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Effect of the death penalty on society
Effectiveness of the death penalty
Can the death penalty be effective
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The death penalty is not the most effective form of punishment for criminals. The death penalty is hypocritical; it condemns killing by killing people. Many supporters of capital punishment cite retribution as being a justification for the death penalty; however, no matter what the circumstance, murder is never justified. Ghandi once said “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Two wrongs can never make a right. Capital punishment should be abolished because while even though many supporters of the death penalty claim that it prevents crime, there is no evidence that it has been proven to do so. Also, many people support the death penalty because it prevents criminals from ever being allowed back on the streets to commit further crimes. The death penalty is a preferred method of punishment because it is permanent; however, it should be avoided because it is permanent. There is too much of a possibility that an innocent person could be executed for a crime that they did not commit. An execution cannot be undone. Studies have also shown that the death penalty is a biased method of punishment because disadvantaged people, such as minorities and people of lower social status are more likely to be executed. This is unfair because all people have the same rights and should receive equal and fair punishment for their crimes. An alternative punishment to the death penalty is life without parole; it is just as effective a way to prevent someone committing more crimes as executing them. Supporters of the death penalty also argue that it is cheaper to execute a criminal than it is to keep them in prison for life. However, statistics have shown that the cost of putting a criminal to death, including all of the time and money spent in... ... middle of paper ... ....deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-about-deterrence-and-death-penalty>. Lowe, Wesley. “Pro Capital Punishment Page.” Pro Capital Punishment Page. 22 July 2009. Web. 02 Jan. 2015. . Ornellas, Lori. “Death Penalty Arguments.” Pro-death penalty.com. 03 May 2001. Web. 09 Jan. 2015. . Reggio, Michael H. “History of the death penalty.” PBS. Web. 5 Jan. 2015. . “Should the death penalty be used for retribution?” Death Penalty - ProCon.org. 06 Jan. 2009. Web. 09 Jan. 2015. . Worsnop, Richard L. “Death Penalty Debate.” CQ Researcher 5.9 (1995): 193-216. CQ Researcher. Web. 2 Jan. 2015. .
Many people are led to believe that the death penalty doesn’t occur very often and that very few people are actually killed, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1,359 people have been executed as a result of being on death row since 1977 to 2013. Even though this form of punishment is extremely controversial, due to the fact that someone’s life is at stake, it somehow still stands to this very day as our ultimate form of punishment. Although capital punishment puts murderers to death, it should be abolished because killing someone who murdered another, does not and will not make the situation any better in addition to costing tax payers millions of dollars.
Radelet, Michael L. and Borg, Marian J. “The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates.” Annual Sociology Review. 2000: 43-57. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 November 2013.
Dieter, Richard C. "Innocence and the Death Penalty: The Increasing Danger of Executing the Innocent." DPIC. Death Penalty Information Center, 1 July 1997. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. .
There are over sixty offenses in the United States of America that can be punishable by receiving the death penalty (What is..., 1). However, many individuals believe that the death penalty is an inadequate source of punishment for any crime no matter how severe it is. The fact remains, however, that the death penalty is one of the most ideal forms of punishment. There are other individuals who agree with the idea that capital punishment is the best form of punishment. In fact, some of these individuals believe that this should be the only form of punishment.
Sharp, Dudley. "Death Penalty Paper." Death Penalty Paper. Justice For All, n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
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.
“The Death Penalty: Pro and Con.” Wgbh.org. WGBH Educational Foundation, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
Eliminating the death penalty as a method of punishment will only allow criminals to wreak havoc and chaotic in our community without the fear of death. When a person commits a crime, they are disrupting the order in the community. Justice help restore the disruption of that order. The Death penalty restore social order and give the states authority to maximized retribution for the victims. When the state does not have the authority to maximum retribution, the public may put the law in their own hands. Although, execution may be cruel and inhumane, it is nothing compared to the fate of many victims in the hand of the murderers. The purpose of the death penalty is to provide retribution for the victims and their families. However, retribution is not revenge. “Vengeance signifies inflicting harm on the offender out of anger because of what he has done. Retribution is the rationally supported theory that the criminal deserves a punishment fitting the gravity of his crime” (Pojman, 2004).
Radelet, M. L. & Borg, M. J. (2000). The changing nature of death penalty debates. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 43-61. Retrieved February 7, 2011 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/223436.pdf
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.
Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished for many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also? People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person's life on their hands.
Markoff, Steven C. "Death Penalty ProCon.org." Death Penalty ProCon.org. N.p., 12 July 2014. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York: St. Martin's, 2001. Print.
. Dieter, Richard C. “Cost of Death Penalty and Related Issues”. (2007) Page 4. PDF. Web. 11 November 2012.
Capital punishment is the punishment of death for a crime given by the state. It is used for a variety of crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and treason. Many countries also have the death penalty for sexual crimes such as rape, incest and adultery. The lethal injection, the electric chair, hanging and stoning are all methods of execution used throughout the world. Capital punishment has been around since ancient times; it was used in ancient Rome, and one of the most famous people to be crucified was Jesus Christ. Capital punishment is now illegal in many countries, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, but it is also legal in many other countries such as China and the USA. There is a large debate on whether or not capital punishment should be illegal all over the world as everyone has a different opinion on it. In this essay, I will state arguments for and against the death penalty, as well as my own opinion: capital punishment should be illegal everywhere.