep
Many criminals would rather be put to death than serve a sentence in prison for the rest of their lives. Crime victims struggle with this everyday because they feel as if criminals had "the easy way out". It is sad to watch victims suffer because a criminal is not getting the justice they deserve. Many people find that the death penalty is inhumane and does not serve justice. This is the reason that many states have made the death penalty illegal. Many states did this because the death penalty was considered to be a cruel, torturous punishment. The death penalty should be made illegal everywhere because it has a negative impact on society and
For decades the death penalty has been a big role for people who go to prison for the major crimes they have committed since the Eighteenth Century B.C. This is more on the side of prisoners who have been on death row. This is a prison section for prisoners who have been sentenced to death. They are kept apart from all other prisoners and are not involved in educational and employment programs because of problems they could start and so on. They also do not let visitors come by and not able to go outside to exercise. They spend the majority of the day in their cells by themselves. The inmates live through the thoughts of when they will be executed and their mental status is brought down due to the anxiety and isolation they are in. The time
executed is a terrifying and gruesome ordeal for everyone. often also overlooked is the extreme mental torture that the person suffers leading up to the execution, especially if they are innocent. I am not a snob. How would you feel if you knew you were going to die? tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.
The death penalty, many may argue that it is right, while others argue that it is wrong. Should the death penalty be abolished? Some of the main issues that arise with the death penalty are that it’s cruel and unusual, expensive, and we’re punishing criminals for killing by killing. Although these are valid arguments, the death penalty shouldn’t be abolished because criminals deserve to be properly punished.