"What says the law? You will not kill. How does it say it? By killing!"
-Victor Hugo, author of Les Misérables
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the practice of killing criminals or accused criminals (Issitt, Micha L.Newton, Heather.) In most Western countries still using this practice, death by lethal injection is most common(“Forms of Execution in the United States”) and in the United States federal capital punishment is mostly used in cases of first degree murder or murder in which the killer meant and planned to kill the victim or victims, but is also used for espionage and treason(Federal Laws Providing for the Death Penalty.) Many other Western countries have banned capital punishment. However most of the United States, including the military and a federal punishment, continue to use this dated punishment, with the exceptions of Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and District of Columbia who have banned capital punishment in their state constitutions(“States With and Without the Death Penalty”.) Punishment by death penalty has been quite controversial as some feel criminals should “pay” the equivalent of the crime they committed, while others feel that death, under any circumstances, is too harsh a punishment for any government to administer. An alternative to the death penalty is life without parole in which the accused spends the rest of their life in prison (“Life without Possibility of Parole”.) Capital punishment should be prohibited as it can too easily kill innocent people, it is used discriminatorily and it is unconstitutional.
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"Life without Possibility of Parole." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.
"Methods of Execution." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Pilkington, Ed. "The Wrong Carlos: How Texas Sent an Innocent Man to His Death." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 16 May 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2014.
ProCon.org. "Death Penalty ProCon.org." ProCon.org. 6 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
ProCon.org. "Top 10 Pros and Cons." ProCon.org. 13 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
"Race to Execution: Cases of Race." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.
"States With and Without the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014.
Witherbee, Amy. "Point: Crime Or Punishment? The Argument Against Capital Punishment." Points Of View: Death Penalty (2011): 5. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 13 Jan. 2014.
Death Penalty Information Center . (2013, Nov. 20). Retrieved from States With and Without the Death Penalty : http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty
Carlos Deluna was an American man who was convicted of first degree murder. Carlos was executed by the state of Texas for the killing of a 24 year old woman at the Shamrock gas station. The victim Wanda Lopez was stabbed multiple times apparently from a buck knife. Wanda Lopez was the attendant of the gas station and the police was senseless and oblivious to the tape at the gas station and only saw when she was giving the murderer the money yelling “You want it? I’ll give it to you. I’m not going to do nothing to you. Please!!!” There were only four eyewitnesses that was nearby when Wanda Lopez was murdered.
..."Justice Is Not Served with the Death Penalty." The Death Penalty. Ed. Jenny Cromie and Lynn M. Zott. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from "The Road to Justice and Peace." blog.nj.com 2 Feb. 2009. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 28 Apr. 2014.
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. .
The death penalty, as administered by states based on their individual laws, is considered capital punishment, the purpose of which is to penalize criminals convicted of murder or other heinous crimes (Fabian). The death penalty issue has been the focus of much controversy in recent years, even though capital punishment has been a part of our country's history since the beginning. Crimes in colonial times, such as murder and theft of livestock were dealt with swiftly and decisively ("The Death Penalty..."). Criminals were hanged shortly after their trial, in public executions. This practice was then considered just punishment for those crimes. Recently though, the focus of the death penalty debate has been on moral and legal issues. The murderers of today's society can be assured of a much longer life even after conviction, with the constraints of the appeals process slowing the implementation of their death sentence. In most cases, the appeal process lasts several years, during which time criminals enjoy comfortable lives. They have television, gym facilities, and the leisure time to attend free college-level classes that most American citizens must struggle to afford. Foremost, these murderers have the luxury of time, something their victims ran out of the moment their paths crossed. It is time this country realized the only true justice for these criminals is in the form of the death penalty. The death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.
"Death Penalty (Pros & Cons, Arguments For and Against)." BalancedPolitics.org - Free Balanced, Non-Partisan Discussion of Political & Social Issues for Debate (Pros and Cons - Decision Making Politics). 21 May 2009 .
Attention Graber: Everyone knows that in the United States killing is wrong and if you do kill you get punish for it. Holly Near an activist tells us “Why do we kill people who are killing people to show that killing people is wrong?”
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the legal authorization of killing someone as punishment for a crime they committed. The death penalty is legal in 32 states of the 50 states in the United States and ever since 1976, the United States has performed 1379 executions. For many years, there has been a serious controversy regarding the death penalty. It is often questioned whether the death penalty should be continued or abolished. The death penalty should be abolished because it is unconstitutional, costly, immoral, and can kill innocent people who were wrongly accused.
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013
Since the 1700’s forms of the death penalty have been used for one reason or another, but today some disagree with this judicial practice. The death penalty is the ultimate punishment imposed for murder or other capital offenses, and in Alabama a capital offense is murder with eighteen aggravating factors. In 1972 the Supreme Court moved away from abolition, holding that “the punishment of death does not invariably violate the constitution” (Bedau, Case against 2). Since 1900, in this country, there have been on the average more than four cases each year in which an entirely innocent person was convicted of murder (Bedau 7) and because of these startling numbers people are against capital punishment. It is a horrible reality to convict an innocent person of a crime and even worse to put this person on death row. There are even more horrific stories, like the one of Roger Keith Coleman, who was executed in Virginia despite widely pu...
It was midnight when it all happened. Tom Peterson was sleeping in bed next to his wife after a tiring day at work, while his two little daughters slept in the next room. Suddenly he was violently awakened by the terrified screams of his wife only to get a glance of a huge man standing over him with a butcher's knife. Tom was stabbed thirteen times, one of his daughters was killed and his wife was severely injured. Now, the Peterson family has just exited the supreme court of justice in which the judge has condemned the murderer of their little girl to the death penalty, for as it turns out the Peterson family had not been the first victim of this murderer.
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.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is how the saying goes. Coined by the infamous Hammurabi’s Code around 1700 BC, this ancient expression has become the basis of a great political debate over the past several decades – the death penalty. While the conflict can be whittled down to a matter of morals, a more pragmatic approach shows defendable points that are far more evidence backed. Supporters of the death penalty advocate that it deters crime, provides closure, and is a just punishment for those who choose to take a human life. Those against the death penalty argue that execution is a betrayal of basic human rights, an ineffective crime deterrent, an economically wasteful option, and an outdated method. The debate has experienced varying levels of attention over the years, but has always kept in the eye of the public. While many still advocate for the continued use of capital punishment, the process is not the most cost effective, efficient, consistent, or up-to-date means of punishment that America could be using today.
The heaviest punishment towards convicts is death penalty in law. It means to atone for an offense is dead. Of course, it will not execute for every criminal. Death penalty is only for felons. For example, a people who murdered someone would not get the death penalty. The death penalty is for murders who related to the smuggling of aliens or committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting. Sometimes, however, the felons also can avoid the death because some countries (or actually states) don’t allow death penalty. Then, what decision would the convict get? It is a life sentence, which means the prisoner should be in a prison until he or she dies. However, it is not good idea to keep felons. Death penalty should be allowed and get more active because life sentence is costly, unsafe, and insincere for a victim and the family.
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.