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death penalty capital punishment
capital punishment death penalty
capital punishment death penalty
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1st Negative case You have heard from the affirmative side and you may disagree or agree with some of their points, but the reality is that their plan will not and cannot succeed in today’s society. True, on paper the plan looks very good, but it will not work. Today’s present system, with the death penalty is much better off then without it. The negative side, which my partner and I represent, feels that the death penalty should not be abolished and that today’s system, which allows states to choose if they want to impose the death penalty, should continue to be used. It is true that innocent people have been executed, but that number is miniscule compared to the amount of “true” criminals that are rightfully executed. There is 28-step procedure necessary before any person can be given a death sentence. By having the process consist of numerous steps and involving many different people, human error is greatly reduced. The death penalty is not racially or gender bias, much to the contrary of what the affirmative team believes. The fact is that men commit more crimes, so they will be convicted at a greater rate then women. The ratio of men to women on death row and executed is 68:1 or 3400:50 (NAACP Spring 1996). From 1976-1994, men committed 7 times as many murders as women or a 7:1 ratio (Sourcebook ’94). Therefore, it may be statically shown that men are, by a 70:1 ratio, more likely to be on death row then are women. Like gender bias, racial bias is nonexistent in the rulings involving the death penalty. Whites represent 56% of those executed, and blacks 38% (NAACP Summer of 1996). The other 6% are other minorities. The death penalty is not bias to any race, but by just looking at the numbers it may seem that it is. The total populations of each race will give the illusion of bias, but that is not true. The affirmative side also argues that the cost of life in prison without parole is much cheaper then the cost of the death penalty, but this, like their charge of bias, is also untrue. The death penalty is millions cheaper then life without parole in the long run, but when our numbers are compared to the affirmative’s numbers no right or wrong conclusion can be reached. No one team can give impartial numbers since studies by both sides are bias.
From the time the first colonists arrived in the late Sixteen Hundreds Pennsylvania executions were carried out by public hanging (Cor.state.pa.us, 2014). In Eighteen Forty Three, Pennsylvania became the first state to abolish public hangings. From Eighteen Thirty Four until Nineteen Fifty Three each county was responsible for carrying out private hanging of criminal within the wall of the county jail.
These are the facts that kill the pros arguments; the death penalty does not deter people from committing murder, and actually in a strange twist of logic death penalty states have higher homicide rates then non death penalty states. Most people believe that it is cheaper to sentence people to death, wrong again. The following states that have reported higher costs for the sentence of the death penalty verses life without the possibility of parole are, Texas, Kansas, Maryland, California, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. These are the facts that strengthen the cons arguments; there is undeniable proof that all methods used to carry out the penalty of death can cause the offender to suffer in a cruel and unusual way. There is a disparity in sentencing towards minorities for the death penalty, “defendants convicted of killing a white person were 4 times more likely to be sentenced to death then if they had killed a black person” (Stull, 2012). If our sentencing of the death penalty was fair and not racist, then each state that has the death penalty should have around the same number of people given that sentence for a set number of people living in that state. Yet, “82% of the 900 executions performed in the U.S. were carried out by only ten states with Texas and Virginia accounting for more than half of those executions” (ACLU, n.d.) that’s not
The Death penalty should be abolished because it favors racism. Over the past decade Prison Policy Initiative, claim “42.9% Percent of death row that is African-American while the population of African Americans is 12.8% in the U.S. Eleven and two percent of death row that is Hispanic while the
Racial discrimination has been an immense problem in our society for a very long time. The fact that the race of a victim plays a role in his or her sentencing is appalling. Discrimination within our society needs to come to an end. It’s frightening to think that if you are a minority facing a capital punishment case, which you might be found guilty only because of the color of your skin.
... of exonerations from the death penalty has increased over the years, it can be seen that this process convicts innocents due to misidentification by eyewitnesses or incorrect results from several forensic tests. Many of those in the death penalty happen to be either black or those who cannot afford a proper lawyer. The criminal justice system acting in a biased manner shows that these black and poor people could be some of the innocents standing in the death row. In order to better the death penalty, the process is time-consuming and consists of many key leaders to eliminate errors. Because the process is very complicated and long, the death penalty costs a huge amount of money and all that money comes from taxpayers. If the death penalty is abolished from US, the public can use all that extra money to improve crime prevention methods to help keep the society safe.
