The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

1578 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Pros and cons of the death penalty

Since colonial times, approximately 13,000 people have been put to death using the death penalty? How do we know if any of those people were actually guilty? The Bills Of Rights outlines our rights as Americans in the United States. According to the 8th Amendment, there should be no excessive bail or fines nor there any kind of cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. Well that being said does that not go against what the death penalty is and what our 8th amendment stands for? How do you stand? In this paper I will list the reasons on why we should get rid of the death penalty which could really change how you feel on the how you stand. When people ask what reasons should we not have the death penalty the first reason that comes to mind is that it is immoral to what the United States stands for. Now you may ask who is this immoral to. In order to answer that I must define what immoral means, immoral means, according to Webster’s Dictionary, not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social. As stated in the previous paragraph the 8th amendment says no cruel or unusual conduct, is it not immoral to kill someone? Would that not be immoral to the United States by going against out rights? There are many cases in which the person that committed the crime could have been deemed, “correctable”. This meaning that there are many professionals that could help figure out what went wrong with the person who committed the crime and find ways to correct their behavior, as oppose to “killing them”. As the death penalty continues to be acceptable in the United States, the new idea would be to get “revenge” not “correction”. By getting revenge on the people who commi... ... middle of paper ... ...n’t make a right. If we choose to execute someone for the actions they committed, is that going to bring the victim back? No, “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”. Who knows what the future will hold when it is regard to the death penalty. As long as we continue to carry out executions of inmates on death row, the more money we are spending, billions of dollars of which we could be saving without the death penalty. Which means that could be money that could be going to our school systems or helping with our huge economy deficit. As long as we continue to accept the death penalty in this country the long the phrase, “two wrongs do make a right” will continue to have some meaning to it. All I know is that I don’t want to be in a state that will execute someone to then to later find out that the person who they executed turns out to be innocent. Do you?

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Bryan Stevenson's Close To Death: Reflections On Race And Capital Punishment

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty: A Violation of 8th Amendment

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    Don't you think that putting people to death is brutal? Wouldn't you rather have them stay in prison for the rest of their lives? In fact, it costs far more to execute a person then to keep him or her in prison for life. The EighthAmendment states that it prevents cruel and unusual punishment, and the death penalty is violating it. The Supreme Court case, McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) violates the Eighth Amendment purpose. Therefore, the death penalty clearly defies the Eighth Amendment and shouldn't be used for people who have convicted murder.

    Read More

  • Death Penalty Debate: Gary Graham's Execution

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    An inmate by the name of Gary Graham drew several protestors to a Huntsville unit in the year 2000; they were there in opposition to Graham’s execution. This day finally came after nineteen years on death row and four appeals. With him being a repeat offender he was not new to this side of the justice system, but after being put in prison he became a political activist who worked to abolish the death penalty. People who stood against his execution argued that his case still had reasonable doubt, he was rehabilitating himself, and his punishment would cause major harm to his family. Aside from that you have the advocates arguing that you have to set example for others, so you must carry out the punishment that was given, and while the execution may harm the offender’s family it will give the victims’ families closure for his crimes.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Should Not Be Instituted

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since 1967, a total of 1392 executions have occurred in the United States ("Executions by Year"). What a shocking amount! This staggering number creates questioning on the topic of capital punishment. Is the death penalty really constitutional? Research and study over the topic leads to the conclusion that capital punishment should not be instituted in the United States for various reasons. The death penalty is immoral, unconstitutional, and inaccurate due to human errors.

    Read More

  • Diverse Perspectives on the Death Penalty

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this paper I will ask three people four different questions about their views on the death penalty. The first question I asked was “Why do you feel the death penalty is wrong?” Question number two, “Does the death penalty help protect the public and discourage crime?” Question number three, “Do you consider the death penalty cruel and unusual?” The final question, “Is the death penalty economically justifiable and cost effective?”

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

    1590 Words  | 4 Pages

    The death penalty was around for many years, though we do not really hear much about it today. The death penalty was used as a way of punishment for committing the most serious crimes. This punishment was executed in various ways, all of them leading to the death of the person being executed. However, there are reasons why this punishment is no longer being used today.

    Read More

  • The Controversy Surrounding the Death Penalty

    1121 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many call capital punishment unconstitutional and point to the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution for support. The amendment states that, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines be imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment be inflicted." Those who oppose the death penalty target the 'cruel and unusual' phrase as an explanation of why it is unconstitutional. Since the Framers of the Constitution are no longer with us and we base our nation on the words in which that document contains, the legality of the death penalty is subject to interpretation. Since there is some ambiguity or lack of preciseness in the Constitution, heated debate surrounding this issue has risen in the last ten years.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Death Penalty is very controversial because some people believe is a good Idea while others think is not a good idea at all. Lethal injection has become the preferred method of execution in the United States since the early 80 'sIn the United States the death penalty is used as a punishment for capital offenses. These specifics can vary from state to state, but commonly include first-degree murder, murder with special circumstances, rape with additional bodily harm, and the federal crime of treason. Lethal injection is a process that allows a convict to be put down quickly and painlessly. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not

    Read More

  • Make The Death Penalty Quicker, Cheaper and More Effective

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    The death penalty debate in the United States is dominated by the fraudulent voice of the anti-death penalty movement. The culture of lies and deceit so dominates that movement that many of the falsehoods are now wrongly accepted as fact, by both advocates and opponents of capital punishment. (Sharp) Opponents of capital punishment are extremely outspoken and vehement in their arguments. The American Civil Liberties Union believes the death penalty violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. However, the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment, the authors of the United States Constitution’s Eighth Amendment related “cruel and unusual” punishment to methods used in ages past. The Eighth Amendment was created to outlaw such practices as bur...

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty is Cruel and Unusual Punishment

    1325 Words  | 3 Pages

    The death penalty ?cruel and unusual punishment.? At one time in history around six hundred people were executed, and in those six-hundred eighty of them were innocent but still executed (Thomas 2). Many people say that the death penalty is lawful. They think that if the punishment is carried out by the government and not by one person it is fine, and it is not cruel and unusual punishment (Carmical 2). Yes, the men who constructed the constitution supported the death penalty, but times have changed and so has the constitution. The constitution should abolish the death penalty (Carmical 5).

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Essay - Benefits of the Death Penalty

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    The death penalty has been around since the time of Jesus Christ. Executions have been recorded from the 1600s to present times. From about 1620, the executions by year increased in the US. It has been a steady increase up until the 1930s; later the death penalty dropped to zero in the 1970s and then again rose steadily. US citizens said that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was believed that it was "cruel and unusual" punishment (Amnesty International). In the 1970s, the executions by year dropped between zero and one then started to rise again in the 1980s. In the year 2000, there were nearly one hundred executions in the US (News Batch). On June 29, 1972, the death penalty was suspended because the existing laws were no longer convincing. However, four years after this occurred, several cases came about in Georgia, Florida, and Texas where lawyers wanted the death penalty. This set new laws in these states and later the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was constitutional under the Eighth Amendment (Amnesty International).

    Read More

  • The Ethics of Capital Punishment

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Death Penalty

    623 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Must Be Abolished

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    The death penalty is legal in thirty-two states. I shall argue that capital punishment should be abolished in our country because it is never moral to kill a human being no matter what they have done, because it often costs more money to keep someone on death row than to keep someone in prison for life, because of the men and women who are wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit, and because death is the easy way out.

    Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

Open Document