Persuasive Essay On The Death Penalty

The death penalty is by far the most controversial topic in today 's society. However, there are many people who supports the death penalty, yet there is also a great amount of people who believe the death penalty is wrong. The death penalty, or capital punishment, is the punishment of execution that is administered to someone who is legally convicted of a capital crime. Although opponents of the death penalty believe that it is against human rights, capital punishment is appropriate with the support of the fifth amendment, it is morally acceptable, and gives Justice to the victims and their families.

First, the death penalty is morally acceptable. Americans have long supported the death penalty, with majorities saying that they favor it as

Majorities such as the government, the people, and the bible, support the death penalty because it is not wrong to punish someone for their crimes. The death penalty has been morally acceptable since biblical times. In Genesis 9:6, God supports the death penalty; "[w]hoever shall shed man 's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God." This excerpt, taken from the bible, teaches that capital punishment is appropriate and that if a man kills another, the loss of his own life is one of the highest penalties they can pay. Even though one in four of those death penalty abolitionists who believe that no form of punishment should be acceptable, argues that a sentence of life in prison without parole fulfills the need (Kenny 28). However, Edward Koch, mayor of New York from 1978 to 1989, believes that the argument brought up by death penalty opponents is "sophistic nonsense," and that a life sentence is actually a harsher punishment than the penalty of death

According to the online website FindLaw, the Fifth Amendment indicates that "[n]o person shall be held to answer for a capital...crime, unless on a presentment of indictment of a Grand Jury...not be deprived of life...without process of law." This amendment clearly permits that death penalty to be imposed, and establishes that it is not one of the "cruel and unusual punishments," prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. For instance, in the case Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the death penalty was proven to be "constitutionally permissible form of punishment under a properly written statute..." (Bergman 503). The Gregg v. Georgia (1976) case was about a defendant named Gregg, whom was sentenced to death after finding him guilty of armed robbery and murder. This case proved that capital punishment does not violate the Eighth Amendment when it contains information that allows the defendant to be sentenced to death. Since the court 's decision in Gregg (1976), the Fifth Amendment placed its limits on the use of the death penalty. In particular, the Court determined that the death penalty cannot be given for a crime of rape when the victim does not die, and if it is given, it would constitute a disproportionate punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment (Bergman 505). The Court also ruled that it is unconstitutional to give minors under the age of eighteen and the mentally handicapped a sentence