In Coretta Scott King’s speech “The Death Penalty is a Step Back,” Mrs. King states the death penalty is wrong. Americans believe she is incorrect and that the death penalty should stay because our country has gone through numerous alterations since she wrote her speech. Mrs. King said that the death penalty is unjust, but this is undoubtedly not true. For example, when Mrs. King said that the death is unequal, she said this because the death penalty was once unfair; however, now there are stats that prove this untrue. There are also statistics that state the death penalty prevents murderers from killing again. Also innocent people on death row have numerous times to appeal.
To begin with, why the death penalty should stay, because stats from Mrs. King's time say that most people executed on death row were black, African Americans. This can be proven false by today’s statistics, stats by Death Penalty Information Center show that 43% of people on death row are white, while 42% are African American and 13% are Hispanic and 3% are other (Facts about the Death Penalty). These statistics clearly derails the silly argument that the death penalty is unjust and racist. Another important stat by the
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Death Penalty Information Center states that 55.4% of people executed were white, 34.6 were black African American, 8.3 were Hispanic, and 1.7 were other (Facts about the Death Penalty). This is another powerful point to derail the “unequal” argument. Another major reason why the death penalty should stay is murderers that are departed can't kill again.
Criminals who are sentenced to life in prison still have a chance to kill again. According to Terri Langford’s article “Rookie Prison Guard Killed Escorting Violent Inmate” a man with life in prison murdered a rookie prison guard. “A rookie Texas Department of Criminal Justice guard was beaten to death Wednesday at a northeast Texas prison as he was transporting an inmate with an extensive history of attempted escapes and previous beatings of prison personnel from a day room to a cell.” (The Texas Tribune). This is clear that life in prison is a more deadly route. When the death penalty is enforced on a murderer, that murderer can't end the life of other innocent
bystander. As a final point, some argue that there are way too many innocent people on death row. This is true, and this is terrible. Yet on the other hand, a person on death row has numerous chances to appeal. When a person is sentenced to death, that person can appeal up to nine times before the sentence is enforced. “The direct appeal is an automatic appeal given to everyone sentenced to death.” (Death Penalty Appeals Process). This means when someone is sentenced to death, they get an automatic appeal. “State Post-Conviction This is the second stage of the appellate process. Petitions are first filed with the original trial judge, then appealed to any intermediate courts” (Death Penalty Appeal Process). This is the second stage of appeals. A person who is wrongly accused and sentenced to life in prison has a less chance of proving their innocence than a prison on death row. As previously stated, the argument that the death penalty is unequal, being proven wrong by current day stats. The argument that the life in prison is a safe option is false because murderers can still kill again, example being the Texas prison guard being murdered by an inmate with life in prison. Also, people who are on death row have multiple times to appeal so the chances of an innocent person being put to death is extremely low. People think that when a person is executed that they were innocent. But this is clearly not true. This is why the death penalty should remain in place.
During the TW&E: Life in prison podcast Marvin Olasky interviews another prisoner who is currently serving a life-term in prison. This case study which I briefly researched was a man called Jesus Suttles who is 66 years old. He was convicted of killing his common law wife back in 2002. He claims that prison has saved his life as he hasn’t been able to drink since being put in prison. He claims to be a miserable person but he looks at his terrible situation in a positive way by saying to himself that at least he is still alive. This makes me realise that life imprisonment should replace the use of the death penalty permanently in all countries.
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.
Coretta Scott King was one of the most important women leaders in the world. Working side-by-side with her husband, she took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and worked to pass the Civil Rights Act. After King's death, she founded The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta. Mrs. King traveled around the world speaking out on behalf of racial and economic justice, women’s and children’s rights, religious freedom, the needs of the poor and homeless, full-employment, health care, educational opportunities, and environmental justice.
Another argument against capital punishment is that death sentences are not uniformly imposed as punishment in all cases where a heinous crime has been committed. In his book, Legal Lynching: Racism, Injustice and the Death Penalty, the Reverend Jesse Jackson basically argues that if you are a wealthy, White person, your odds of receiving the death penalty are low, but if you are a poor, African-American or other minority, your chances of receiving a death sentence for the same crime are much higher.
