Capital Punishment Essay - True Justice Through Application of the Death Penalty
opinionated Essay
1070 words
True Justice Through Application of the Death Penalty
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.
Opponents of capital punishment are outspoken and vehement in their arguments. They believe the death penalty does not does not deter crime. They also hold the opinion that endin...
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...l Punishment: Give It a Chance." Pro-Death Penalty.
http://www.clas.virginia.edu/~fdc4k/brinkers.html (7 Apr. 00)
"The Death Penalty - An Eye for an Eye" ACLU. http://www.aclu.org/library/pbp8.html
(17 Apr. 00)
Fabian, Nicholas "A Review of Capital Punishment: Is the Death Penalty a Deterrent
Against Crime?" Pro-Death Penalty. http://webcom.net/~nfhome/capital.htm (20 Apr. 00)
"Issues and Controversies: The Death Penalty" Issues and Controversies on File.
http://www.facts.com/cd/i00015.htm#100015_b (20 Apr. 00)
Sharp, Dudley "Death Penalty and Sentencing Information in the United States" Pro-
Death Penalty. http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/DP.html (17 Apr. 00)
Snell, Tracy "Capital Punishment 1995" U. S. Department of Justice.
http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/cp95.pdf (20 Apr. 00)
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.
- Compares the long-term financial advantages of the death penalty with those of sustaining convicted criminals of similar crimes who have received sentences of life without parole.
- Opines that the lengthy appeals in death penalty cases frustrate everyone involved, from families of victims to prosecutors and investigators alike.
- Argues that capital punishment is not cruel and unusual. the 8th amendment was created to outlaw such practices as burning criminals at the stake, boiling them in oil, or "drawing and quartering".
Related
- analytical
- argumentative
- opinionated
- The Issue of Capital Punishment in the United Statesanalytical essayThe debate over the death penalty dates as far back as the late 1700s when incarceration became an alternative to killing criminals and gave rise to the abolitionist movement. The abolitionists supported the idea that the state did not have the right to take anyone’s life. Although the death penalty became an important issue in the mid nineteenth century, the civil war shifted more focus towards the anti–slavery movement. It wasn’t until the Progressive Period of the early twentieth century that the capital punishment debate was in full swing. Again between the 1920s and 1940s capital punishment was being used as an intended deterrent to crime. Finally from the 1950s on, capital punishment again became unpopular and since then many nations have banned capital punishment altogether. International comparisons show us that the United States is one of the few i...
In this essay, the author
- Opines that capital punishment should be practiced in the united states because of the numerous, often conflicting perspectives from which various parties have attempted to answer it.
- Analyzes how the debate over the death penalty dates back to the late 1700s when incarceration became an alternative to killing criminals.
- Analyzes how the divisiveness stems from the fact that capital punishment is a controversial practice. the plurality of viewpoints reflects the diverse moral upbringings experienced by those with an interest in the issue.
- Explains that politicians support the death penalty because it is a sensitive issue, but the two front-runners for the democratic nomination, john kerry and john edwards, support it.
- Argues that the death penalty is just an appeal to the law of hammarabi. the law is problematically ironic in that it is intended to compensate for the loss of an innocent life.
- Explains that the moral arguments for and against capital punishment have appealing moral cases, and empirical issues come to the fore when one decides which political stance to take.
- Argues that a platform that seeks not simply to maintain but also to improve the system of capital punishment implementation might well result in voters shifting from the camp that prefers life imprisonment without parole.
- Argues that the best way to cut the cost of capital punishment is to reform the legal system in which it operates.
- Argues that strong adherents to the "death is different" claim might respond to proposed reforms by maintaining that the penalty phase and appeals process are necessary to ensure that only those who deserve to die are executed.
- Argues that there is no shortage of evidence against the claim that capital punishment is a better deterrent than life without parole.
- Argues that alternative to the death penalty is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. public opinion is split between capital punishment and life without parole, and arguments on both sides have already been rehearsed.
- Argues that cutting government funds and investing extra money in crime prevention programs is an alternative to capital punishment, but the extent to which these anti-crime policies are true alternatives is dubious.
- Argues that the debate over whether or not the united states should implement capital punishment is terribly difficult to decide conclusively. those who oppose it on strictly moral grounds are unlikely to be persuaded.
- Describes grant, stefanie, "a dialogue of the deaf?" new international attitudes and the death penalty.
- Cites the sourcebook for criminal justice statistics 2002. "public attitudes toward the death penalty."
- Explains that most politicians support the death penalty to some degree, as public opinion polls show that the majority of americans favor capital punishment.
