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Controversy regarding death penalty
Death penalty points of view
Death Penalty Controversy
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For many years, the death penalty has been used to execute people who had committed horrific crimes. Even though it is still practiced by the justice system, there are people who support it while, there are others are against it. Many people feel that the death penalty is a cruel way to kill a person, while others believe it is capital punishment. When someone is sentenced to death, you have to think about the possibility that person might be innocent and you will end up putting their family through a lot of suffering and heartache. Is the justice system really willing to go through all this in order to gain some form of closure? I recently came across an article “Punishment should fit the crime,” in which they were supporting the use of The death penalty. It was definitely against my beliefs about enforcing the death penalty.
In the article the author stated that ‘convicted killers, once released from their short sentence, are free to slay the minute they walk out of the penitentiary,’ the author is making it seem that because they weren’t in jail for so long, that is the reason why they end up committing another
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According to the Death Penalty Information Center, ‘they weren’t able to tell how many of the 1,000 people executed since 1976 maybe have been innocent. Defense attorneys have already moved on to a new case, in which a clients’ live can still have been saved.’ One example is the story of Todd Willingham. In 1992, he was accused of setting his house on fire which killed all of his three children. The court had thought he killed them on purpose, sadly, he was sentence to be executed. After a few years, the court found that the evidence they collected against him was false. The fire was accidental and he was found to be innocent. Sadly, it was too late to bring him back to live. Like the many others who were executed while innocent, he was also a
The death penalty has always been a subject of controversy. Some say that it is a barbaric practice that should be done away with while others claim it to be necessary to ensure the safety of modern society. Either way, capital punishment has always remained a grey area in the
.... The term “closure” in the legal context does not have a true definition because most of the people define it in their own words; the families are lead to believe that with the death penalty, all of their problems will go away and that they will experience a sense of relief and the majority don’t. That is why most families that have lost a family member to murder are against capital punishment simply because it fails in accomplishing the promise of closure. The victims’ family are not the only ones that undergo suffering; so does the family of the murderer and they feel about the same as the victims’ family when it comes to losing someone they love dearly; although, little is known of them and they are seen as unpleasant people at times. So is closure really a good enough “excuse” to execute a human being or does it bring with it more problems to deal with?
I live in a state where capital punishment is still being practiced. In fact, I live thirty minutes away from a prison that executes the death penalty. Are we playing God by controlling who does not deserve to live? How can we kill anyone who is no longer a threat to the society? Most have committed terrible crimes in order to get the death penalty, but there are those that were wrongfully convicted. The law system is not perfect, it will never be perfect. Sure, they can get numerous appeals before they are executed. If there is no new evidence or new technology to prove their innocence, there is no use in giving them any number of tries before being executed. It was said that it cost more to execute the death penalty (from the time of arrest to the time of execution) than to give them life without the possibility of parole. As technology increases, we have more tools that we can use for forensic investigation. The birth of DNA in forensic helped save at least one of the inmates on death row in California that was wrongfully convicted. If you wrongfully convicted someone, you can set them free. If you wrongfully executed someone, you can not reverse the process. We have all done things in the past that we were not proud of and would never do it again; at least I had. The ability to reform is in all of us. There are other ways to punish the people on death row in California other than the path of death penalty. Nothing is set in stones but death.
Are there really innocent people on death row? At least twenty-three people have been executed who did not commit the crime they were accused of (JAICLC). And that 's only those that we know. And here lies a natural danger of capital punishment...when we execute an innocent person; the real killer is still on the streets, ready to victimize someone else. But when an innocent person is arrested, he is often the motivating reason behind further investigation, and if he is executed, than the case remains closed forever or until someone else gets killed by the real perpetrator. Often the only people who know what really happened are the accused and the dead. It then comes down to the skill of the examination and the defense lawyers as to whether there will be a conviction for accidental murder or for manslaughter. At times, a detective could naturally make an error and possibly lead to the conclusion that the innocent committed the crime. Whether it be multiple years in prison or even capital punishment there is no possible way of revenging or forgiving the judge and jury for this miscarriage of justice. There must always be the concern that the state can order the death penalty justly. In America, a prisoner can be on death row for many years awaiting the outcome of numerous appeals (Short). In simpler terms killing another being with or without evidence is not fair, decent, or ethically
The death penalty provides the victim’s families closure.[5] While the victim themselves are not alive to gain any closure from the situation, the execution of the perpetrator does bring a feeling of relief at no longer having to think about the ordeal.
