Against Capital Punishment

1261 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Write yours views for or against the capital punishment

Against Capital Punishment

What is the true value of a human life and how can one trade it for another? Isn’t it said repetitively in religion and government that each life should be treated equally? Then, how are we allowed to condemn a person to death? How can we make abortion illegal but capital punishment legal in certain circumstances? No matter what way you look at it capital punishment is murder. If each year there is about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed imagine how many of those people are actually innocent?

Whenever the government decides to sentence a criminal to death they always seem to forget that the death affects other people related to the person. Families can be ripped apart with siblings or parents being put on death row. One mother, Barbara Lewis, stated that “My family has lost several members to unexpected violence. Somehow, we were always able to bury our dead and find a way to keep going. Yet nothing we experienced prepared me for having a son on Death Row, unfairly convicted of capital murder. With the death penalty, you feel such agony knowing that people you trust, people you work with and live next door to, think it’s fine to take the life of your kin. (Not In Our Name: Murder Victims Families Speak Out Against the Death Penalty: Journey of Hope…from violence to healing: (Wilmington, Delaware)

All human life is sacred and every person’s right to life must always be respected. The sacredness of human life can never be forfeited by human misconduct. (The Gospel of Life and Capital Punishment: A Reflection Piece and Study Guide Prepared by the California Catholic Conference of Bishops 1999) Therefore, if all human life is sacred as it says then can we simply kill someo...

... middle of paper ...

...ife has been taken or let both lives be lost. It makes sense that the church would be for sparing the life of the murderer because at least one life is being saved but then we have to put ourselves in the shoes of the victim’s family members and consider how they feel too. If each year there is about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed imagine how many people that affects?

Also, consider those families that know the criminal is innocent but the government won’t listen so they can only watch and see that person die? How would you feel if you were on of them? There isn’t much we can do except try to keep in mind the amount of people capital punishment indirectly affects and try to support them in making capital punishment be a thing of the past. Maybe one day we can live in a peaceful world with no need for it but it’s up to us to make it happen.

Show More
Related

  • Dead Death Closure

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the movie Dead Man Walking, Earl Delacroix, the father of a murder victim, is seen at the funeral of the murderer, Matthew Poncelet, after his execution. While there, he says that he hasn’t found the peace he thought he would have after Matthew was executed and that his heart was still filled with hatred (Dead Man Walking.) This is the case for many families, capital punishment may give the impression that the murder victim’s family gains closure from the execution of the murderer, but that is rarely the case; even years after the execution has taken place, some family members of the victim suffer from unresolved grief and the murderer’s family is also affected in a negative manner. Capital Punishment is often viewed as the “right” option to put the families out of their pain and suffering, but in many cases, it’s just not effective in providing closure for the families and might make things worse; therefore, it should not be a valid reason for execution.

    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

  • The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Case Against Capital Punishment

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    This country is determined to prove that killing someone under certain circumstances is acceptable, when in all reality there can be no rationalization for the taking of another human life.  Killing is murder.  It is as simple as that.  There have been so many different controversies surrounding this debate that often, the issues become clouded in false statistics and slewed arguments.  The basic fact remains that killing is morally and ethically wrong.  This fact does not disappear by simply changing the term "murder" to "capital punishment".  The act is still the taking of a life.  On these grounds, the death penalty should be abolished.

    Read More

  • Is the Death Penalty Cruel and Unusual Punishment?

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    Take into consideration that the Constitution states that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can not be taken away without due process. The offenders committing the brutal, heinous crimes have not applied this right to the victims of their crimes. Why should the government take their rights into consideration when the victims rights meant so little to them? People always put forth the idea that killing is wrong in any sense, yet they don’t want to punish the people that commit the crimes. If a person is so uncompassionate for human life and not care what happens; are sick enough to harm someone else, they should also pay the price with their lives.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Essay: Christian Opposition

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is our belief as Christians that the imposition of the death penalty in today's society is an attack upon the inviolability of human life and an affront to human dignity. Our opposition to the death penalty is also an affirmation of the sacredness of all human life and an appeal to all for greater individual and societal efforts for a more humane and just society.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Ethics of Capital Punishment

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although criminal justice is supposed to protect the citizens in the surrounding areas, sometimes it can be a dangerous way for miscommunication to occur and things to be done or said wrongfully. The death penalty is an example of this incidence. To those that support the death penalty, capital punishment is in lines with the U.S. Constitution while simultaneously providing equity and justice to all; the death penalty is also more cost efficient than alternative sentencing. Whereas those that oppose the death penalty regard it as a form of unjust, ineffective, and immoral punishment.

    Read More

  • The Death Denalty, An Annotated Bibliography To The Death Penalty

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Eaton, Judy, Tony Christensen. “Closure and its myths: Victims’ families, the death penalty, and the closure argument.” International Review of Victimology, Vol 20(3).Sep, 2014. : pp. 327-343.

    Read More

  • Against the Death Penalty

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    rights. It is the cold blooded killing of a human being in the name of

    Read More

  • We Need the Death Penalty

    560 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people argue that God is the only one with the right to take away our life. That he was the one that gave it to us and therefore no human should be allowed to decide over someone else’s life. Well, do they stop to think that the killers didn’t care at all that they didn’t have the right to kill the victim? Rarely a killer stops to think before striking. They kill with no mercy, not caring if the victim as a wife or children to support. It is obvious that the killer don’t think that God is the only one with the right to take away life, so let the people use that same right against them and put an end to the senseless killing.

    Read More

  • Value of Life Essay

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human life is full of meaning. As humans, we assign value to many things. However, what happens when we assign a specific value to a human life? This is the issue being presented in the article, “What is a Life Worth,” by Amanda Ripley. The government determines a monetary value to a human life, and it does not appeal to the masses.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Should be Abolished

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Secondly, many believe that capital punishment is right because of the justice given to the victim’s family. These family members feel l...

    Read More

  • In Favor for the Death Penalty

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Against Capital Punishment

Open Document