With Liberty and Justice for All: Thoughts on the Death Penalty

The definition of freedom is without slavery, the state of being free rather than being enslaved and under physical restraint. The definition of justice is righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness and finally, Liberty is another word for independence. When it comes to the death penalty, people are killed every day and or put on death row because of a crime that they committed. To many the death penalty sounds cruel and heartless and to others people feel that it is better to kill a mass murderer for example then to keep them in prison for life. Therefore, how Americans define freedom, liberty and justice the death penalty is unjust.

The purpose of the death penalty is to spare future victims of murder by carrying out the threat of execution upon convicted murderers. The death penalty punishes them not for what they may or may not do in the future but what they have already done. It's unclear that the murderer has the same right to live as their victim. Thomas Geraghty states “opinion polls report that more than 70% of Americans do not favor the death penalty for murder.

“The death penalty is challenged as a violation of the Eighth Amendment. According Amendment V in the United States Bill of Rights, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Even with this amendment in place many people question the constitutionality of capital punishment because of Amendment VIII which states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” (James S). People believe that the death penalty is too inhumane and goes against the constitution.

Another big fact is that no man should have the power to decide when and how a man’...

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...ing. The Eight Amendment says" Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. We all live in a society with same basic rights and guarantees. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with equal opportunities. With the death penalty, some people never get the chance to obtain that.

Works Cited

Bole, William "A Slow Death." Commonweal 136.12 (2009): 7-8. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2009.

Geraghty, Thomas F. "Trying to Understand America’s Death Penalty System and Why We Still Have it." Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 94.1 (2003): 209-237. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Nov. 2009.

LaFranchi, Howard "Europeans press the US to end the death penalty." Christian Science Monitor 10 Oct. 2009: 2. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Nov. 2009.