Capital Punishment Capital punishment is most severe form of justice, the death penalty.
It is the punishment given to the convicted criminals who have
committed a capital offence.This punishment exists mainly because it
is a huge deterrent against 'would be' criminals. Many countries have
abolished it as a punishment. Some people believe it is inhumane and
morally wrong for a society who frowns upon murderers to murder
others. Some criminals could be wrongly convicted; there is no redress
for innocent man. Some think that we are a civilized society that
should not kill to solve our problems. There are many different
reasons why countries such as the U.K have abolished it as a
punishment. The documentary "14 Days in May" focused the issue of
capital punishment.
Text Box: This documentary shows the life of the convicted murderer
Edward Earl Johnson awaiting the death penalty on Death Row in the
Parchment State Penitentiary, Mississippi. A film crew followed the
last fortnight of his life on death row before being put into the gas
chamber on the 20th May 1987. We see the last days of his life as he
and his legal team struggle to prove his innocence.
The death penalty was abolished in the USA until it was reinstated in
1976. The USA is in league with countries such as Iran, Turkey, South
Africa and China, which all use capital punishment.
Edward Earl Johnson a twenty-six year old black man claimed he was
forced into confessing to the shooting of the white town Marshal, and
the rape of a sixty-year-old white woman. He spent eight yea...
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...urder as a punishment. I have always seen the death penalty as an
easy way out, we do not know what happens after death and if death
truly is the end, with no after life, then the criminal will never
have to think about the crime they have committed and ever have really
suffered. It has persuaded me to think twice about some of the
criminals in prison and whether or not they are innocent. Cases like
Edward's make people more against capital punishment. An innocent man
was killed while the criminal is still living. Capital punishment is
killing to rid the world of our problems instead of sorting them out.
The documentary shows capital punishment to be barbaric and endangers
the innocent. Every one should remember that it is not man's job to
control man, when everyone realizes this maybe the world will be a
better place.
Many positions can be defended when debating the issue of capital punishment. In Jonathan Glover's essay "Executions," he maintains that there are three views that a person may have in regard to capital punishment: the retributivist, the absolutist, and the utilitarian. Although Glover recognizes that both statistical and intuitive evidence cannot validate the benefits of capital punishment, he can be considered a utilitarian because he believes that social usefulness is the only way to justify it. Martin Perlmutter on the other hand, maintains the retributivist view of capital punishment, which states that a murderer deserves to be punished because of a conscious decision to break the law with knowledge of the consequences. He even goes as far to claim that just as a winner of a contest has a right to a prize, a murderer has a right to be executed. Despite the fact that retributivism is not a position that I maintain, I agree with Perlmutter in his claim that social utility cannot be used to settle the debate about capital punishment. At the same time, I do not believe that retributivism justifies the death penalty either.
This is his low point, his personal hell. At this point, he even considers not uncovering himself and allowing the easy death to occur. For such a logical and even-headed man, this is a particularly extreme thought. But he eventually finds the willpower to hoist himself out of the grave to once again take up the road. Finally, he gets to the house and restores order to his metaphysical kingdom, coming to terms with many of his thoughts.
...mption. He became a hollow shell of what he used to be, no longer living his life to his true potential.
he “decided that he was going to commit suicide and go around and say his goodbyes”(World
death. He then gives an apology to all the school children who witnessed the tragedy
He has a crisis with being able to function resulting in his own suicide as he was not able to function in society without going back to
Murder, a common occurrence in American society, is thought of as a horrible, reprehensible atrocity. Why then, is it thought of differently when the state government arranges and executes a human being, the very definition of premeditated murder? Capital punishment has been reviewed and studied for many years, exposing several inequities and weaknesses, showing the need for the death penalty to be abolished.
to be executed. “He asked the prison authorities to let him die if he went into cardiac arrest
murder rates in given areas both before and after an execution. Clear and cole(2000) have
One of the most controversial topics that affects the United States and other nations in
On July 2, 1976, almost two hundred years since the United States of America passed the Declaration of Independence, the Supreme Court legalized capital punishment (Appendix 1). Capital punishment executed for the crime of theft. Since then there have been an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 people lawfully executed(Espy pp.194). In the eighteenth century, England would punish by death for crimes such as pick pocketing and petty theft. After the 1650's colonist could be put to death for denying the true god or cursing their parents advocates.
years. It has always been considered a relatively cheap and effective way to punish the
It was October 6, 1998 when he was lured from the bar that cold, fateful night. His skull was smashed with a pistol butt as he was lashed to a fence, left for dead in near freezing temperatures. Nearly eighteen hours later he was found by passersby and taken to a hospital where he remained in a coma for several days until slowly slipping away. At his funeral, picketers carried signs saying, "God Hates Fags" and "Fags Deserve to Die."
Many people are split on the idea of capital punishment because it involves death. I feel that capital punishment is morally and ethically acceptable because it rids society of our worst criminals. Many people argue that killing criminals who kill is just as bad as being the criminals. For one the criminals killed innocent people who had no idea what was coming, and had no way to prevent it. The criminal who commited the crime in almost all cases had to commit first degree murder, which includes some planning of the act. To plan an act of murder and taking someone’s life is beyond emotion, it is psychological and takes some rationalization. If no rationalization takes place, then it can happen again.