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Capital punishment in the united states essay
Capital punishment overview
Capital punishment in america
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Medical Perspectives on the Death Penalty In the study involved in this essay, we consider the medical perspectives on capital punishment, beginning with our own country and then viewing them in other countries where medical developments have recently occurred regarding the death penalty. Following concern about the introduction of an execution method (lethal injection) which threatens to involve doctors directly in the process of execution, the World Medical Association Secretary-General issued a press statement opposing any involvement of doctors in capital punishment. The 34th Assembly of the World Medical Association, meeting in Lisbon some weeks after the issuing of the press statement, endorsed the Secretary-General's statement. The Resolution was revised in Edinburgh in October 2000 and now says: ''Resolved, that it is unethical for physicians to participate in capital punishment, in any way, or during any step of the execution process.'' DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) testing is impacting the death penalty. For what is believed to be the first time in US legal history, DNA testing was conducted which had the potential to exonerate a man posthumously. Ellis Wayne Felker was executed in Georgia, USA in November 1996 after being convicted of rape and murder. Lawyers for Ellis Wayne Felker had gained access some weeks before his execution to the prosecution's files on his case and found undisclosed evidence which had not been subjected to DNA testing. However the execution went ahead on 14 November. Three newspapers and a television network obtained an order under the Georgia Open Records Act to perform DNA tests even though Mr Felker was dead. However the tests reportedly proved inconclusive, neither linking Mr Felker to the death nor clearing him of the crime. In another case in Virginia, USA, DNA testing led to the absolute pardon on 2 October of Earl Washington, 17 years after he was convicted of the rape and murder of a woman. He was not released immediately, however, as the state governor declined to set him free decreeing that he should remain in prison to finish serving a 30-year sentence for a separate burglary and assault conviction. His lawyers contended that had he not been convicted of capital murder, state figures showed that he would have served an average term of 10 to 11 years imprisonment instead of the 17 years he had served. [He was eventually released on parole in February 2001.] Since 1973 over 90 people who had been sentenced to death in the USA have been proved wrongfully convicted; of those, ten were exonerated as a result of DNA testing. A poll conducted jointly by both political parties in 2000 showed that when reminded of cases in which death row inmates had ultimately been released on the basis of DNA evidence, 64% of Americans favoured a temporary halt to executions while steps were taken to ensure that the system worked fairly. A key provision under the proposed ''Innocence Protection Act'' introduced into Congress in June is a requirement that states establish some legal forum in which death row inmates could bring forward exculpatory evidence from DNA testing, even after the expiration of time limits for new evidence and appeals. Rejecting a resolution from the American Association of Public Health Physicians, delegates of the American Medical Association (AMA) attending their annual House of Delegates meeting in June refused to endorse a call for a national moratorium on executions. The AMA decided that the death penalty was not a medical issue but a legal one. However they endorsed more use of appropriate forensic techniques such as DNA testing in capital cases. Despite rejecting the resolution on a proposed moratorium the existing policy of the AMA precluding physician participation in executions remains in place. Lethal Injection in Thailand may be realized soon. In January a bill to change the method of execution to lethal injection was endorsed by the Cabinet of Thailand. The Corrections Department, in order to assess opinions on this change, invited representatives from the Justice Ministry, the Department of Probation, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the National Police Office, the University Affairs Ministry and the Public Health Ministry to a meeting in March to discuss the proposal. However medical officials from the Public Health Ministry refused to discuss the issue of the execution of criminals by lethal injection, deeming the topic to be a gross violation of medical ethics. General support for the proposal however was given by the Justice Ministry, the Department of Probation, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the National Police Office and the University Affairs Ministry. The Public Health Ministry also maintained that - taking into account medical ethics - health professionals could not teach Corrections Department staff how to give lethal injections. Dr Supachai Khunnarattenapruek, Deputy Permanent Secretary and Secretary-General of the Medical Council said the Council wished to distance itself from participating in any debate on the topic. He also rejected the suggestion that organs of criminals be used in transplants, maintaining that the taking of organs ''was not the business of physicians''.
Here Douglass thoughts about Mrs. Auld are quickly changed when he sees “that cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage” (176). Mrs. Auld was no longer that kind-hearted, caring person she was when Douglass first met her. She changed due to the fact that she was now effected by the harsh and horrid reality of slavery.
“DNA Testing and the Death Penalty.” ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union. 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 April 2014.
