Capital Punishment is Too Lenient for Sick and Vile Criminals
I always considered the death penalty as an issue which I never had to
concern myself with. First of all I'm not
planning to commit any vial crimes, and I don't think anyone I care about has
evil plans either. Secondly, I've never been conscious or concerned with the
lives of criminals. When we began speaking on the subject, I thought we were
only going to talk about the institution of racism in capital punishment, and
was quite unaware of the feeling this subject would arouse in me. Needless to
say, I have formed some opinions on the issue which confused even me.
I always considered myself pro-capital punishment. I was of the mind
that if someone killed me, I would like my death avenged, but pondering on the
issue of cultural differences has made me doubt my prior convictions. First of
all, I am against the use of the lethal injection. I understand that it is
cleaner, but if the law wants to inflict death as a punishment, it must
understand that death is not a pretty thing. Criminals are painlessly put to
sleep, and die in the same manner that Dr. Kavorkian's patients choose.
Personally, if I was faced with the option of living the remainder of my life in
isolation, perpetually haunted by pain and images of terror, I would absolutely
chose to die by lethal injection. There is no true punishment in this method,
except the fear of going to hell, which I strongly doubt is of much concern to
most convicts on death row.
Assuming that the judicial processes which convict these individuals
are legitimate, the only common bond within this group is that they are all
mortal, and hold no respect for human life. These delinquents are on death row,
because they have committed a crime of such ghastly proportions, that society
has deemed them unfit to live. They deliberately and nonchalantly depraved
another human of their life. They emphatically partook in reprehensible malice
of inhuman dimensions, never bothered by their conscience. They are sick and
vile individuals who do not acknowledge social conventions such as religion and
the law. They have broken the law, and in leaving it they removed themselves
from the protection of the law. The 8th Amendment should no longer apply to
these sick dements who deserve none of my compassion. Yet, the bleeding hearts
continue to defend them and oppose capital punishment because it is too cruel.
In an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Roman Catholic church vented its
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
The whole system of racism is beneficial to white people in ways that Peggy McIntosh proposes in her article “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack”, whether it was done unintentionally or intentionally. In this article she states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (McIntosh 351). Dr. Tatum does understand though that blacks cannot be racists for they are in a oppressed state and are just caught up in the historical and standardized ideals of racial prejudice. She states “They know how to be black. They have absorbed the stereotypical images of black youth in the popular culture and are reflecting those images in their self-presentation” (Tatum
These are the facts that kill the pros arguments; the death penalty does not deter people from committing murder, and actually in a strange twist of logic death penalty states have higher homicide rates then non death penalty states. Most people believe that it is cheaper to sentence people to death, wrong again. The following states that have reported higher costs for the sentence of the death penalty verses life without the possibility of parole are, Texas, Kansas, Maryland, California, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. These are the facts that strengthen the cons arguments; there is undeniable proof that all methods used to carry out the penalty of death can cause the offender to suffer in a cruel and unusual way. There is a disparity in sentencing towards minorities for the death penalty, “defendants convicted of killing a white person were 4 times more likely to be sentenced to death then if they had killed a black person” (Stull, 2012). If our sentencing of the death penalty was fair and not racist, then each state that has the death penalty should have around the same number of people given that sentence for a set number of people living in that state. Yet, “82% of the 900 executions performed in the U.S. were carried out by only ten states with Texas and Virginia accounting for more than half of those executions” (ACLU, n.d.) that’s not
In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Petrucio recognizes, respects and desires Katherine’s strength of character. Petrucio is a clever man who sees beyond facades because he uses them himself. (II, i 46) (II, I 283 - 89) He is stimulated by Katherine’s sharp tongue and harsh actions. He proves this many times throughout the play.
In chapter 5 of Images of color, images of crime author Peggy McIntosh refers to White privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that can count on cashing in each day, but about which 'meant' to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks. It is apparent that white people receive unearned advantages and benefits that are not accessible to people of color. In fact, how can someone even question that the fact that people of color are treated differently than Whites, when African Americans constitute a significant portion of individuals who are incarcerated today. Here is an example of an experience that I had a few years ago that made me realize that I was treated differently because I was not white. I worked at the Ymca for about three years at a summer camp, which was predominantly white. I loved working there, but I kept to myself because I was treated differently from my co-workers. In fact, the white individuals that I worked with would constantly ma...
Lately, it would be difficult to find a person who speaks in the elaborate way that nearly all of Shakespeare’s characters do; we do not describe “fortune” as “outrageous” or describe our obstacles as “slings and arrows,” neither in an outward soliloquy or even in our heads. Lately, people do not declare their goals in the grandiose fashion that members of royal family of Thebes proclaim their opposing intentions: Antigone’s to honor her brother and Kreon’s to uphold his decree. Lately, people do not all speak in one unified dialect, especially not one that belongs specifically to the British upper class; Jack and Algernon’s dialogue is virtually identical, excepting content. Unlike the indistinguishably grandiose, elaborate, fancy way characters speak in Shakespeare’s plays, Antigone, The Importance of Being Earnest, and other plays written before the turn of the twentieth century, more recently written plays contain dialogue that is more unique to its speaker. This unique dialogue indicates a change in the sort of characters which drama focuses on which came with a newly developed openness to those who are different from us. Moving away from recounting tales of nobility, royalty or deities brought the lives of a common, heterogeneous populace to the stage and, with these everyday stories, more varied speech patterns.
