Should Capital Punishment Be Legal?

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Capital punishment is a very controversial issue today. There are good statements made on both sides of the argument. A couple of questions should be asked before deciding which side to take in the never ending debate of capital punishment. Is capital punishment a cruel and unusual way of punishing serious offenders? Should the mentally ill be susceptible to capital punishment? A lot of states made capital punishment legal, but not all of them use it as freely as some states like Texas.

The state of New Jersey supports capital punishment as a form, of corrections, but some of the offenders end up waiting for the day of their execution until the day they die. On the other hand, Texas, also a state that supports capital punishment as a form of corrections uses it more than any other state. Recently there has been a joke made by a comedian from Texas, that some of the sates are trying to abolish capital punishment as a form of corrections, while Texas is trying to pass a bill that speeds up the process for those that are on death row. He said: "Some sates are trying to abolish capital punishment, while Texas, on the other hand is trying to create an express lane.

There are many negatives to the idea of putting someone on death row. Isn't the idea of corrections in general to correct the wrong doings of an individual and incorporate them back into the society? Capital punishment doesn't really go along with the idea of incorporating the offender back into society; on the contrary, it just gets rid of the individual, because in society eyes, the offence committed is so wrong, that the person is no longer able to return into society. On the other hand, how can one really know if the person is really able to change his ways.

Ca...

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.... What kind of punishment is that? How does this help the victim's family? What assures us that he will not kill again in prison?

Even though there are legit arguments on both sides of the never ending debate of the death penalty, with our under budgeted corrections system, the death penalty should be legal and should have an "express lane." This would create a safer environment for the prison staff and more space for the offender that can be reformed and let back into the community.

Works Cited

"More economical than life sentence." April 25, 2004. http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/spring/cap/pro5.htm

King, T. Hammurabi's code of laws. April 25, 2004. http://www.canadianlawsite.com/Hammurabi'sCode.htm

Notes

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