The Cruelty of Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is the legal infliction the death penalty. It is obviously the most severe form of criminal punishment. (Bedau1) Capital punishment is a controversial way of dealing with violent criminals. The main alternative to the death penalty is life in prison. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years as a means of eradicating criminals. A giant debate started between supporters and opposers of execution, over the morality and effectiveness of the death penalty. The supporters claim that if you take a life you should pay with your life or "an eye for an eye". Opposers of the death penalty bring up the chance of sentencing the innocent and how the death penalty is inhumane. The purpose of this paper is to examine the process of capital punishment and the moral viewpoints on the death penalty. The first evidence of capital punishment is from Hammurabi's code, a book of Babylonian law, from 1700BC. The Bible mentions that execution should be used for many crimes. (Bedau1) One example of the death penalty in the bible is "Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death." (Exodus 21:12). The bible also suggests stoning a woman if she unmarried sex and had "wrought folly on Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house" (Deuteronomy 22:21) England recognized seven major crimes that called for execution by the end of the 15th century. These crimes were: murder, theft (by deceitfully taking someone goods), burglary, rape, and arson. As time went by more and more crimes were believed to deserve the death penalty and by 1800 more than 200 crimes were recognized as punishable by death. (Bedau2) It was not long before capital punishment met opposition. The Q...
... middle of paper ...
...unusual punishment'? We must devise more sane methods of execution which are quick and efficient. Most importantly we must make the appeals process more orderly to cut down on the glut of inmates on death row, and therefore cut down on the money wasted housing prisoners during the appeals process.
--- Works Cited
1. Bedau, Hugo Adam "Capital Punishment" Encarta 96 Encyclopedia (CD-ROM) Microsoft Corporation, 1996.
2. The Bible
3. Bedau, Hugo A. "Capital Punishment" Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (CD-ROM) Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. 1995.
4. Guernsey, JoAnn Bren. Should We Have Capital Punishment?. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co., 1993.
5. http://www.hotsites.com/fightback/jfa/DP.html (website)
6. Bender, David L., and Bruno Leone. The Death Penalty Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1991.
Randa, Laura E. “Society’s Final Solution: A History and Discussion of the Death Penalty.” (1997). Rpt.in History of the Death Penalty. Ed. Michael H. Reggio. University Press of America, Inc., 1997. 1-6 Print.
The essay pans the whole world and presents the death penalty practices. In the last paragraph the paper focuses on the USA exclusively.
Since the year, 1976 one thousand- three hundred and ninety-two individuals have been sentenced to capital-punishment. The term capital punishment has been coined to kindly identify the death penalty or execution. The death penalty has remained a major controversy for quite some time. Today, one of the most debated issues within the criminal justice system is the issue of whether or not the death penalty should be seen as being an ethical procedure. Prior to the year 1972, it had been seen as being legal. In 1972, the Supreme Court evaluated the terms of the death penalty and ruled it as being unconstitutional (History of the Death Penalty). The right or execution violated citizens eighth and fourteenth amendment rights. Nevertheless, the Supreme Court contradicted themselves in 1976 and reinstated the death penalty. Today, it is up to the states discretion rather or not they are going to permit capital-punishment. Through this essay the reader will read the pros and cons of the death penalty and the writers standpoint in regards to the capital
Murray, Gregg R. "Raising Considerations: Public Opinion And The Fair Application Of The Death Penalty." Social Science Quarterly (Wiley-Blackwell) 84.4 (2003): 753-770. Business Source Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
25 Hugo Adams Bedau, The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) 250.
Opposition against capital punishment gained interest and momentum during European Enlightenment and as a result all western nations, apart from The United States have put an end to this inhumane practise (8). These are just three specific points that are being used to argue against the topic at hand, but there are various lenses that can be used to analyze why capital punishment presents issues within the legal system. As previously mentioned, this is an extreme measure of action taken against a criminal that is irreversible once committed compared to imprisonment. The chance of error is present and many individuals have lost their lives for crimes they have not committed, once proven innocent it was too late. In the year of 1932 a total of
Possessing the basic knowledge in the field of physical sciences and the intuition in them made me to pick up Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry as my majors for the Higher Secondary Education. After the completion of my secondary education, I felt that engineering was the only field which can transform and transfer my dreams in the field of sciences into a real one and also it would give me an opportunity to learn and explore how the fundamentals of science are appl...