At the beginning, Benedick’s attitude is negative towards women in general. He swears he will never marry, as he is very critical of women and does not trust any of them not to cheat on him. He seems to oppose with Beatrice in a competition to outwit, outsmart, and out-insult each other. Obviously he has been in some sort of past relationship with Beatrice because when he meets her at the masked ball, she describes him as a selfish pig. We can infer that Benedick has some kind of deep feelings for her because after she insults him he is hurt and says, “Will your grace command me any service to the world’s end? I will go on the slightest errand now to the Antipodes that you can devise to send me on. I will fetch you a toothpick from the furthest inch of Asia . . . do you any embassage to the pigmies, rather than hold three words’ conference with this harpy” (II.i.229–235). This blatantly means that he does not wish to talk to her.
Before, there were no breakthroughs with the opportunity of saving lives. Innovations in medical technology made contributions to correct abnormal heartbeats and save lives by using a defibrillator and modern respirator. Who would know that the rapid discoveries would include successfully giving patients surgical transplants? Furthermore, President Lyndon Johnson implemented an executive policy requiring the usage of medical response trauma teams. Since 1976, this executive order has allowed the widespread use of CPR, and organizations like the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association were founded. “About 6.4 million people now survive angina chest pain each year, while an additional 700,000 people survive a heart attack each year (pg. 15 of Last Rights) Despite these remarkable breakthroughs that help those badly injured, the law becomes vague and allows more opportunities for misinterpretation on defining death. As a result, this could be advantageously used against the best interest of others and the government. “This ten-year mishmash of laws is what led the previously mentioned President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, established by an act of Congress in 1978 , to tackle the first task of defining death.” (pg. 81). The President’s Commission forced the U.S Supreme Court and
...221-225). From this quote, Benedick shows that he does not wish to be mocked by society, in which people believe that they can predict his reactions. Determined to prove society wrong, Benedick also makes the hasty decision to love Beatrice.
In the beginning of the play, Benedick was very rude to all women and claimed that he would never get married. Not only did he argue with Beatrice, the governor's niece, but he also made fun of her cousin, Hero. Act I scene i Claudio, a young soldier, told Benedick that he was in love with Hero. Benedick responded by commenting on how Hero wasn’t good enough for Claudio: “Why i’ faith, methinks she’s too low for a high praise, too brown for a fair praise, and too little for a great praise. Only this commendation I can afford her, that were she other than she is, she were unhandsome, and being no
Near the beginning of his book Frederick Douglas talks about how he was a slave in Baltimore for a Mr. Hugh Auld. At this house Douglass learns that even the nicest of people, such as Mr. Auld’s wife Sophia, turn into very different people due to slavery. When Douglass first meets Mrs. Auld, he describes her as “a woman of the kindliest heart and the finest feelings…none left without feeling better for having seen her.” However, once her husband tells her how to treat slaves and she feels what it is like to be in control of another human b...
The concept of cloning has been around since the 1800’s, although, in the field of scientists, it has slowly been evolving into a vigorously debated topic, throughout the last 3 decades. Cloning is essentially defined as the process of artificially reproducing genetically identical organisms. Scientists all around the world, through research, are still learning more about the topic, but the fascinating process officially gained awareness as a result of a 1986 experiment conducted by Ian Wilmut, scientist at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. The project was essentially centred around a sheep referred to as “Dolly” that was cloned in a lab using a frozen mammary cell from another adult sheep. At the time, this was a significant milestone in the field, as all cloning up to this point had been done using embryos, and never actual adult cells. The Dolly experiment served as a catalyst for additional intensive research, which consequently resulted in a myriad of new benefits and uses for cloning. From that point on, we have made many advancements, and currently, in our modern day society, scientists are more capable of putting their research into practice, with the assistance of the constant improvements in technology. The method of cloning has already been implemented as a solution to infertility, and plants and animals can be cloned for the purpose of creating new possible food alternatives. The main benefit of cloning revolves around health, as lives can be saved or prolonged, thanks to a theoretically simple process known as organ transplantation, where for example, the parts from a cloned pig can be used to replace those malfunctioning, in a human. If scientists keep doing research on the topic at the current rate, and conducting e...
Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death. The ethics of PAS is a continually debated topic. The range of arguments in support and opposition of PAS are vast. Justice, compassion, the moral irrelevance of the difference between killing and letting die, individual liberty are many arguments for PAS. The distinction between killing and letting die, sanctity of life, "do no harm" principle of medicine, and the potential for abuse are some of the arguments in favor of making PAS illegal. However, self-determination, and ultimately respect for autonomy are relied on heavily as principle arguments in the PAS issue.
The Death Penalty Should Be Enacted In Illinois Due to the recent releases of newly exonerated Death Row inmates, individuals and organizations are calling for a moratorium- a cooling off period for state executions. The cases of just a few inmates makes it apparent that this would be a necessary step to save innocent lives. After 17 years in prison, Illinois Death Row inmate Anthony Porter was released from jail after a judge threw out his murder conviction following the introduction of new evidence. This reversal of fortune came just two days before Porter was to be executed. As reported in USA Today, Porter's release was the result of investigative research as conducted by a Northwestern University professor and students. The evidence gathered suggested that Porter had been wrongly convicted. Were these new revelations and the subsequent release of Porter a lucky break or a freak occurrence? Not likely, reports DeWayne Wickham, also of USA Today. He points out that since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, of those sentenced to death, 490 people have been executed while 76 have been freed from Death Row. This calculates into one innocent person being released from Death Row for every six individuals that were executed. This figure correlates with the 1996 U.S. Department of Justice report that indicates that over a 7-year period, beginning in 1989, when DNA evidence in various cases was tested, 26% of primary suspects were exonerated. This has led some to conclude that a similar percentage of inmates presently serving time behind bars may have been wrongly convicted prior to the advent o...
There are several things that are included in OCD, including its symptoms, treatments and its involvement with the brain. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder recognize their symptoms to be ego-dystonic which are thoughts one would not usually have and not within one’s control but is still a product of one’s mind. The two common symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions take the form of persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts. An anonymous writer wrote about his/her images, “These images included hitting, stabbing, poisoning and shooting people, even the people I loved the most…” However, compulsions are either repetitive physical behaviors or mental thought rituals that are performed over and over again to help relieve a person’s anxiety. Over time compulsions can become more elaborate and time- consuming. Shirley Brinkerhoff mentions in her book Amanda, a high school girl facing OCD, said, “Then I started having to count my steps. Like, 387 steps to the bus stop, and if missed...
Singer, Julie A. "The Impact Of Dna And Other Technology On The Criminal Justice System: Improvements And Complications."Albany Law Journal Of Science & Technology 17.(2007): 87. LexisNexis Academic: Law Reviews. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
At some point in the story, most major characters had a moment where I felt as if it was truly summing up the character or their feelings, a moment where I truly felt as if I was seeing a depth in the character that was unknown before. Such as Jake Pickering, Julia Huff’s supposed husband-to-be, and his very unanticipated tattooing of JULIA across his chest – in defiance of Simon’s interference and his assertion of ‘owning’ Julia and her love, a very desperate act by a desperate man. Julia herself had many of these defining moments, but what I felt to be the most striking was her initial reaction the present as Simon took her back into his time. Julia’s alien-like wonder at such things as television, and the shortness the skirt Simon bought for her (knee-high). But it is how easily Julia adjusts to the newness all around her, and her innocence and horror at the violence we tolerate that truly made it a very prominent scene. It was a moment to reflect upon how we (North America especially) so easily accept the violence around us. As for Simon, he had many moments with much depth as well, but I found myself feeling very compassionate towards him when he returned back to 1882 for around the third or fourth time.
Capital punishment has been a controversial topic in association to any person condemned to a serious committed crime. Capital punishment has been a historical punishment for any cruel crime. Issues associated to things such as the different methods used for execution in most states, waste of taxpayers’ money by performing execution, and how it does not serve as any form of justice have been a big argument that raise many eyebrows. Capital punishment is still an active form of deterrence in the United States. The history of the death penalty explains the different statistics about capital punishment and provides credible information as to why the form of punishment should be abolished by every state. It is believed
The Death Penalty is starting to become natural in the United States. More and More states in the U.S are starting to use the death penalty, yet they don't understand that it is a cruel punishment. While some believe in the saying "Eye for an Eye" they believe the death penalty should be in affect because they believe that the pain will be over if the person that caused it is gone. One of the executions from the death penalty is Lethal Injection. That procedure requires a physician because the prison guards aren't trained in medicine to know how to properly inject someone. Physicians shouldn't be allowed to play a role in an execution.