Many people have been taught from birth that killing, stealing, lying and cheating is wrong. Most of us have been taught since a young age right from wrong, but how can we follow that example when our own country does not? If killing is wrong, why do states still allow it in the United States? Capital Punishment is killing; it is taking a human life, and yet we act like it is the perfect punishment or the right thing to do. Just because someone has killed does not mean it is okay to take their life; that just means more murder and more murderers. We might as well call ourselves the murderers. No matter the reason or how bad the crime, taking a life should never be the conclusion, nor a decision even worth considering. Capital Punishment is a cruel and unnecessary punishment; it should be illegal in the United States for multiple reasons.
Capital Punishment is awful and inhumane. The Death Penalty is not only unconstitutional, but it is taking away a human life. It is not right to punish criminals by doing to them exactly what they did to their victim. “The penalty for rape cannot be rape. Those who steal are not punished by being stolen from. We should not, therefore, punish the murderer with death... Capital Punishment is a barbaric remainder of an uncivilized society." (Should the Death Penalty n. pag.) A society that respects life should not also be the one who is taking it. You can not kill a murderer to prove that killing is wrong; that is hypocrisy at its best. One can not believe two things at once; a person either believes killing is wrong or they don’t; there is no in between. It is horrible to be the one to decide whether a person lives or dies, so why do it? Not only is the Death Penalty wrong, but in the situation of...
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Works Cited
Citations
“Abolish the Death Penalty.” Amnesty International. 9 Apr. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
“About the Death Penalty.” National Coalition. European Commision, 9 Apr. 2014. Web. 9 Apr.
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“Case Against the Death Penalty.” ACLU. 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.
“Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty.” OADP. 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
“Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?” ProCon. 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2014
“10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty.” Death Penalty Focus. 4 Apr. 2014. Web. 4 Apr.
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Randa, Laura E. “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the Death Penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print.
Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good. Putting to death people judged to have committed certain extreme Terrible crimes are a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States. in the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in 1977. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard' Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are many.
... clearly support the argument against capital punishment. There can be no justification for the taking of any life, no matter what the transgression. By taking that life we, as society, have chosen to become as monstrous as those whose heinous crimes we abhor.
In conclusion, capital punishment is an unjustifiable act used to punish criminals. The death penalty is not only expensive, but it also lowers our morality. Desmond Tutu once said, "To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." America is meant to be a country that symbolizes justice and the act of the government killing people, regardless of whatever reason, contradicts that. Therefore, the United States should outlaw capital punishment and convert to an alternative punishment, such as life imprisonment without parole, where the criminal can spend the rest of his life locked in a cell and living with what they did, to become the justifiable country it’s known as.
...l punishment as a just and morally sound method of justice. After all, "An eye for an eye" seemed to be a rationale that many embraced as fair. Now there is an era of closer examination of what is truly just and morally ethical, as well as economically sound. A consequence needs to be fair, humane, and effective. Does capital punishment meet these criteria? There are compelling reasons to change the system we have blindly acclaimed. Hopefully we are in the process of implementing a new way of dealing with an age-old dilemma.
The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.
One of the most widely debated and criticized methods of punishment in the United States is the Death Penalty. The Death Penalty is an issue that has the United States quite divided. While there are many supporters of it, there is also a large amount of opposition. Currently, there are thirty-three states in which the death penalty is legal and seventeen states that have abolished it according to the Death Penalty Information Center. There is no question that killing another person is the most atrocious criminal act that one can commit. I am not sure why, but it seems that the United States government is being hypocritical when it says that capital punishment is acceptable because a criminal did murder an innocent victim, and therefore should be killed (Philips, 2013). This is rule is known as the "eye-for-an-eye, and tooth-for-a- tooth theory." Of course, if we used this system all the time, there would be no need for laws. A second argument that some people use to support capital punishment is that the fear of being given the death penalty is going to stop criminals from murdering. How many criminals would murder in the first place, even in a state where there is no capital punishment, if they thought there was a chance of getting caught? Most murderers feel that they have a plan to get away with murder (Philips, 2013). Unfortunately, most are right. In response to this I believe that the United States Bill of Rights in the Constitution prohibits cruel an unusual punishment. There is nothing more cruel or unusual than taking someone’s life.
Andre, Claire, and Manuel Velasquez. “Capital Punishment.” Our Duty or Our Doom. 12 May 2010. 30 May 2010 .
Use of the Death Penalty is inhumane. Most Americans view the death penalty as taking a life for taking a life. Lauri Friedman quotes Pat Bane when he states, “In the aftermath of a murder, a family has two things to deal with-a crime and a death. The death pen...
Capital punishment has been used worldwide, not only the governments to instill fear, but to show that there are repercussions to ones actions. From the time we are born forward, we are taught to learn the difference between right and wrong. It is ingrained in our brains, what happens to people that do bad things. Capital punishment is renowned for being the worst thing that could be brought amongst ones life. It takes away our right to live! This is the strongest impulse that human beings have. So how are we legally able to take this born right away from another? The only justifi...
“The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013
The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime.
20 July 2007. Web. The Web. The Web. 15 Dec. 2013.
The death penalty is inhumane; it is taking away the basic right of human life.
Obviously, capital punishment is ethical and logical, despite what the opposing side may say, capital punishment is actually quite constitutional. The definition of constitutional, according to the Oxford Advanced Dictionary, means “allowed or limited by the laws and guidelines of