Capital punishment
Capital punishment and the media Slant on the topics
The media's attitude to executions varies widely depending on the age and sex of the criminal, the type of crime and method of execution.
Middle aged men being executed by lethal injection in Texas for "ordinary" murders hardly rate a paragraph in the US press nowadays and do not get a mention in the U. K. media at all.
However a woman convicted of double murder and being injected on the same thing gets tremendous world wide media attention at all levels. Karla Faye Tucker this so call Christian. Who used a pick axe to kill people before being put to sleep she apologize for her sins and to her family. Equally a man being hanged in Washington or Delaware or shot by a Utah firing squad makes international news. (Wesley Allan Dodd, 1989 arrest in Washington State for the murder of 3 young boys ended his 15 year career of violent sex crimes. John Taylor murder of 6 women while sleeping. And yet women being hanged in Jordan (3 in 1997 and 2 in 1998), the 126 people publicly beheaded in Saudi Arabia during 2000 and men and women executed by the hundred in China for a wide variety of offences make very little news.
Why is this? Do we not care if the execution takes place in a Middle Eastern or Far Eastern Country? Are their criminals somehow perceived as lesser people with fewer rights? The media obviously does not judge many of these stories to be newsworthy although they are aware of them through the news wires from those countries (which is how I know about them). In Singapore when executions were reported, they typically only made a small article and aroused very little public interest. Most Singaporeans however firmly support the government hard line on crime and punishment.
During the late 70's and early 80's when executions were rare in America, every execution, by whatever means, attracted a great deal of media interest and yet now they are frequent (averaging over 1 per week) the authorities seem to have difficulty in finding sufficient official and media witnesses. They also used to attract pro and anti capital punishment protesters in large numbers but these seem to have dwindled down to just a few in most cases.
I tend to think that if executions were televised they would soon reach the same level of disinterest amongst the general public unless it fitted into a &qu...
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...d other serious crimes that we presently have.
2) Re-introduce capital punishment for just the "worst" murderers which would at least be some retribution for the terrible crimes they have committed and would permanently incapacitate them. It would also save a small amount of money each year which could, perhaps, be spent on the more genuinely needy. This option is unlikely to reduce crime levels.
3) Re-introduce the death penalty in the really strict format outlined above and see a corresponding drop in serious crime whilst accepting that there will be a lot of human misery caused to the innocent families of criminals and that there will be the occasional, if inevitable, mistakes.
Sources:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Source Day Month Year:
pages.
KATHY WALT. “Tucker dies after apologizing. Despite legal blitz, woman executed for pickax slayings”Houston Chronicle 2/3/1998 2
Cathianne Werner. Dodd get the death Penalty, Delaware State News 7/8/89 1page
Matt Kelley. Taylor Dies in chamber, Washington Post, 10/9/2000 2pages
Cynthia Morris. Capital Punishment in the United States: A Documentary History
CPUS cited source and page
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS Introduction: Throughout this discussion, I will debate and analyse the ideas I have collected from my research. My discussion is separated under sub headings which will allow me to form a better understanding of how capital punishment is viewed, which will help me in reaching a possible answer to my question. Firstly, I am going to be discussing two very well known case studies. Case studies: The two case studies I have picked to focus my research on are: Derek Bentley who was the last man executed in Britain along with Ruth Ellis who was the last woman executed in Britain.
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.
The American public has consistently favored the use of the death penalty. Although anti-capital-punishment groups in the 19th century won some victories in slowing down the drive for death-penalty laws, most of their successes were short-lived. By the early 20th century, executions were common and widespread, reaching record numbers by the 1930s and 1940s, when more than 100 people were executed each year. But as public and official confidence in the effectiveness and fairness of capital punishment began to wane in the 1960s, the number of yearly executions dropped to the single digits. By the early 1970s, there was an unofficial end to executions in the country.
