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What is the impact of the death penalty on society
Arguments for and against capital punishment
Arguments for and against capital punishment
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I believe that capital punishment has its benefits and can prevent murders when used and understood correctly.
The death penalty given to people judged to have committed extremely heinous crimes such as murder has been a practice since before the beginning of Christianity.
Since the 1800s most executions have resulted from convictions for murder. The United
States is the only Western industrialized nation that still proceeds in capital punishment.
War crimes, spying and murder are the only three offenses that have the possible penalty of the death sentence. In recent years, capital punishment has become a very controversial issue in the United States and other countries.
Opposition to the death penalty says that states that have capital punishment have a very high crime rate. What they do not take into consideration is that all the states are different and have different populations, different numbers of major cities, and different crime rates. There is currently no capital punishment in Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine,
Massachusetts, Michigan, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and
Wisconsin. --Almost all have lower populations and a low crime rate. In otherwords, the states that have capital punishment have it because of the high crime rates, not the other way around.
Studies have shown that capital punishment deters murders. In 1985, a study published by economist Stephen K. Layson at the University of North Carolina showed that every execution of a murderer deters, on average, 18 murders. The study also showed that raising the number of death sentences by one percent could prevent 105 murders. It does not seem fair to me that a murderer can live while innocent people are dying, especially when it can be prevented.
Violent crimes are capable of being deterred by lethal consequences for their actions if only on a sub-conscience level. If the death penalty were just as consistent, lethal, and as unstoppable as the AIDS virus, criminals would have reason to back down.
Following on from that, is the fact that abolitionists may claim that most studies show that the death penalty has no effect on the murder rate at all. That is only because those studies have focused on inconsistent executions. Capital punishment like all oth...
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...penalty is not cruel or unusual, and is a Constitutionally accepted remedy for a criminal act. In Trop v. Dulles, Chief Justice Eark Warren, no friend of the death penalty said, “Whatever the arguments may be against capital punishment, both on moral grounds and on grounds and in terms of accomplishing the purpose of punishment… the death penalty has been employed throughout our history, and in a day when it is still widely accepted, it cannot be said to violate the concept of cruelty.” So the constitution does allow capital punishment.
As for the penal system accidentally executing an innocent person, that is a problem with the court system not capital punishment. It is up to the jury and judge in a murder case to decide whether or not a person is guilty or innocent, and if the murderer should be put to death.
So capital punishment is very capable of deterring murder if we allow it to, but the legal system is so slow and inefficient, criminals are able to stay several steps ahead of us and gain leeway through our lenience. Several reforms must be made in the justice system so the death penalty can cause positive effect.
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.
Capital punishment causes the death of someone because that person killed someone else, yet only murderers suffer such a fate. Rapists do not endure rape, thieves do not have their possessions robbed, and those convicted of assault do not undergo a similar assault.
Robert Lee makes many arguments to argue justification of capital punishment in his article, “Deserving to Die.” Some of the stronger ones involve the deterrent effect of the use of the death penalty, why the cost of execution is so high, and how the use of the death penalty increases overall public safety. In Lee’s first argument, he argues that the use of capital punishment helps reduce overall crime by acting as a deterrent to crime. In at least one respect, capital punishment is unquestionably a deterrent, as Lee puts it, “It simply cannot be contested that a killer, once executed, is forever deterred from killing again” (142). Of course, a deceased killer can never kill again, but the effect that death penalty has on others, potential future criminals, is the important question. Lee argues that whether or not it is a deterrent, relies on how swiftly and surely the death penalty is executed. The majority of people are afraid of dying, and if they could choose, would prefer not to die anytime soon. This proves how the death penalty can be a deterrent to other potential criminals to not kill someone, out of fear that they will be put to death themselves. There have also been some circumstances where actual statistical evidence proves the deterrent effect of capital punishment. In the time since the Utah Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that capital punishment be legalized again in the state, there have been three executions. After each of the executions, specifically the year after the executions took place, there were significant decreases in both the number and the rate of murders within the state, compared to previous year(s) (Lee 143). Lee himself does acknowledge that of course there are other variables that could have influence...
It is morally justified to kill criminals who have lost their right to life and whom we have a right to kill.
...d the crime in some states. This is because some states in the United States do not have the death penalty but have the life sentence. This can also be for different countries. For instance, if someone in one country or state gets sentenced to the death penalty, but then someone who committed about the same crime in another country or state gets a life sentence. One man in one country or state has to die while the other in the other country or state gets to live. Finally, the death penalty is unreliable and not properly used because most trials have some serious errors. A statistic by Columbia University Law School says that two thirds of all capital trials had some major errors. It also stated that after the cases retired, over 80% of the defendants were not given the death sentence and only 7% were completely free (“Innocence (In Opposition to the Death Penalty)”).
The 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 the first place, Capital Punishment is the only real punishment that fits the crime of murder and
Capital offenses are crimes against the State or the Country. These crimes are not limited to death of one victim, but also include treason, espionage, genocide, and terrorism that result in death. Capital offenses vary on the state and federal level. State offenses that result in the death penalty are homicide cases with an average of 10 aggravating factors, and in some cases the aggravated sexual assault of a minor especially under 13. This was debated as being unconstitutional under the decision handed down by the Supreme Court in the case of Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008). The Supreme Court ruled that in this specific case where the aggravated rape of minor did not result in death, it was
While we may all want murders off the street, the problem we come to face is that capital punishment is being used for vengeance or as a deterrent. Capital punishment has been used worldwide, not only by the governments to instill fear, but to show that there are repercussions to ones actions. From the time we are born, we are taught to learn the difference between right and wrong. It is ingrained in our brains, what happens to people that do bad things? Capital punishment is renowned for being the worst thing that could be brought amongst ones life.
Actually, the death penalty may have an effect that is the opposite of what is intended. After John Spenkelink was executed in Florida homicides seemed to rise, and observers have noted the same phenomenon in other circumstances.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, in 2010, in non-death penalty states the murder rate is around 4.1 per 100,000 as supposed to in states having death penalty where the murder rate is around 4.5 per
The death penalty deters murder. The death penalty is the best way to stop a killer from killing someone else. Some say that prison is enough, but it isn’t. Death is necessary because if they are only sent to prison there is always the risk that some day the same killer that brutally killed a 5-year old or raped and strangle a college student might return to the streets.
Fein, Bruce. "Individual Rights and Responsibility - The Death Penalty, But Sparingly." Speech. American Bar Association. Feb. 2003. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Crimes punishable by death include rape, murder, adultery and kidnapping, all of which should be punishable. in a more civilized way and not by the death sentence. All in all, There are thirty-five crimes punishable by death, ranging from assassinations to the shoplifting. As a community, we should attempt to. help these people by giving them counselling, for example, instead of... ...
Lester PH. D., David. "Are Murderers Likely to Murder Again?" The Death Penalty. 2nd ed. Il: Charles C. Thomas. 1988. 118.