Since 1973 there have been a total number of one-hundred and fifty-one death row executions. (10 Reasons…, 1). Out of all of these executions only eighteen of them have ever had any further evidence to show that the guilty party was innocent. Many people argue that this is enough to make it to where the death penalty should not be used. However, that leaves one-hundred and thirty-three death row executions that have not been proven to have been the wrong person. If each individual that is sentenced to be executed has killed only one person than that is one-hundred and thirty-three people that have been killed. The fact remains that if there were no death penalty executions then there would be one-hundred and fifty-one people that have not been justified by their death. Although having eighteen innocent people put to death because they were wrongfully accused is a terrible thing, it does not even begin to oppose the one-hundred and fifty-one people that were killed because of the hate and fear that causes a person to bring this harm upon other people. Also many of these people have affected more than just one person. They may have killed or harmed multiple people. The people who oppose this are simply stating that the murderers’ lives are worth more than the people that they killed.
Violent criminals will always exist in society and the death penalty will only decrease these numbers gradually, however every violent criminal that does not exists in society makes society a safer place. Placing these criminals in prison with a life sentence does not deter them from committing another crime. This just enables them to plan, plot and proceed with the next murder, escape or worse.
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.
The death penalty, ever since it was established, has created a huge controversy all throughout the world. Ever since the death penalty was created, there have been people who supported the death penalty and those who wanted to destroy it. When the death penalty was first created the methods that were used were gruesome and painful, it goes against the Eighth Amendment that was put in place many years later. The methods they used were focused on torturing the people and putting them through as much pain as possible. In today’s society the death penalty is quick and painless, it follows the Eighth Amendment. Still there are many people who are against capital punishment. The line of whether to kill a man or women for murder or to let him or her spend the rest one’s life in prison forever will never be drawn in a staight.
...already in there for life, there is nothing to stop him or her from killing other prisoners on a spree. The death penalty ensures more safety in that sense, because the prisoner will most likely consider his punishment of life sentence as bad enough and not want anything worse.
Offenders given mandatory life in prison on charges of murder, on average only serve 16 years before being released back into society. One in three of these killers carries out a second murder even under the supervision of the probation officer.1 If we allow murderers to spend life in prison we run the chance of them getting out and killing again. Capital punishment can also deter future perpetrators from committing such a heinous crime, and it will end the prisoner’s suffering by giving them a humane death and give closure to the victim’s family. Without a concrete meaning of “life in prison” we need the death penalty to put an end to the most evil of people.
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).
One of the most repetitive and controversial topics discussed in the criminal justice system, is the death penalty. Capital punishment has been a part of our nation’s history since the creation of our constitution. In fact, as of January 1st, 2016, 2,943 inmates were awaiting their fate on death row (Death Penalty Information Center). Throughout my life, I have always been a strong advocate for the death penalty. During the majority of my undergraduate degree, I was a fierce supporter of capital punishment when discussing the topic in classes. However, throughout many criminal justice courses, I found myself in the minority, regarding the abolishment of the death penalty. While debating this topic, I would always find myself sympathetic to the victims and their families, as one should be, wanting those who were responsible for heinous crimes to
Americans have argued over the death penalty since the early days of our country. In the United States only 38 states have capital punishment statutes. As of year ended in 1999, in Texas, the state had executed 496 prisoners since 1930. The laws in the United States have change drastically in regards to capital punishment. An example of this would be the years from 1968 to 1977 due to the nearly 10 year moratorium. During those years, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment violated the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, this ended in 1976, when the Supreme Court reversed the ruling. They stated that the punishment of sentencing one to death does not perpetually infringe the Constitution. Richard Nixon said, “Contrary to the views of some social theorists, I am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes.”1 Whether the case be morally, monetarily, or just pure disagreement, citizens have argued the benefits of capital punishment. While we may all want murders off the street, the problem we come to face is that is capital punishment being used for vengeance or as a deterrent.
"Common sense, lately bolstered by statistics, tells us that the death penalty will deter murder... People fear nothing more than death. Therefore, nothing will deter a criminal more than the fear of death... life in prison is less feared. Murderers clearly prefer it to execution -- otherwise, they would not try to be sentenced to life in prison instead of death... Therefore, a life sent...
If a criminal is sentenced to life in jail, then the cost of their imprisonment would be many times this. In the USA, the average cost per prisoner annually in jail is $29,000. The cost of the drugs used for the lethal injection is believed to be $86.08. This is far less than the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail, and would save the government money that could be used to try and make the community a better and safer place. Secondly, many believe that capital punishment is right because of the justice given to the victim’s family.