Strapped on to a large chair, electrical conductors positioned all around my head and wrists, I am seconds away from the end of my life. I am petrified, roar of the jury surrounding me as they witness me fall to my doom. It is unfair for me to die like this, even as a criminal. This is a cruel and inhumane system of punishment, and I am defenceless to prevent my wretched faith. As the man pulls down the switch, waves of electrical currents enter my body, my body squirming endlessly with treacherous pain. The waves suddenly stop as the switch is pulled back. My head falls forward, my chin tilting towards my chest. As I plunge to my death at the hands of the government as the words of Desmond Tutu echo through my head, "To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice." The government that must represent the people has just taken the existence of one of its own and all it has left of me is a corpse, cold and lifeless. The death penalty, commonly known as capital punishment affects more than just my life. Capital punishment is a cruel and merciless method of punishment that government is not allowing me to recover through rehabilitation and give back to society. The judicial system is not solving any problem by killing me as it has had made the same impact on society that I had. The expenditures necessary for the death penalty only hurts the fragile economy that we are in after the recovery of the recession. With a great number of problems with this form of punishment, I beseech to everyone to rid of capital punishment worldwide and instead punish criminals like me through a method that is considered humane.
While I lay dead, some may ponder into the future in which, if I had a chance to rehabilitate, I would have re...
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... a better life without crime. The government would be leading by example as they will not take on the same actions as I, the criminal. There are great savings to be had that could be spent on beneficial activities for society and not spent on a criminal like me. We as people have come so far but there are parts of the past that are left to erase.” Capital Punishment is considered inhuman and “it’s been somewhat embarrassing, quite frankly, that nations just as so-called civilized as ours think we're barbaric because we still have capital punishment." (deathpenalty.org 27 February 2011). Reginald Wilkinson was a prison director in Ohio and speaks the truth in saying that is an embarrassment to a nation to continue with capital punishment. Thus, in final consideration, capital punishment must be abolished and we must move on as it has become a problem beyond repair.
Each year there are about 250 people added to death row and 35 executed. From 1976 to 1995 there were a total of 314 people put to death in the US 179 of them were put to death using lethal injection, 123 were put to death using electrocution, 9 were put to death in a gas chamber, 2 were hanged, and 1 was put to death using the firing squad. The death penalty is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United Sates today. Once a jury has convicted a criminal, they go to the second part of the trial, the punishment phase. If the jury recommends the death penalty and the judge agrees then the criminal will face some form of execution, lethal injection is the most common form used today. There was a period from 1972 to 1976 that capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Their reason for this decision was that the death penalty was "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment. The decision was reversed when new methods of execution were introduced. Capital punishment is a difficult issue and there are as many different opinions as there are people. In our project, both sides have been presented and argued fully.
In recent years, the practice of capital punishment has come under scrutiny. Some say that no longer holds the same impact as it once had. An article discussing the concept of the death penalty “Bungled executions, Backlogged courts, And three more reasons the modern death penalty is A Failed Experiment” by David Von Drehle is summarized and the thoughts, ideas, and principles therein are subject to response.
It is the firm belief and position here that committing such a crime as murder is punishable by death. Americans should take a position for anyone on death row, to be executed sooner rather than later.
The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is when someone convicted of a crime is put to death by the state. This practice has been around for centuries. The death penalty has evolved from acts like public hanging, to the more “humane” lethal injection used today. Many people view this as the only acceptable punishment for murderers, mass rapist, and other dangerous crimes.
Capital punishment has long been a topic for heated debate throughout the United States of America and the civilized world. For many politicians, the death penalty has been a key pillar to winning a state or election; and, to some extent, politics have been a key influence in America’s justice system. Many nations have outlawed capital punishment, with the United States included between 1972 and 1976. In the United States, there has been a renewed movement for this “eye for an eye” method, citing such arguments as “deterrence” and “victims’ rights.” This movement begs a single question – is there any economical, legal, or statistical support for the ultimate punishment? This article will strive to answer that question by evaluating several key issues (be they supporting or otherwise) concerning capital punishment – the legitimacy of ‘deterrence,’ the legality of capital punishment under the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual punishment” clause, and the cost associated with putting a man to death in relation to the cost associated with life imprisonment.
