The death penalty is one of the most important issues that challenges the criminal justice system today, not just because it is the most severe form of punishment but also because it affects other major aspects of the criminal justice system. The first establishment of the death penalty, dates back to the eighteenth century. In those times, over 40 crimes could get you executed despite the extent of the crime committed. It is a very emotional topic, which may have affected or will be affecting families worldwide. Since 1976 to the present day, a total of 1,421 executions have been performed in the United States. In the year 1995 alone, 56 inmates were executed and over 200 were sentenced to death. The lethal injection is primarily used across …show more content…
How fair is it that the life of someone is taken away, while the murderer enjoys it? The death penalty receives support because of the removal of a threat to society. Even behind bars, it is easy for a criminal to have influence on the world. With the death penalty being an option, it will ensure the criminal does not strike again. Not every crime is penalized with capital punishment, but action must be taken on severe crimes. Mass shootings and terrorism are examples of occurrences that society would want revenge on. “For while there is no doubting the horrible deeds of Bin Laden and his henchmen, or of a handful of notorious murderers, the vast majority of death penalty cases are much less clear-cut” (Hartnett). The death penalty should be active for such extreme scenarios and for single murders to serve peace to those affected. Serving closure for victims as the murderer has deprived the life of a loved …show more content…
More black and hispanic people are killed. “Specifically, results from a multivariate analysis indicate that prosecutors are more likely to seek death in cases including female victims and that cases including a Black defendant and a White victim are less likely to result in a plea bargain than cases involving other victim/offender racial dyads” (Richards). The death penalty is not only racially biased but also biased towards people’s income levels. Money buys you good defense. Who gets the death penalty? The poor. Just along how they pay for the death penalty out of their own pocket. By law, if an arrestee cannot afford a lawyer they must be provided one by the state to complete court procedures. An attorney who is overworked and underpaid will not guarantee the best defense, therefore, higher risk of arrestee being convicted. A fair amount of court cases have been overturned on appeal because of incompetent court appointed defense
Throughout the history of man there has always existed a sort of rule pertaining to retribution for just and unjust acts. For the just came rewards, and for the unjust came punishments. This has been a law as old as time. One philosophy about the treatment of the unjust is most controversial in modern time and throughout our history; which is is the ethical decision of a death penalty. This controversial issue of punishment by death has been going on for centuries. It dates back to as early as 399 B.C.E., to when Socrates was forced to drink hemlock for his “corruption of the youth” and “impiety”.
Capital punishment results in the victims family gaining a greater sense of security, making sure the criminal is able to be punished to the highest degree for his crime, and honoring retribution. The issue of capital punishment has created a division
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.
The Death Penalty practice has always been a topic of major debate and ethical concern among citizens in society. The death penalty can be defined as the authorization to legally kill a person as punishment for committing a crime, this practice is also known as Capital Punishment. The purpose of creating a harsher punishment for criminals was to deter other people from committing atrocious crimes and it was also intended to serve as a way of incapacitation and retribution. In fact, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are some of the basic concepts in the justice system, which explain the intentions of creating punishments as a consequence for illegal conduct. In the United States, the Congress approved the federal death penalty on June 25, 1790 and according to the Death Penalty Focus (DPF, 2011) organization website “there have been 343 executions, two of which were women”.
It's dark and cold, the fortress-like building has cinderblock walls, and death lurks around the perimeter. A man will die tonight. Under the blue sky, small black birds gather outside the fence that surrounds the building to flaunt their freedom. There is a gothic feel to the scene, as though you have stepped into a horror movie.
The Death Penalty is very controversial because some people believe is a good Idea while others think is not a good idea at all. Lethal injection has become the preferred method of execution in the United States since the early 80 'sIn the United States the death penalty is used as a punishment for capital offenses. These specifics can vary from state to state, but commonly include first-degree murder, murder with special circumstances, rape with additional bodily harm, and the federal crime of treason. Lethal injection is a process that allows a convict to be put down quickly and painlessly. The death penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not
Most death row inmates are members of minority groups that tend to be poor. The fact they are on death row can be explained as a direct result of their marginal economic status. These alleged criminals receive legal representation that is not adequate for the serious crimes of which they are accused, simply because they cannot afford to pay for expensive defense attorneys (The Death Penalty). In virtually all cases of indigent defendants, underpaid and less experienced Public Defense attorneys are appointed by the court to represent the accused. Investigative monies are usually limited or nonexistent. This is one reason why minorities are over-represented on death row. More affluent white defen...
Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System “We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment,” stated Senator Russ Feingold. Even though racism has always been a problem since the beginning of time, recently in the United States, there has been a rise in discrimination and violence has been directed towards the African American minority primarily from those in the white majority who believe they are more superior, especially in our criminal justice system. There are many different reasons for the ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system between the majority and the minority, but some key reasons are differential involvement, individual racism, and institutional racism to why racial disparities exist in Institutional racism is racism that is shown through government organizations and political institutions. In a report done by David Baldus in 1998, he discovered that when it comes to the death penalty, blacks are more likely sentenced to death than whites, and those who kill whites are more likely to be given the death penalty than the killing of blacks (Touré).
In the Time article, “The Death of the Death Penalty”, David Von Drehle addresses the controversial issue of the death penalty. The death penalty in the United States is a declining and flawed method of punishment. The problem of the American death penalty is still an issue in this day and age. Von Drehle compresses the flaws of the death penalty into five simple reasons.
Since 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.
“A Death in Texas” by Steve Earle is the true-life story of a friendship that occurred over ten
When a person of color is being sentenced the unjustness of sentencing is blatantly shown such as in the article Race Sentencing and Testimony which stated, “ These scholars conclude that black male arrestees “face significantly more severe charges conditional on arrest offense and other observed characteristics” and attribute this primarily to prosecution charging decisions” (Mauer 4). This piece of writing explains that for no other reason than race do these people get convicted far more significantly than others who have the same charge but are white, which continues as far as giving a person of color the max sentence that they can have on a certain charge just for the color of their skin. The justice system has turned into the opposite of what it claims to be and continues to grow as a racist overseer, bashing down on those that they believe should be punished as harshly as possible simply for the color of their skin. The system has gone as deep as to making it so that even if a person has not committed a crime, but are being charged for it they can agree to a plea bargain, which makes it so even though the person did not do it the system is going to have them convicted of it anyway (Quigley 1). “As one young man told me ‘who wouldn’t rather do three years for a crime they didn’t commit than risk twenty-five years
Saleh-Hanna, a contributer to the book 'The Case for Penal Abolition' has recently done some research and found that, ?research and evidence has shown that most prisoners are poor, they come from minority populations and have faced great discrimination and racism in the community both before they committed their crimes and during the criminal justice process.? The death penalty is racist because there are higher percentages among those of ethical background. Quoted from the book, Death Penalty Cases: Leading U.S Supreme Court Cases on Capital Punishment, Death-penalty opponents respond that the race card plays a role in other ways. When a defendant has been convicted of killing a white person the odds that the defendant will be executed by the state are much higher. Eighty-five percent of those who have been executed since 1976 were convicted for killing a white person, while only 13% were executed for killing a black person. When will people realized that just because a person is of another race that they are more dangerous than another race.
When someone is legally convicted of a capital crime, it is possible for their punishment to be execution. The Death Penalty has been a controversial topic for many years. Some believe the act of punishing a criminal by execution is completely inhumane, while others believe it is a necessary practice needed to keep our society safe. In this annotated bibliography, there are six articles that each argue on whether or not the death penalty should be illegalized. Some authors argue that the death penalty should be illegal because it does not act as a deterrent, and it negatively effects the victim’s families. Other scholar’s state that the death penalty should stay legalized because there is an overcrowding in prisons and it saves innocent’s lives. Whether or not the death penalty should be
Capital punishment has been a controversial topic in association to any person condemned to a serious committed crime. Capital punishment has been a historical punishment for any cruel crime. Issues associated to things such as the different methods used for execution in most states, waste of taxpayers’ money by performing execution, and how it does not serve as any form of justice have been a big argument that raise many eyebrows. Capital punishment is still an active form of deterrence in the United States. The history of the death penalty explains the different statistics about capital punishment and provides credible information as to why the form of punishment should be abolished by every state. It is believed