Capital Punishment A thirty-five year old white male kidnaps and rapes two sisters, one nine years old and the other twelve. The man then brutally murders the two sisters, letting one watch as the other one was killed. The man leaves the bloody and beaten girls dead on their front porch. Does this man deserve to die? Capital punishment, if applied in this hypothetical situation, would serve its purpose in getting retribution for this crime. Capital punishment is a controversial subject but is an effective punishment for serious crimes such as this. Right now, only one percent of murderers who have committed serious crimes such as this are on death row. “Every nation with industrial democracies has abolished the death penalty, excluding Japan and the United States,” (Honeyman and Ogloff, 197). Nearly half of the countries of the world (close to eighty) have abolished the death penalty. Almost the same number of countries chooses to keep it as a punishment. Eighty percent of death penalty sentences are carried out on cases involving white victims, regardless of the guilty party’s race. Opponents argue that capital punishment is not effective and innocent men may be murdered. They may also argue that it is not fairly administered between the races. It can also be argued that it violates the 8th amendment, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment, and also the 14th amendment, by taking away life. But supporters can argue that the death penalty does not offend any amendments because it is a suitable punishment and the offenders went through due process of law. The early, barbaric methods of execution included crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, cru... ... middle of paper ... ... and treason, and in most situations should be applied. It is an effective punishment that deters crime as well as ensuring that the killer never kills again. The newer methods are safer and less barbaric then the old, but sometimes the criminal deserves such a punishment depending on the severity of the crime. Bibliography: “Arguments for Life and Death”. Encyclopedia Britannica. Chicago: Britannica, 1995. American English Encyclopedia Britannica. 15 February 2000. “Capital Punishment”. Funk & Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnall’s, 1994. “Capital Punishment: An Effective Punishment for Serious Crimes”. 7 February 2000. “Capital Punishment”. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000. Redmond: Microsoft, 1999. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. CD-Rom. Honeyman, Jennifer and J.R. Ogloff. “Capital Punishment”. 10 February 2000.
The origins of the death penalty in the Ancient World were very brutal executions. The penalty was most prevalent in the Tenth Century A.D when Britain used the classic hanging. From then on the death penalty had a kind of rocky existence and eventually ended up being eliminated for situations o...
Many people are led to believe that the death penalty doesn’t occur very often and that very few people are actually killed, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1,359 people have been executed as a result of being on death row since 1977 to 2013. Even though this form of punishment is extremely controversial, due to the fact that someone’s life is at stake, it somehow still stands to this very day as our ultimate form of punishment. Although capital punishment puts murderers to death, it should be abolished because killing someone who murdered another, does not and will not make the situation any better in addition to costing tax payers millions of dollars.
Phillips gives an alternative account of immortality based, not on any realm of existence beyond this life, but on certain moral and religious modes of living within this life. Unlike some of writers, e.g. R. Swinburn, D Z Phillips does not support the notion that belief in continuous personal existence is logically defendable. Indeed, he provides an extremely robust argument to the contrary, claiming that such claims are open to fatal logical objections. After briefly contradicting any notions of survival of a non-material body (the possibility of some form of bodily resurrection in this world or the next), Phillips goes on to attack the more comm... ... middle of paper ... ...
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
...l punishment as a just and morally sound method of justice. After all, "An eye for an eye" seemed to be a rationale that many embraced as fair. Now there is an era of closer examination of what is truly just and morally ethical, as well as economically sound. A consequence needs to be fair, humane, and effective. Does capital punishment meet these criteria? There are compelling reasons to change the system we have blindly acclaimed. Hopefully we are in the process of implementing a new way of dealing with an age-old dilemma.
Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is "death by execution" as stated in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The death penalty is a sentence given to criminals charged with first degree murder, although most often than not, the majority of inmates on death row live years in a state penitentiary before their execution takes place. There are many historical changes, religious beliefs, and opposing view points held with the subject of capital punishment. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the reign of King Hammaurabi in the eighteenth century B.C. There were as many as twenty-five different crimes all punishable by execution.