Race plays a large factor in showing how you are viewed in society. Although there is no longer slavery and separate water fountains, we can still see areas of our daily life clearly affected by race. One of these areas is the criminal justice system and that is because the color of your skin can easily yet unfairly determine if you receive the death penalty. The controversial evidence showing that race is a large contributing factor in death penalty cases shows that there needs to be a change in the system and action taken against these biases. The issue is wide spread throughout the United States and can be proven with statistics. There is a higher probability that a black on white crime will result in a death penalty verdict than black on black or white on black. Race will ultimately define the final ruling of the sentence which is evident in the racial disparities of the death penalty. The amount of blacks on death row can easily be seen considering the majority of the prison population is black or blacks that committed the same crime as a white person but got a harsher sentence. The biases and prejudices that are in our society relating to race come to light when a jury is selected to determine a death sentence. So what is the relationship between race and the death penalty? This paper is set out to prove findings of different race related sentences and why blacks are sentenced to death more for a black on white crime. Looking at the racial divide we once had in early American history and statistics from sources and data regarding the number of blacks on death row/executed, we can expose the issues with this racial dilemma.
The death penalty or capital punishment is a controversial topic that many people like to ignore, or put on the back burner. The death penalty is a sentence, while capital punishment is the actual execution. It is wrong and immoral. In extreme crime cases where the death penalty would be considered, life without parole is the better consequence. Innocent people could, and have been put to death wrongfully. Racial bias, along with multiple other problems that this consequence holds shows why this sentence is an issue. Despite many flaws this sentence holds, states still actively use it. As of now, there are thirty-one states with the death penalty. The conversation is split between two groups. The people who want to abolish that sentence, and
Although white people make up more than half of the United States population, they are not given the death penalty for their race but the crime they committed. If a person, black or white, murders and there is substantial evidence that they are guilty, they deserve the punishment of death. The Bureau of Justice Statistics also invalidates the argument that capital punishment is carried out against certain races, stating “white sentenced to death are executed 17 months faster than blacks” (Sharp). There is neither evidence nor statistics to prove that there are disparities against black people or minorities, or even white people. In Maryland in 2001, a moratorium on capital punishment was implemented “in light of concerns that it may be evenly applied to minorities” (Muhlhausen). Ray Paternoster, professor of criminology at the University of Maryland, studied the possible racial discrimination of the death penalty in Maryland and concluded that “for both capital charges and death sentences, race either played no role of a small role that is very difficult to specify” (Muhlhausen). Professor Paternoster examined past cases in Maryland and could not gather enough evidence to conclude that racial discrimination is a part of putting into effect the death penalty. Concerns raised by opposition to capital punishment were inaccurate because as it was proved, it was
If the defender in a case is black, the chance of being sentenced to death is 3.9 times greater than if the defender is white. If the victim is white, the chance of being sentenced to death is 4.8 times greater than if the victim is black. Since 1975 over one thousand African Americans have been murdered, yet as of 1999 all thirty nine of the state’s death row inmates were for murdering white victims. None were for killing a black victim. (Mary E. Williams, 67) This is discrimination! It’s exactly what we have been trying to get rid of since the civil war, yet here are the ones who say it is wrong doing in front of everybody’s eyes! Once again, the courts are being hypocrites. The percentages of executions also vary depending on where you live. In the South the percentage of executions is 80% while in the Northeast there is only a 0.5% percentage of executions. (Mary E. Williams, 67) If criminal knew this, there would be more murders in the Northeast because they know they have a better chance of just going to jail, rather than being killed themselves. We must abolish the death penalty to stop people from committing felonies all throughout the country, not just in specific
The death penalty is not a good solution to crime. The ultimate purpose of the justice system is to control crime by punishing criminals and protect people by imprisoning them. Compared to the death penalty, life imprisonment not only achieves the same goals but also in many ways it can be more effective than capital punishment. In the Vincent Brothers’ case of 2004, Brothers murdered five of his family members- his wife, children, and mother in law. During his trial, his only surviving daughter Margaret Kerns-Brothers gave a heart-wrenching testimony about how the moment she walks out of this courtroom, she would be resigning from the Brothers’ family. In her eyes, her biological father was only a man handcuffed to a chair. Brothers should have to live the rest of his life with his daughter’s words forever cut into his heart. This punishment is emotionally and mentally far worse than the death penalty. There are many other reasons why death penalty is shown to not be a good solution to crime. One of the problems is racial disparity. Jason Kotowski’s article in The (CA) Bakersfield California reports that, “Some thought Brothers was getting what he deserved (death sentence), while others argued that the jury was racially biased and Brothers didn’t receive a fair trial.” Many people believe that the death penalty is handed out unfairly to minorities. Statistics claim that African Americans make up only 13% of the US population, but nearly 50% ofthe people currently on death row are African American. There are many reported cases that African Americans were mistakenly put onto the death row largely based on their race. Many years later, new scientific evidence exonerated them but the...