Capital punishment is one of the most hotly debated issues in politics and criminal justice today. The ability of the government and the judicial system to punish a criminal in the most severe way, the taking of their ability to live, is an issue that is discussed and evaluated nearly every day. Capital punishment has its roots in history though. Ever since man has formed societies he has used capital punishment as a form of punishment for criminals. The United States has also been using capital punishment for a long time. Many people think that capital punishment is a very barbaric form of punishment that should be gotten rid of. They think that no civilized nation should allow such sanctioned brutality. P61According to Ron Fridell, ?capital punishment has been abolished in all of Europe and most of Latin America, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. The United States remains the only Western nation in which capital punishment is still practiced.? Other people think that the death penalty is an effective and just way of punishing offenders for the most heinous of crimes. This paper will try to describe the death penalty, where it came from, and its role in the judicial system today.
Like all engineers, architectural engineers apply the theories and principles of science and mathematics to research and develop economical solutions to technical problems. Their work is the link between scientific discoveries and commercial applications. Engineers design products, machinery to build those products, factories in which those products are made, and the systems that ensure the quality of the product and efficiency of the workforce and manufacturing process. Engineers design, plan, and supervise the construction of buildings, highways, and transit systems. They develop new materials that both improve the performance of products and help implement advances in technology. Engineering knowledge is applied to improving many things, including the quality of health care, the safety of food products, and the efficient operation of financial systems.
There are eleven basic types of engineering each with their own subcategories that the careers specialize in. The one that interests me the most, mechanical engineering, utilizes multiple categories of engineering but mostly focuses on moving parts. Because mechanical engineering uses more concepts of the other sub-categories of engineering than any other, it is a very flexible career that no employers can go without (Constant). This article is all about engineering and gives a decent overview of most of its branches and fundamentals.
Civil engineering is a very demanding yet fulfilling career, as the engineer is able to work on a project from its inception right to its completion. When you drive over a bridge, see a building, fly out of an airport, or visit a museum, a civil engineer has had a major part in that
An engineer is the person who build, design and maintains machines, engine or public works. It is very important to have engineer in the society or country. This is because they are the person who responsible to invent things and create new technology. There are many type of engineer in this world. For example, mechanical engineer, chemical engineer, electrical engineer and biomedical engineer. Each field of engineering has their own role and specific work. The engineer must cooperate to each other to solve the problem of society. They cannot work on their own or selfish in facing or solving the problem. So, an engineer must good in teamwork. The soft skills is very important. Every engineer must know how to work together or other people will
In conclusion, civil engineers have a responsibility to deal with current issues in a professional and ethical manner for the benefit of society. The topics discusses included: high energy consumption of buildings, the need for efficient water resources, transportation planning, poor infrastructures doomed to failure, the need to have higher standards to become a licensed professional engineer, how globalization has affected all engineers, and the need to have more professional use advance engineering informatics. All these subjects were pondered about how these challenges can be overcome are there effective methods that engineers can apply today. Unfortunately, not all problems are easy to handle.
Civil engineering encompasses many specializations, and many hold supervisory positions. Some specializations of civil engineering include structural, construction, and geotechnical engineering. When supervising the construction of things ranging from roads to dams, engineers must consider factors such as construction costs, government regulations, and environmental hazards. Additionally, civil engineers may also spend their time doing research, and at the same time teaching future engineers
Civil engineering has the oldest of the disciplines of engineering. It has existed for years but not as a career which is "Civil Engineering". It is only in 1747 when the first civil engineering school was opened. It was founded by John Smeaton and the first person that called himself as a civil engineer. Civil engineering includes designing and building all types of structures such as designing water-supply and sewer systems, designing railroads and highways and also it includes planning cities. Then after about 100 years the world's first engineering society was found, which was called "Institution of Civil Engineers".