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
The death penalty is racist, it punishes the poor, it causes the innocent to die, it is not a deterrent against violent crime, and it is cruel and unusual punishment. More than half of the countries in the world have already abolished the death penalty and the U.S should abolish it too. It is wrong and cruel. Some states in the U.S still hold the death penalty because they think it will keep U.S citizens safe, but we can just keep the murders in a separate patrolled jail. Abolish it and we may save the lives of the people that may have been executed innocent.
While racism is usually more easily recognizable by way of comments, social isolation and stereotyping, there is another divide that many don’t recognize and that is white privilege. White privilege, also referred to as white skin privilege, is when white people are granted certain rights, privileges, positions, courtesies, etc.…over those of a different race. This is often seen in political, educational and social environments. This impacts social inequality by adding to the existing differences in social experiences and/or statuses that results in people having unequal access to valued resources, services, and positions in society (Kerbo, 2012). Throughout history white privilege has suppressed the advancement of African Americans.
There is one simple reason why I support the death penalty: because I do not want people who have committed senseless, malicious, violent crimes against innocent people to be allowed to remain in my society, locked-up or not. I want them to die for their sins.
The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy and is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. According to Hugo A. Bedau, the writer of “The Death Penalty in America”, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used since ancient times for a variety of offenses. The Bible says that death should be done to anyone who commits murder, larceny, rapes, and burglary. It appears that public debate on the death penalty has changed over the years and is still changing, but there are still some out there who are for the death penalty and will continue to believe that it’s a good punishment. I always hear a lot of people say “an eye for an eye.” Most people feel strongly that if a criminal took the life of another, their’s should be taken away as well, and I don’t see how the death penalty could deter anyone from committing crimes if your going to do the crime then at that moment your not thinking about being on death role. I don’t think they should be put to death they should just sit in a cell for the rest of their life and think about how they destroy other families. A change in views and attitudes about the death penalty are likely attributed to results from social science research. The changes suggest a gradual movement toward the eventual abolition of capital punishment in America (Radelet and Borg, 2000).
I must admit that before I began taking this class I took for granted how much racism still exists in this country. I have started to put more thought in to the way the world really is, the topics discussed in class have started to catch my interest. When I first started reading the Tatum book I was mad when I read her version of the word “racism”. I thought to my self “I personally have never held down the black race, what does she mean?” As I progressed in the book I was starting to understand what she meant about the system of advantages that white people are given. I also understood this better when I read Elizabeth Munich’s list of examples of how there are advantages to being white. I couldn’t help agreeing with her argument based on what I have seen in my life so far. I have seen blacks harassed in stores and denied housing. At the time I simply felt it was too bad and forgot about it. According to Tatum I was practicing “passive racism” and I agree with her on that. I have never done anything to try and change the system and I do reap the advantages of being white whether or not I like it. I believe that reading this book has opened my eyes to how much racism still exists in this country that claims to uphold equal rights. Another argument that Tatum discusses is how everybody is prejudiced in one way or another. I also believe this is true, almost everyone I know has made a racist joke or laughed at one at least. I believe that this is because of th...
The media is a dominating aspect of American culture. The way the media depicts crime and criminal behavior has an affect on the way society views crime and criminals. Television series such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and countless others, have become very popular in our society today showing that our culture has an immense interest in crime. It is clear that there is a fascination with criminals and why they do the things they do. To analyze the way crime dramas represent crime and criminal behavior, I completed a content analysis of one episode of Criminal Minds. The episode I chose was season one; episode eight, which first aired in 2005, titled ‘Natural Born Killer’.
In higher education, diversity has many meanings and even more implications. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines diversity as, “social inclusiveness - ethnic variety, as well as socioeconomic and gender variety, in a group, society, or institution” (Soukhanov, 1999). As important as diversity is tolerance. Encarta World English Dictionary defines tolerance as, “acceptance of different views - the acceptance of the differing views of other people, e.g. in religious or political matters, and fairness toward the people who hold these different views” (Soukhanov, 1999). The following is a definition of diversity in higher education, description of the diversity of the students and staff of WGU, and how WGU addresses tolerance university-wide.
When remarking on the issue of capital punishment, Henry Ford was quoted as saying that “[c]apital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty”(“Henry Ford”). His comment, while not saying that capital punishment and charity does not have the right idea about how to deal with the issues that plague societies, it does say that it does not properly address the issue so that it can be completely solved. While portrayed as the solution for to stop those thinking about committing serious offenses, this does not seemed to be the case at all. Capital punishment does not deter nor solve the issues that it is meant to deal with and instead creates more. In this paper, it will go over a brief history of capital punishment, the current state of capital punishment in the United States and what the outlook for it is.