Virtually every major program designed to address the underlying causes of violence and to support the poor, vulnerable, powerless victims of crime is being cut even further to the bone… In this context, the proposition that the death penalty is a needed addition to our arsenal of weapons lacks credibility…
In two thousand and ten a poll found that “64% of Americans support the death penalty for someone convicted of a murder” (Lethal injection). Yet, a two thousand and sixteen poll found “that 49% of people favor the death penalty for people convicted of murder” (Green garage blog). This happens to be the lowest level of support is many years. It is stated by Pew Research that majority of the decrease has come from democrats at 34% whereas republicans are at 72% (). The more controversial side of the death penalty has more to do with personal feelings rather than facts. An argument that is made is that someone may be wrongly convicted of a crime twenty three of every one hundred people are wrongly convicted and executed as stated by Death Penalty. As many as four percent of those on death row have been overturned for being innocent after conviction. In addition, some believe that putting prisoners who have committed serious crimes on death row might give the victims and their families’ closure. Yet, it seems as though it only enforces the pain by having to wait for the execution while going through the long death row process. The time and money used during this long and dreadful process could be used to rehabilitation and or counseling for the victim’s family or the prisoner. Some think that death penalty will detour people from committing such harsh crimes, yet it has been proven that it has actually done the opposite. Those countries in which do not have the death penalty have a significantly lower crime rate than those who do. Another way in which this is controversial is because of discrimination in the justice system. “This means the system tends to execute more when a white person is killed and less when a black person is killed” (Death Row). Minority defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death than white defendants who commit the same crime. The death penalty cost much more
There are six main rationales for abolishing the practice of capital punishment that are commonly heard. One reason is that capital punishment does not deter crime. Anti-death penalty advocates contend that scientific studies consistently fail to demonstrate that executions discourage people from committing crime (Death Penalty Focus, 2015). Another reason for stopping the death penalty is because it can and has been inflicted on innocent people. In addition, abolitionists suggest that the US is unable to prevent such occurrences (Death Penalty Focus, 2015). A third rationale is that the death penalty discriminates against certain ethnic and racial groups. According to Justice Department figures, nearly 80 percent of inmates on death row are Black, Hispanic or from another minority group (Eddlem, 2002). Yet another reason for abolishing capital punishment is that the death penalty is often applied at random. “Politics, quality of legal counsel and the jurisdiction where a crime is committed are more...
To begin with, the death penalty has shown racial preferences in previous court cases. According to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, 56% of minorities are sentenced to the death row and of the 139 capital convicts found innocent 61% of them were found to be of color. Additionally, the death penalty violates the 8th amendment of cruel punishment. The 8th amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” and there isn’t anything crueler than
Over two-thirds of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The death penalty is racially bias, since 1977, 77% of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims. Even though black men and women make up about half of all homicide victims. Since 1973, 140 people have gotten