There are many different reasons associated with the fact that there are still innocents being convicted with crimes they did not commit. At Northwestern Law School, in 2001, the Center of Wrongful Convictions studied the individual cases of 86 death row exonerees. Five top components were included: eyewitness error, where people have a faulty memory or are confused by the incident. Government misconduct, exemplified by the justice system(both police and the prosecution). Junk science, evidence being mishandled or studied by those who are unqualified in a trade where precision is of the utmost importance. A snitch testimony which is a trick and is normally given to those believing it is a reduction in their sentence. A false confession prompted by a mental illness or of those being clinically retarded, also stemming from police torture. Hearsay and circumstantial evidence also top the list as well.(2) When the irreversible sanc...
Critics of capital punishment hold that because most homicides are situational and are not planned, offenders do not consider the consequences of their actions before they commit the offense” (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2015, p.133). Most people on death row committed their crimes in the heat of the moment, usually while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or, in some cases, due to suffering from mental illness. These individuals are highly unlikely to make rational decisions based on a fear of future consequences for their actions. Criminals are mainly concerned with whether or not they’ll be caught, not what might happen to them afterwards.
If an error occurs in the procedure, the criminal will face a painful and cruel death. Even more horrifying, an innocent person can be placed on death row. “The reality is that there are few innocent people on death row; the vast majority of these inmates did, in fact, commit the crimes for which they were found guilty. These killers brutally took the lives of innocent victims. By not recognizing the lives of their victims as sacred, they cannot claim their own lives are sacred. In the end, the death penalty is an individual punishment for an individual crime” (Bowman and DiLascio). Although this quote tries to offer a counterpoint to the argument that the death penalty should be abolished, it still admits that there are innocent people on death row. An innocent man placed on death row results in two casualties of innocent men while the brutal murderer sleeps peacefully each night. Errors in the death penalty can destroy families, terminate friendships, and disintegrate love and companionship. Since there is no guarantee that every person on death row is guilty, it is too dangerous to risk more innocent
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).
Throughout the years the death penalty has been a very controversial aspect when it comes to punishment. Some groups of people believe that is should be abolished and other think that America should keep it. I’m here to say that I am not for the death penalty at all. To me the death penalty has a couple of flaws that I have an issue looking past. The death penalty is very unconstitutional for anyone who is put through it and it is very bias on who it chooses for the punishment.
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
“How the Death Penalty Saves Lives” According to DPIC (Death penalty information center), there are one thousand –four hundred thirty- eight executions in the United States since 1976. Currently, there are Two thousand –nine hundred –five inmates on death row, and the average length of time on death row is about fifteen years in the United States. The Capital punishment, which appears on the surface to the fitting conclusion to the life of a murder, in fact, a complicated issue that produces no clear resolution.; However, the article states it’s justice. In the article “How the Death Penalty Saves Lives” an author David B. Muhlhausen illustrates a story of Earl Ringo , Jr, brutal murder’s execution on September ,10,
The death sentence has become a huge controversy in the United States over the past forty years. Over those forty years there has been a lot of less tax payers and donators willing to pay money to the justice system to execute a criminal. These types of people that have helped to pay in the past for these executions have stopped due to them not wanting a death connected to them in any way, or because they simply see life in prison a more suitable punishment. Without the funding needed, the criminals on death row are not able to receive their proper punishment within a reasonable amount of time. A lot of times the criminals never get their proper punishment due to lack of funding. Also, criminals that commit extreme crimes may not get the death penalty due to it not being registered as capital murder. These are all issues that have affected the death penalty over time.
“Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, 138 innocent men and women have been released from the death row, including some who came within minutes of execution. In Missouri, Texas and Virginia investigations have been opened to determine if those states executed innocent men. To execute an innocent person is morally reprehensible; this risk we cannot
For example, if a person was given a life sentence, they would be able to be released, if found innocent. If they were given the death penalty, although it takes years, odds are they will be dead before they could be found innocent. The Innocence Project was established in order to vindicate individuals who were wrongfully convicted due to DNA calamity or misidentification with witnesses. Since the Innocent project has been established, an uncountable number of individuals have received freedom for crimes they were wrongfully accused of committing. For most individuals who received a life sentence, and not the death penalty, they were granted a release. According to the Innocence Project out of 300 people exonerated, 25% were convicted of murder, and 18 had death sentences. The innocence project also states, “We have also worked on cases of people who were executed before DNA testing could be conducted to corroborate guilt or prove innocence, and we are aware of several non-DNA cases where evidence of innocence surfaced after people were executed”(Innocenceproject.org/aboutpage). Disparate from the individuals facing a life sentence, those that received a death sentence are less likely to survive to prove their