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I Am Against the Death Penalty
The death penalty is the worst that can happen to a criminal if he is tried for murder, treason, or airplane hijacking. This is a very touchy subject for politicians also. Many politicians will not even speak about it for fear of looking too soft on crime, or, if they are in favor of it they will look too barbaric and uncivilized. A recent poll shows that the American population is split nearly half-and-half on the topic. In the poll, 41% preferred the death penalty, 44% were against it and 15% were unsure (Death Penalty Info). Of the fifty states, thirty-eight states use the death penalty plus the U.S. Government and Military (Death Penalty Info). Twelve states plus the District of Columbia do not use it (Death Penalty Info). From the thirty-eight states that use capital punishment, seven of them, and the U.S. Government and U.S. Military have not executed any criminals since 1977.
I am against the death penalty because of many reasons. I feel that government sanctioned killing is wrong in whatever form it comes, whether that be killing an unborn baby during an abortion, killing an elderly person by euthanasia, or killing a criminal by the electric chair. When I think of the death penalty, an old saying comes to my mind; ?Two wrongs don?t make a right.? I feel this is exactly the opposite of what the government should stand for. There is no way to make up for murder, treason, or airplane hijacking, and many times the criminal ...
The death penalty is a very heavily debated upon topic, especially in the US. I am against capital punishment because it is expensive, targets minorities, and is abused in certain states. There are many alternatives that are less expensive and can keep innocent people from being executed for crimes they didn’t
The death penalty is legal in thirty-one states and illegal in nineteen states. There are at least forty-one federal capital crimes in the United States that can be considered or guaranteed with the death penalty. The death penalty should be abolished because it is unlawful to society, humanity, and civilization as a whole. It costs far more to execute a person rather than to keep them in prison for the rest of his or her life. Logically speaking, the death penalty is an illicit and wrongful punishment no matter what the crime. The emotion and anger toward the criminals that commit horrible crimes can overcome what is actually right for society. There are many more opposing factors towards the death penalty than there are supporting ones. Capital punishment is nefarious to say the least and there are other consequences and actions that can be substituted rather than directly executing a person for their actions.
The death penalty has many supporters and opposes and i would have to say i am one of the opposes because whether they did or didn 't comment the crime . I don 't think it gives us as the people of the united states the right to kill a Man or Woman that does the horrific Crime . I mean don 't get wrong i am a true believer that everyone person is responsible for their actions and that justice needs to be taken. I believe most people think that if they get justice for their loved ones it would solve everything it may for the few minutes. But killing a person for their crime is just not justice Its just revenge for the families they harmed.
Opponents of this position argue that the death penalty is a necessary evil. One of the top arguments is that you must punish offenders to discourage others from committing similar offenses (Radelet 44). Many people also feel that the victim’s families deserve closure. The prisoners have to pay for their crime and deserve the punishment that they get. Using the death penalty helps deal with the overpopulation in prisons. There are not enough resources or space to house prisoners for life. This statement can be true to a certain point. However, when talking about sacrificing one person’s life for the greater good of society, no man should have the authority to end someone’s life. One of the biggest issues that opponents argue is how much the victims suffer if the killer is not put to death. A murderer not only affects the person they kill, but also the victim’s friends and family’s life. They have to live with the grief of losing a loved one. If the killer is not put to death they could get the feeling that someone is out to get them. They will not be able to rest until the killer is tried and executed. Although this side of the argumen...
To this date, Seven hundred and seventy two criminals in the U.S. alone have been
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.
I’m pro for death penalty because I believe that people who go out and are ready to take someone’s live, at that moment they are forfeiting their own right to live. I believe that the death penalty should be used only when the crime is very violent and heinous, but I believe that no individual should go out certain that regardless of how cruel, vicious, or hideous the murder is, they themselves will not suffer the death penalty knowing that their rights will be protected.
The death penalty is mainly known by capital punishment. It is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial degree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence. The actual process of killing someone is an execution. Capital punishment has in the past been practiced by most societies. Currently fifty eight nations actively practice it and ninety seven countries have abolished it. Capital punishment is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states. Positions can vary within single political ideology or cultural region. I am for the death penalty. With the death penalty it allows there to be equal punishment among criminals, and it brings about peace of mind to everyone.
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.