There are over sixty offenses in the United States of America that can be punishable by receiving the death penalty (What is..., 1). However, many individuals believe that the death penalty is an inadequate source of punishment for any crime no matter how severe it is. The fact remains, however, that the death penalty is one of the most ideal forms of punishment. There are other individuals who agree with the idea that capital punishment is the best form of punishment. In fact, some of these individuals believe that this should be the only form of punishment.
If you are in a rush to attend a very important meeting and you can not find a parking spot, would you risk parking your car in a restricted zone if you knew the fee would only be 25 dollars? Would you reconsider taking the risk of parking your car there if the ticket would be 500 dollars? If the consequences of an action are severe, how many people would take the risk of taking that action? If the penalty to pay for taking other people’s lives was death, would fewer people take the risk of committing such a crime? Life is the most precious possession one holds. When another human brutally robs another of this gift, it is the most heinous of all crimes. It is only justice if the punishment fits the crime committed, and for murder, the only punishment fit is the death penalty, therefore, the capital punishment should be retained in all the States as a means of justice and a clear message for potential criminals out there not to follow.
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.
“ An eye for an eye leaves us all blind doesn’t it “. Capital punishment cost the United states a lot of money. The death penalty can be unfair and can cause innocent lives to be took. The death penalty should be abolished because it is an ineffective way of punishment. There are trials that are unjust and many innocent people that have been killed. Putting people to death cost more than sending people to jail for the rest of their lives. Capital punishment doesn’t affect change.
Justice cannot be served until the debate on capital punishment is resolved and all states have come to agree that the death penalty is the best way to stop crime completely.
The death penalty is the lawful killing of a human being after a trial by
Capital punishment, a topic that is constantly debated, is questioned on whether or not it serves its purpose which is to deter criminals and if it is morally acceptable. It is my goal to evaluate arguments that promote or reject capital punishment and its deterrence factor. It would be beneficial comparing crime statistics for states that uphold and states that abolish capital punishment. Finally, an investigation of criminals facing the death penalty and their thoughts as well as modern prison conditions will provide insight to this debate. Capital punishment could be a great deterrent to crime or it may have no effect at all.
Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty, written by Mark Costanzo, neatly lists reasons for opposition, and abolishment of, the death penalty. Costanzo provides a review of the history of the death penalty, a review of how the death penalty process is working today, questions on whether or not if the death penalty is inhumane and cheaper than life imprisonment. He also questions if the death penalty is fairly applied and the impact, if any, that it has on deterrence. He closely examines the public's support of the death penalty and questions the morality of the death penalty. Finally, Costanzo provides his own resolution and alternative to the death penalty. Each of these items allows the reader an easy, and once again, neat view of how the death penalty can work against out society rather than for it.
Capital punishment is the most severe sentence imposed in the United States and is legal in thirty-eight states. The death penalty is a controversial subject, especially because the U.S. is the only western democracy to retain this consequence (Scheb, 518). I personally believe that the death penalty is a valid sentence for those who deserve it. Some believe it is not constitutional, but those who face this penalty are clearly suspect of a savage offense and therefore should be at a loss of certain rights. The arguments don’t end there once one considers that “the controversy over capital punishment becomes more heated when special circumstances arise” (Sternberg, 2). This issue brings up more arguments against the death penalty because of the constitutionally protected ban on cruel and unusual punishment which is protected by the Eighth Amendment. There have been nearly 15,000 executions that have taken place in America, the first in 1608 with the death of Captain George Kendall (Siegel, 410). Most of these were sentenced to death because of their own action of killing others. However, more and more crimes are now able to be punishable by death. This is the result of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which “dramatically increased the number of federal crimes eligible for this sentence” (Scheb, 520). Even so, the federal government has yet to put someone on death row for a non-homicidal case. The arguments for and against capital punishment are lengthy and strictly opinionated, but are also important to see the evolution of our society as the majority view changes and new influences come about.
The death penalty has been an ongoing debate for many years. Each side of the issue presents valid arguments to explain why someone should be either for or against the subject. One side of the argument says deterrence, the other side says there’s a likelihood of putting to death an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder itself. Crime is an unmistakable part of our society, and it is safe to say that everyone would concur that something must be done about it. The majority of people know the risk of crime to their lives, but the subject lies in the techniques and actions in which it should be dealt with. As the past tells us, capital punishment, whose meaning is “the use of death as a legally sanctioned punishment,” is a suitable and proficient means of deterring crime. Today, the death penalty resides as an effective method of punishment for murder and other atrocious crimes.