Capital Punishment

765 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: capital punishment is right or wrong

Capital Punishment Capital punishment has been a cause for debate for many years, and people continue to disagree on the topic. A battle rages between Americans who are fighting for a safe and just world, and those who want to abolish the death penalty, weakening our already struggling legal system. Capital punishment may be a controversial subject, but it is one that must be addressed with today's violent society. The death penalty provides the necessary punishment and deterrent for criminals in the United States. The possibility of executing an innocent man is the main ammunition for anti-death penalty movements. A quote from an article in the Boston Herald written by Don Feder prevents the “bullet” from leaving the gun. “Odds are a killer will be released at some point. And there's a fair chance that he or she will kill again. In fact, there's a far greater likelihood of this then of an innocent man taking that long walk.” (www.bostonherald.com) Also, in America it takes an average of 11.2 years to finally execute a convicted murderer. This is because death-row inmates abuse the United States court system with endless appeals. This is more than enough time to test the original verdict, examine every possible piece of evidence, and prove without reasonable doubt that the convict is indeed guilty as charged. With things the way they are, that leaves a microscopic chance of an innocent man being wrongly executed. The framers of the U.S. Constitution, aware of the bizarre and torturous methods of execution in the past, added the eighth amendment to the Constitution, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishment.” Death, however, was not considered by those framers to be an excessive penalty for serious crimes, as lon... ... middle of paper ... ...d repeat his or her crimes. (www.bostonherald.com) With all the violence of today, capital punishment isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. Bibliography: Works Cited “ABC News Reckoning the Death Penalty.” Issue Date: 29 December 1995. http://www.facts.com/cd/i00015.htm. (10 March 2001) “Capital Punishment Foes Dead Wrong.” Article by Don Feder. Published 10 January 2001. http://www.bostonherald.com/. (11 March 2001) “Capital Punishment, Justice Served.” By Matthew D. Bartlett. Corporate Column. http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~sba/columns/Capital_Punishment.html. (8 March 2001) “The Future of the Death Penalty. Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?” Poll start date: 1 February 2000. Total votes cast: 62170 as of 11 March 2001. http://www.time.com/. (11 March 2001) “www.Pro-Death Penalty.com.” http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/. (9 March 2001)

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Bryan Stevenson's Close To Death: Reflections On Race And Capital Punishment

    1861 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie and Native American Writing

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...eter, Richard C. “Death Penalty Information Center” A Crisis of Confidence: Americans’ Doubts about the Death Penalty. 2007. 1-30 Print.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty: A Violation of 8th Amendment

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    The courts have declared that if a sentence is inhuman, outrageous, or shocking to society, it would be considered cruel and unusual. For example, cutting body parts off, breaking on the wheel, crucifixion, and so on. The Founding Fathers intention for the Eighth Amendment was to give the government into the hands of people and take it away from arbitrary rulers and judges, who might expose any amount of excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishment that they wished....

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Should Not Be Instituted

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout America’s history, capital punishment, or the death penalty, has been used to punish criminals for murder and other capital crimes. In the early 20th century, numerous people would gather for public executions. The media described these events gruesome and barbaric (“Infobase Learning”). People began to wonder if the capital punishment was really constitutional.

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment Essay - True Justice Through Application of the Death Penalty

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    The death penalty, as administered by states based on their individual laws, is considered capital punishment, the purpose of which is to penalize criminals convicted of murder or other heinous crimes (Fabian).  The death penalty issue has been the focus of much controversy in recent years, even though capital punishment has been a part of our country's history since the beginning.  Crimes in colonial times, such as murder and theft of livestock were dealt with swiftly and decisively ("The Death Penalty...").  Criminals were hanged shortly after their trial, in public executions. This practice was then considered just punishment for those crimes.  Recently though, the focus of the death penalty debate has been on moral and legal issues.  The murderers of today's society can be assured of a much longer life even after conviction, with the constraints of the appeals process slowing the implementation of their death sentence.  In most cases, the appeal process lasts several years, during which time criminals enjoy comfortable lives.  They have television, gym facilities, and the leisure time to attend free college-level classes that most American citizens must struggle to afford.  Foremost, these murderers have the luxury of time, something their victims ran out of the moment their paths crossed.  It is time this country realized the only true justice for these criminals is in the form of the death penalty.  The death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Capital Punishment

    1008 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are over sixty offenses in the United States of America that can be punishable by receiving the death penalty (What is..., 1). However, many individuals believe that the death penalty is an inadequate source of punishment for any crime no matter how severe it is. The fact remains, however, that the death penalty is one of the most ideal forms of punishment. There are other individuals who agree with the idea that capital punishment is the best form of punishment. In fact, some of these individuals believe that this should be the only form of punishment.

    Read More

  • Make The Death Penalty Quicker, Cheaper and More Effective

    1672 Words  | 4 Pages

    The death penalty debate in the United States is dominated by the fraudulent voice of the anti-death penalty movement. The culture of lies and deceit so dominates that movement that many of the falsehoods are now wrongly accepted as fact, by both advocates and opponents of capital punishment. (Sharp) Opponents of capital punishment are extremely outspoken and vehement in their arguments. The American Civil Liberties Union believes the death penalty violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. However, the death penalty is not cruel and unusual punishment, the authors of the United States Constitution’s Eighth Amendment related “cruel and unusual” punishment to methods used in ages past. The Eighth Amendment was created to outlaw such practices as bur...

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Should Be Enacted In Illinois

    2389 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ed United States. U.S. Government Accounting Office. Capital Punishment. Washington: GPO, 1994 Cheatwood, Derral and Keith Harries. The Geography of Execution: The Capital Punishment Quagmire in America. Rowman, 1996 NAACP Legal Defense Fund . Death Row. New York: Hein, 1996 "Ex-Death Row Inmate Cleared of Charges." USA Today 11 Mar. 1999: 2A "Fatal Flaws: Innocence and the Death Penalty." Amnesty International. 10 Oct. 1999 23 Oct. 1999 Gest, Ted. "House Without a Blue Print." US News and World Report 8 Jul. 1996: 41 Stevens, Michelle. "Unfairness in Life and Death." Chicago Sun-Times 7 Feb. 1999: 23A American Bar Association. The Task Ahead: Reconciling Justice with Politics. 1997 United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Report. Washington: GPO, 1994 Wickham, DeWayne. "Call for a Death Penalty Moratorium." USA Today 8 Feb. 1999: 17A ILKMURPHY

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Death Penalty

    2435 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty Must Be Abolished

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    The death penalty is legal in thirty-two states. I shall argue that capital punishment should be abolished in our country because it is never moral to kill a human being no matter what they have done, because it often costs more money to keep someone on death row than to keep someone in prison for life, because of the men and women who are wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit, and because death is the easy way out.

    Read More

  • The Death Penalty

    1561 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pasquerella, Lynn. “The Death Penalty in the United States.” The Study Circle Resource Center of Topsfield Foundation. July 1991. Topsfield Foundation. 03 Feb 2011. Web.

    Read More

  • The Ethics of Capital Punishment

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    During those years, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment violated the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, this ended in 1976, when the Supreme Court reversed the ruling. They stated that the punishment of sentencing one to death does not perpetually infringe the Constitution. Richard Nixon said, “Contrary to the views of some social theorists, I am convinced that the death penalty can be an effective deterrent against specific crimes. ”1 Whether the case be morally, monetarily, or just pure disagreement, citizens have argued the benefits of capital punishment.

    Read More

  • History of the Death Penalty and Why It Is Not Wrong

    3309 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The case Against the Death Penalty.” aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013

    Read More

  • Capital Punishment

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Capital Punishment

Open Document