3442 wordsRead More - Persuasive Essay On The Death Penaltyanalytical essaySince the 13 colonies were first established in America, the death penalty has been the main form of capital punishment as a firmly deep-rooted institution in the United States. Today, one of the most debated issues in the criminal justice system is the issue of capital punishment. While receiving disapproving viewpoints as those who oppose the death penalty find moral fault in capital punishment, the death penalty has taken a very different course in America while continuing to further advancements in the justice system since the start of the new millennium. While eliminating overcrowding in state jails, the death penalty has managed to save tax payers dollars as well as deteriorate crime and apprehend criminals.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the death penalty has been the main form of capital punishment in the united states since the 13 colonies were established.
- Explains that by placing convicts on death row, america has found a just way of preventing repeat offenders and deterring crime as justice deteriorates crime rates.
- Explains that many people opposing the death penalty misguidedly use christianity and the bible's beliefs of morality to dispute the ethics of the penalty.
- Argues that the death penalty should remain legal in america because it is successfully putting criminals away by the threat of them receiving lethal injection.
- Explains that the death penalty would save government funds while putting away dangerous criminals. prop 34 costs taxpayers $100 million over four years and many millions more, long term.
- Opines that the death penalty is a safe way to put away guilty persons while technological advances ensure innocent will not be executed.
- Explains that the death penalty can help ease the problem of overcrowding in prisons in america.
- Explains that the death penalty solves many problems, such as overcrowding, deterring crime, and saving tax dollars.
1644 wordsRead More - The Death Penaltyargumentative essayThe 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).
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the death penalty is an issue that will be debated in the united states for many years to come.
- Explains that the deterrent effect of punishment is thought to be a function of certainty, celerity, and severity.
- Argues that deterrence studies have failed to support the hypothesis that the death penalty is more effective than long imprisonment.
- Explains that more than sixty countries, between 1976 and 2008, abolished the death penalty for all crimes. europe is the center of the international anti-death penalty movement.
- Concludes that the death penalty is a controversial debate. some are for it and some oppose it. most people don't know which side to be on.
- Explains that states without the death penalty have had consistently low murder rates.
- Explains radelet, l., and borg, j. the changing nature of death penalty debates. annual review of sociology, 26, 43-61.
853 wordsRead More - Capital Punishment Essay: The Death Penaltyopinionated essayThe Death Penalty Offenders given mandatory life in prison on charges of murder, on average only serve 16 years before being released back into society. One in three of these killers carries out a second murder even under the supervision of the probation officer.1 If we allow murderers to spend life in prison we run the chance of them getting out and killing again. Capital punishment can also deter future perpetrators from committing such a heinous crime, and it will end the prisoner’s suffering by giving them a humane death and give closure to the victim’s family. Without a concrete meaning of “life in prison” we need the death penalty to put an end to the most evil of people. “Life should mean life.”
In this essay, the author
- Opines that capital punishment can deter future perpetrators from committing such a heinous crime.
- Opines that if the death penalty were used in this case, there are two innocent lives that could’ve been saved by putting to rest one guilty life.
- Explains that death is a fear that many individuals share. deterring future killers from committing one act would literally end their own life.
- Opines that capital punishment would end the killer's suffering and let him leave the world peacefully.
- Opines that capital punishment will create the best overall net balance of welfare in our society.
586 wordsRead More - Capital Punishment Essay - The Horror of the Death Penaltyopinionated essayThe Horror of the Death Penalty The death penalty has existed for well over 4000 years. In 1728 BC the code of Hamurabe was passed to allow legal execution. For centuries capital punishment was a public spectacle: states used executions to demonstrate the ultimate consequence of attacking the state.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that in england, the church was allowed to burn people alive at the stake.
- Explains that these executions took place in the market place so the public would be aware of them.
- Opines that the spectacle is not only to inflict pain but to provide a gruesome spectacle.
- Explains that of the more than 200 people executed in the last three years, 70% of them were executed.
- Explains that in most states, the law allows the family of the victims of convicted criminals to have a say in the case.
- Opines that it is surprising to note that the vast majority of people on death row in the us are incarcerated.
- Opines that the death penalty should be abolished.
- Opines that canada is one of the few countries that agree with my opinion.
- Opines that putting lives of gaurds and other prisoners at risk does not make sence.
- Explains that the sled was attached to the back of a horse. the body was cut off and burned in front of the body.
- Explains that those who were not sentenced to death were placed in jail and released into society to live a normal life.
- Opines that the rich go free while the poor get sentenced to death. our people will never be 100% on one side of this issue.
