The Death Penalty's Pros and Cons

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Recommended: what are the effects of capital punishment

Research on the death penalty is becoming one of the fastest major issues in criminal justice. In the aftermath of World War II, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was a doctrine from 1948 which proclaimed a “right to live”. The United Nations shifted its focus to limiting the scope of the death penalty to protect juveniles, pregnant women and the elderly.

Two other international human rights treaties were the International Covenant and Civil and Political Rights. These documents provided for the right to life, and it included the death penalty as an exception that must be accompanied by strict procedure safeguards. Many nations throughout Western Europe stopped using capital punishment but, they did not abolish it.

The most asked about question in the research study was should the death penalty be allowed? Should the offenders have a qualified lawyer that is interested in proving that the offender is innocent? Are DNA tests administered to prove that the offender is innocent? What are the pros and cons of the death penalty? What data has been presented to prove that mental illness, mental retardation, race, juveniles, innocence, public support, religion and women play a part in the death penalty position?

The death penalty study is a multiple time-series design which is similar to a time-series design. Time-series designs include numerous observations of variable (e.g. the murder rate) overtime. A multiple time-series design is similar with the exception that an additional comparison group or population is examined. Multiple time-series designs are used to follow data collected over periods of time to compare and contrast why offenders repeat crimes.

Over the years the...

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...y, constitutionality, deterrence, retribution and irrevocable mistakes, to name a few. The cons to the death penalty are cost of death vs. life, in prison, race, income level, attorney quality, and physicians at executions. Attorneys that represent these criminals should be biased to the client and help as much as possible especially using the Innocent Project Program. This program had helped lots of offenders prove that they are innocent and place them back on the streets to regain their life. It takes a little time and effort from the lawyers, judges, and detectives to prove their innocence.

References

National Journal Magazine Retrieved August 16, 2009

http//davecorp.net

ProCon.org

Champion, D (2006) Research methods in criminal justice and criminology. Upper Saddle River, N. J Pearson/Princeton HallIBN 013118928 Retrieved 8/16, 2009

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