One such solution is the establishment of moral superiority of our criminal justice professionals over our ordinary citizens. It also discussed the decriminalization of victimless crimes, so that our prisons have more room for violent offenders. Another possibility discussed in this section was the equal distribution of wealth to allow youths access to better schooling and more, realistic, opportunities for the lower class to move up in society. In addition to providing possible solutions it also addressed the reasons that these solutions would not be feasible, mostly that these recommendations would create too much competition against the
In order to mediate everyone’s views I believe the current situation should be slightly altered. The first thing that should change is the punishment facing murderers and rapists. Currently, 1st and second degree murder charges are have a minimum sentence for life in prison if charged. But for sexual assault, it ranges from 6 months to a max 25 years in imprisonment. Sexual assault, especially aggravated sexual assault deserves to be punished with harsher sentences. There should be fines as well as to compensate the victim and pay for reparation charges. Victims will usually face severe trauma and will need to have counseling done in order to once again feel comfortable and safe. As people believe that the death penalty is most needed for crimes such as murder and rape, there should be harsher environments in where they go to jail. Now, I not advocating abuse or cruel and unusual punishment but a system where these types of criminals will be further punished in order to appease the public, deter future criminals and help society improve could be used effectively. This system would be heavily focused towards paying back society in terms of jobs and labour that could be performed by inmates in exchange for improved
However there are some countries around the globe that still take part in these medieval, horrific punishments. In Iran, if you commit murder, kidnap or rape you will be hanged publicly to show what happens when you do the wrong thing. . Thankfully due to the effect of the medieval period on our lives this is a rare practice and that mankind has developed in their treatment of crime and punishment. As in Australia the death penalty is abolished and the penalty of freedom has taken its place as if you commit murder, kidnap or rape you will be confined to a small space for a long period of time therefore keeping the modern society
It is the firm belief and position here that committing such a crime as murder is punishable by death. Americans should take a position for anyone on death row, to be executed sooner rather than later.
and tension in our country. The controversy in our society is whether the death penalty/capital punishment serves as a justified form of punishment. Justice can be served by inflicting the death sentence for murder.
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.
In any justice system that is flawed and allows bias in certain cases, the death penalty should not be used as a means of punishment because of its irrevocable nature. When I came across Sarah Hawkins’ article regarding the case of Karla Faye Tucker, I was surprised to see the manifestation
Over time capital punishment has been reformed from its original practice. Capital punishment has changed from public hangings to the current state of performing executions in a controlled environment with officials and physicians present. The states stopped preforming public executions due to riots that followed the e...
Detractors of the third option would claim that there would be a surge of death row inmates claiming that they have a mental illness to get out of being executed, but proper tests would be conducted to determine whether an inmate has a mental illness or not. Also, giving inmates a lower sentencing would not necessarily mean that they would get out of prison faster, they could have their sentence changed to life in prison without parole. That way, mentally ill death row inmates would be able to, to some degree, have their mental illness properly manage will they still serve time in prison for their actions that got them there in the first
While one person lays with their wrists circumscribed to the worn leather of the gurney, another person holds two skin-piercing needles. The individual holding the needles is an inexperienced technician who obtains permission from the United States federal government to murder people. One needle is held as a precaution in case the pain is too visible to the viewers. Another dagger filled with a lethal dosage of chemicals is inserted into the vein that causes the person to stop breathing. When the cry of the heart rate monitor becomes monotone, the corrupt procedure is complete. Lying in the chair is a corpse when moments ago it was an individual who made one fatal mistake that will never get the chance to redeem (Ecenbarger). Although some people believe that the death
Have you ever wondered why people are so interested to learn about the suffrage of others? Over twenty-five years, the population of prisoners has nearly sextulped. Reaching about 1.7 million since 1996, which is almost equal to the population to Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the nation (Elliott Currie). All we focus on is how they did it? and why? In other words, many people interpret crime as entertainment, and don’t think about the negative effects taking place in the world or even more that individual. In some cases the innocent are being accused of unlikely punishment but how do they determine? Considerably, the death penalty has been the topic of discussion these past years. This so called “penalty” is becoming the prime consequence in most cases. I think that the use of the death penalty as punishment is wrong because of the psychological effects it has on prisoners, time spent on death row in cases of innocents, and the costly outcome.
Murder should be punished in a manner similar to the way it was committed. A man convicted of a cold-blooded shooting murder such as a drive-by shooting should go before a firing squad. Each man in that firing squad would fire one at a time so the convicted would not know when the angel of death would come for him. A man convicted of strangulation murder should be hung at high noon. A man convicted of a beating death should be slowly beaten until death comes. A Jeffery Dahmer style murderer should suffer dismemberment and decapitation.