Many who disagree with the death penalty believe it is immoral, discriminates, is very expensive, increases crime, and is only a way to carry out revenge. This, however, is not true. Capital punishment should be legal because it is moral, by not allowing criminals to roam the streets once again. It does not discriminate against those of color or the poor, and is actually less expensive than life imprisonment. The most important reason why the death penalty should be legal is because it deters crime.
The death penalty has been an issue of debate for several years. Whether or not we should murder murderer’s and basically commit the same crime that they are being killed for committing. People against the death penalty say that we should not use it because of that very reason. They also make claims that innocent people who were wrongly convicted could be killed. Other claims include it not working as a deterrent, it being morally wrong, and that it discriminates. Some even claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment. I would like to shed light on the issue and inform everyone as to why we should keep the death penalty and possibly even use it more than we do now.
The death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. People on both sides of the issue argue endlessly to gain further support for their movements. While opponents of capital punishment are quick to point out that the United States remains one of the few Western countries that continue to support the death penalty, Americans are also more likely to encounter violent crime than citizens of other countries (Brownlee 31). Justice mandates that criminals receive what they deserve. The punishment must fit the crime. If a burglar deserves imprisonment, then a murderer deserves death (Winters 168). The death penalty is necessary and the only punishment suitable for those convicted of capital offenses. Seventy-five percent of Americans support the death penalty, according to Turner, because it provides a deterrent to some would-be murderers and it also provides for moral and legal justice (83). "Deterrence is a theory: It asks what the effects are of a punishment (does it reduce the crime rate?) and makes testable predictions (punishment reduces the crime rate compared to what it would be without the credible threat of punishment)", (Van Den Haag 29). The deterrent effect of any punishment depends on how quickly the punishment is applied (Workshop 16). Executions are so rare and delayed for so long in comparison th the number of capitol offenses committed that statistical correlations cannot be expected (Winters 104). The number of potential murders that are deterred by the threat of a death penalty may never be known, just as it may never be known how many lives are saved with it. However, it is known that the death penalty does definitely deter those who are executed. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the alternative to execution presented by those that consider words to be equal to reality. Nothing prevents the people sentenced in this way from being paroled under later laws or later court rulings. Furthermore, nothing prevents them from escaping or killing again while in prison. After all, if they have already received the maximum sentence available, they have nothing to lose. For example, in 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court banished the death penalty. Like other states, Texas commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment. After being r...
I believe that there is a standard when it comes to morality. The basics of that standard includes knowing that murder, rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, larceny, and perjury are wrong. What does it mean for something to be wrong? It means that the majority of human beings can argue that those crimes hurt rather than benefit individuals or a society as a whole. The death penalty can be implemented for any of the crimes listed above when a judge believes that the crime is serious enough. However, the death penalty uses one of the crimes itself; murder. If the government uses the death penalty as a punishment in order to show that murder is wrong, how can they murder and assume it is right? Opponents of this statement could argue that the government has a judicial system in order to uphold the moral code within our society, and that the death penalty honors human dignity by allowing the defendant to control his own destiny. However, I argue that the death penalty objectifies and takes away the humanity of the defendant.
In our society there are many criminals that get away with no punishment for their crimes. Some of these people are walking around our cities with no remorse and waiting to strike again. When you walk down the street and you see a man walking on the opposite direction, you probably don’t think that he could be a cold blooded killer and if someone asks you right this minute if you are pro or con death penalty the answer would most likely be con. Now think about this, imagine that your brother, sister, mom, dad, or anyone you love walks down that same street and comes across this man and you never see that love one again. Some ten days later the police comes to your door telling you that they have found that loved one face down in a muddy bog, having been beaten to death, or perhaps shot or stabbed, or maybe strangle. Perhaps the person you love has been raped, mutilated, or made to suffer greatly before dying. If this were to ever happen to you or someone close to you, would you want that to happen to someone else? Would you allow a cold blooded killer to walk the streets your little brother, sister, son or daughter walks on? I certainly wouldn’t. For this and other reasons is that death penalty should be kept and enforced.
People who commit heinous crimes should not be punished with the death penalty, since it is immoral and unethical considering it contradicts the principles established in every country’s Constitution about not killing. All humans have the right to live no matter what they have committed. The Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that no human has the authorization to kill another living human being. No matter what crime a person commits, authorities should not have the right to execution.