1004 wordsRead More - Essay On The Death Penaltyanalytical essayA death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes. Capital punishment can also be applied for treason, espionage, and other crimes. The death penalty, or capital punishment, may be prescribed by Congress or any state legislature for murder and other capital crimes. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes. the supreme court has ruled that it is not a per se violation of the eighth amendment
- Explains that the first established death penalty laws date back to the eighteenth century b.c. in the code of king hammaurabi of babylon.
- Argues that the death penalty is an important tool for preserving law and order, deters crime, and costs less than life imprisonment.
- Explains that death row inmates in the u.s. are isolated from other prisoners, excluded from educational and employment programs, and restricted in terms of visitation and exercise.
- Explains the supreme court's landmark ruling ending the execution of mentally retarded death row inmates. the court also ruled that racial disparity was not a constitutional violation unless intentional discrimination could be shown.
- Opines that the death penalty is a profitable way to punish criminals and prevents further crimes.
- Explains that all 32 states have the death penalty, including delaware and washington, which use the lethal injection method.
1306 wordsRead More - The Death Penalty Essayopinionated essayI remember earlier this year watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, where one of the character’s was supposed to be receiving the death penalty in a week. He had been stabbed in the spine though, so he was in the hospital and in need of surgery, but he was trying to convince the doctors to just let him die so he didn’t have to receive the death penalty. I remember watching that episode and thinking, “this guy murdered several people he needs to get what he deserves.” However, I do not think that is the death penalty. The death penalty should never be used on anyone even if they’re a criminal.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that 69 people have been released from death row since 1973 because of evidence that they are innocent. if the death penalty didn't exist, these people could still live long and happy lives.
- Opines that the money being used for the death penalty could be used on more effective violence prevention programs. everyone on death row should just be taken off and put in permanent imprisonment.
- Explains that the states that don't use the death penalty have lower rates of murder than those that do. the money for the death penalty should be put into programs to help communities become safer.
- Opines that the death penalty is traumatizing for the families and puts the focus on the legal consequences, instead of the human consequences.
- Opines that if a good lawyer can get someone out of the death penalty, they shouldn't even have it.
- Opines that the death penalty should never be used on anyone even if they’re a criminal.
- Opines that the death penalty is a better option for everyone, since it cuts the cost for tax-payers and keeps violent offenders off the streets forever.
1732 wordsRead More - Capital Punishment Essay - Opposition To the Death Penaltyanalytical essayOpposition To the Death Penalty During the spring semester I read Evangelium Vitae: The Gospel of Life. Paragraphs 27 and 56 of this encyclical prompted a discussion of the death penalty with other students. Their first reaction was that the Pope was against it and that he was saying that the penalty has no justification. There was general resistance to the suggestion that while the Pope's attitude toward the death penalty is, to put it mildly, unfavorable, he did not flat out say that it was immoral, wrong, without justification.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how evangelium vitae: the gospel of life prompted a discussion of the death penalty with other students. the pope's attitude toward the penalty was unfavorable, but he didn't say it was immoral, wrong, without justification.
- Analyzes how a majority of student-friends were against the death penalty. they were in favor of life imprisonment.
- Opines that life imprisonment looks attractive when compared to the death penalty, but considered in itself it is a terrible thing.
- Analyzes how the catechism says of hell, and eminent theologians have wondered aloud about it.
- Explains that the teaching of the church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.
- Opines that hell is a powerful reminder that we should use our freedom with an eye to our eternal destiny.
- Analyzes johnson's remark that imminent hanging concentrates the mind. only someone with a belief in an afterlife could have made it.
- Analyzes how dante, who turned the eye of his imagination unflinchingly on the inferno, explained to scala what the meaning of the commedia is.
- Explains that human action is responsible for what we freely do. their ultimate answerability is in the next life where they will be permanently marked by the way they have acted here.
- Analyzes how sartre blew the whistle on those who thought they could deny god and still have natural law, rules that bind us whether we like it or not.
- Explains that moral philosophers have scrambled to provide some rationale for ethics, but they have failed. in the resultant flatland, there are only claimants and rights, pragmatic adjustments in which we mutually exploit one another.
- Opines that justice kennedy's ruling makes a person victim of tyranny. their judgment of their actions can only be imposed on them by their way of looking at things.
- Explains that most of us muddle on as if none of this was being taught or showing up in supreme court decisions. the cognoscenti recognize this - even as they are grateful for it.
- Opines that there is mounting opposition to the death penalty, and the reason for it should be sought in the effective denial that human agents are responsible.
- Argues that the nihilism and relativism that reign in the classroom and courts trivialize human action.
