Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

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Recommended: ethics about capital punishment

Capital punishment remains a cause for debate with people continuing to disagree

on what cruel and unusual punishment consists of. Cruel and unusual punishment being

defined as torture or a deliberately degrading punishment, in no way does the death

penalty fall into this category. Having the death penalty in our society deters potential

violent offenders from committing crimes, saves the government money, and guarantees

that offenders will not commit these crimes again. The United States should use the death penalty because it is economical and continues to be a deterrent for potential offenders. Take into consideration that the Constitution states that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can not be taken away without due process. The offenders committing the brutal, heinous crimes have not applied this right to the victims of their crimes. Why should the government take their rights into consideration when the victims rights meant so little to them? People always put forth the idea that killing is wrong in any sense, yet they don’t want to punish the people that commit the crimes. If a person is so uncompassionate for human life and not care what happens; are sick enough to harm someone else, they should also pay the price with their lives.

Violent criminals will always exist in society and the death penalty will only decrease these numbers gradually, however every violent criminal that does not exists in society makes society a safer place. Placing these criminals in prison with a life sentence does not deter them from committing another crime. This just enables them to plan, plot and proceed with the next murder, escape or worse.

The majority of people that commit heinous crimes that call for the death pe...

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...shment: A Defense,” an article in The Death Penalty: Pro and Con written by Ernest Van Den Haag , shares this “Abolitionists appear to value the life of a convicted murderer or, at least, his non-execution, more highly than they value the lives of the innocent victims who might be spared by deterring prospective murderers”(3)

Having the death penalty in our society is not cruel or unusual punishment as it is

not torture nor degrading punishment to those whom have committed the said crimes.

Although no punishment can completely eliminate violent crimes, more

stringent use of the death penalty would help significantly. Society as a whole needs to hold these people accountable for their actions and make an example out of their crimes. Capital punishment remains the strongest moral act that can show society that consequences do exist for these heinous crimes.

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