One of the most controversial topics that affects the United States and other nations in
In my opinion capital punishment is wrong. The death penalty is the center of much debate in society. This is due, in part, to the fact that people see only the act of killing a criminal, and not the social effects the death penalty has on society as a whole. Upon reading about the death penalty, it was found to be an unethical practice. It promotes a violent and inhumane society in which killing is considered okay. Since there are alternatives, the death penalty should be abolished. Some people believe capital punishment to be cruel and unusual. Others believe that a person who kills, should themselves be killed. This statement alone raises the question, "How should they be killed?" The question that should really be asked is, "Should we kill at all?" Would it be morally correct to kill someone just because they have killed someone else?
Among the foremost writers who have criticized the death penalty is Charles L. Black, Jr., Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School. In his book, Capital Punishment: The Inevitability of Caprice and Mistake, he deals with many of the problems surrounding capital punishment. In regards to race he asks the question, "Why are more than half the people on death row black in a country with about eleven percent blacks (78) ? According to a study brought by Black, in cases of a black killing a white, .214 are sentenced to death, while in a case of a white killing a black, .000 are sentenced to death (Appendix 2). In virtual...
The death penalty has been around for centuries. It dates back to when Hammurabi had his laws codified; it was “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. Capital punishment in America started when spies were caught, put on trial and hung. In the past and still today people argue that, the death penalty is cruel, unusual punishment and should be illegal. Yet many people argue that it is in fact justifiable and it is not cruel and unusual. Capital punishment is not cruel and unusual; the death penalty is fair and there is evidence that the death penalty deters crime.
For instance, the 1972 Furman V. Georgia case abolished the death penalty for four years on the grounds that capital punishment was extensive with racial inequalities (Latzer 21). Over twenty five years later, those inequalities are higher than ever. The statistics says that African Americans are twelve percent of the U.S. population, but are 43 percent of the prisoners on death row. Although blacks make up 50 percent of all murder victims, 83 percent of the victims in death penalty cases are white. Since 1976 only ten executions involved a white defendant who had killed a bl...
The punishment is not about inflicting pain or exacting revenge, it is about forcing the killer to stew in their own doing and be cut off from any form of enjoyment whatsoever. Anyone could agree that being deprived of even the simplest of pleasures is indeed the worst punishment one could endure aside from death. This also removes killers from society permanently. While I believe that it is wrong to relieve someone of their basic human rights, I feel that it is justified to relieve them of their legal rights if it is for the betterment and safety of society.
Murder should be punished in a manner similar to the way it was committed. A man convicted of a cold-blooded shooting murder such as a drive-by shooting should go before a firing squad. Each man in that firing squad would fire one at a time so the convicted would not know when the angel of death would come for him. A man convicted of strangulation murder should be hung at high noon. A man convicted of a beating death should be slowly beaten until death comes. A Jeffery Dahmer style murderer should suffer dismemberment and decapitation.
Though the death penalty is considered barbaric, it is not. With those who have ones that have died viciously to the ones who died young there is such a thing as karma. The death penalty allows those people who committed the crime to be punished equally. Therefore, I agree with the reason for having the death penalty. It is only fair that the criminal be punished for his wrong doings. The bible does say, “An eye for an eye.” When there is equal punishment and safety it makes people worry less. It allows them to live out their lives in peace, and to not look back on something bad that has happened to them.
A thirty five year old white male kidnaps and rapes two sisters, one eight years old and the other eleven. The man then brutally murders the two helpless children; letting one watch as the other one was killed. He then leaves the bloody and beaten bodies, of the innocent sisters, in the neighborhood playground. Does this man deserve to die? The death penalty is a necessary evil that has a positive effect on society today. The death penalty should be sought in cases that carry the death penalty as a form of punishment because retribution should be taken for the heinous crimes that are committed, people that commit crime or kill will do it again, and the death penalty deters crime.