- Analyzes how the spanish dominican niceto blazquez ignores the passage of the catechism which ranks the points of punishment.
- Explains the primary effect of punishment is to redress the disorder caused by the offense.
- Explains that punishment is primarily to redress the disorder caused by the offense; secondarily, it protects society against future offenses. paragraph 2267 states that public authority should limit itself to bloodless means to defend human lives and protect public order and safety.
- Argues that imprisonment for crimes now reckoned as capital could meet the primary point of punishment, which is to redress the disorder caused by the criminal act.
- Explains that capital punishment removes the offender from society by killing him, while life imprisonment locks him up and throws away the key in irreparable disorder caused by the offense.
- Argues that to ally ourselves with the culture of death's opposition to the death penalty might lend credence to its diminished notion of action, responsibility and judgment.
- Analyzes how a dante-like defense of human dignity could be made by supporting the death penalty. when gary gilmore was converted in prison, protesters still gathered in candlelit vigil outside the prison.
2434 wordsRead More - Capital Punishment Essay - America Needs the Death Penaltyopinionated essayAmerica Needs the Death Penalty Ever since the death penalty has been declared constitutional in 1976, thousands of people have been placed on death row and 314 of them have been executed. ( Yaffe,1) Thirty-eight states now allow the death penalty, with New York being the last to adapt this legislation last March. Massachusetts and Iowa have been trying to pass a law that would to allow the death penalty to be used in their states. Capital punishment is most often saved for murder and sometimes arson, treason, burglary, and forcible rape of a 14 year old or under from a 18 year old or older, but it varies within each state.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that thousands of people have been placed on death row, and 314 of them were sentenced to death.
- Explains that iowa has been trying to pass a law that would allow the death penalty to be used.
- Describes the state's requirements for 18-year-olds, but states vary.
- Opines that criminals see that more and more people are getting the death penalty.
- Opines that if no evidence is found by then to prove their innocence, chances are no.
- Analyzes how the same book advocates "life for life," "eye for eye," and "life for life."
- Opines that those sentenced for 50 years to life in prison end up getting out.
- Opines that more money is being spent or dangerous criminals are going to be put back onto the streets.
- Opines that opponents of the death penalty say that the execution would cost more, but that is not true.
- Explains that the death penalty goes on for a long time and when the jury can't decide.
- Opines that fairness and its continued use will help society in many ways.
- Opines that all human life has the right to be respected but there is a point when that right can be lost if someone takes the life of another human being.
- Opines that people who want to be stuck in a small cell are being put out of their misery by being executed.
- Opines that opponents of the death penalty feel that it is unfair because it denies the person the privilege to be retried if any new evidence comes up.
- Explains that if inmates are eventually let out, most have nowhere to go and it is hard for them to find a job so they will return to their old ways.
- Opines that it is too expensive to keep all these criminals in prison until they die.
- Opines that criminals will be forced to return to the streets of society and it will lessen costs than keeping an inmate in prison for the rest of their lives.
- Opines that at least there is one less person out there to victimize them and that person will never be able to hurt.
1316 wordsRead More - Essay On Capital Punishmentanalytical essayCapital Punishment: Does the End Justify the Means? The only crime in the United States that is legally punishable by death is criminal homicide. While the definition of murder has undergone rigorous analysis, legal scholars often ignore the theoretical justification for capital punishment. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling in 1976 that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, there is little debate on the justificatory aspect of the death penalty in law.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty in 1976, but legal scholars often ignore the theoretical justification for capital punishment.
- Explains the aristotelian ethical theory, which suggests that capital punishment is a fitting punishment for acts of murder in some cases where the being has acted voluntarily and viciously.
- Explains that defenders of capital punishment can be divided into two categories. some are retributivists and follow immanuel kant's theory, while others follow john stewart mill’s consequentialist approach.
- Analyzes immanuel kant's work on social and political philosophy that every rational being had both an innate right to freedom and a duty to enter into civil conditions governed by social contract.
- Analyzes how kant's metaphysics of morals states that if an offender commits a murder, he must die. there is no parallel between death and even the most miserable life.
- Explains john stewart mill's interpretation of utilitarianism, an ethical theory based on the concept that an actions morality should be judged solely upon its resulting universal happiness.
- Explains that mill supported capital punishment in a speech before parliament in 1868. he believes that it is morally necessary to prevent the taking of innocent lives.
- Argues that capital punishment honors human dignity by treating the offender as a free being able to control his own will for good or for evil; it does not treat him as an animal with no moral awareness.
- Argues that the moral reason for upholding capital punishment is reverence for life itself, which is the reason scripture and christian tradition have upheld it.
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