Is the death penalty a fair form of punishment or is it cruel and inhumane? Capital punishment, otherwise known as the death penalty, is a form of punishment where a criminal is executed as quickly and humanely as possible for committing a serious felony, thus preventing the criminal from ever committing the offence again. A criminal charged with first or second degree murder, rape, arson or acts of terrorism should be charged with the death penalty. The death penalty is currently legal in thirty-one states, but I believe it should be legal throughout the United States. Capital punishment reduces violent crimes and prevents misusing space in a prison cell, where the criminals have to be clothed and fed for the rest of their life. …show more content…
However, studies done by Michael Summers, PhD, shows that crime rates the next year experienced a significant decrease after executions. An average of seventy-four fewer murders worldwide, and anywhere from three to eighteen fewer happen following a year with each execution. The number of executions have been dropping since 2001, and studies from the FBI show that the number of murders are increasing while executions decrease. The 1970s and 1980s have mixed results of executions and deterrence, but recent studies show a definite drop in crime each year following every execution. My personal thought is that the death penalty would definitely deter someone from committing a serious crime. Even if somebody chose to commit a capital offence against another, the loss of life wouldn't be worth it just to take …show more content…
Those against capital punishment will argue against it using this way of thinking because of religious reasons. What it means is a person's punishment should be the same as their crime of action. Thousands of people will stand up for ¨an eye for an eye¨, but there is just as many who will argue against it. This is definitely something most would not enforce their kids to use, but in the case of a murderer or a rapist, someone who takes the life of another individual away from their loved ones, or an individual who will do sexual acts to another and hurt them physically and emotionally, should be punished by the acts of capital
Radeler and Traci L. Locock conducted their own research. They titled it “Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates?” In 2008 they sent questions to some of the top criminologist and one of the questions found that “eighty-nine percent of the criminologist don’t think that the death penalty is effective.” (Radeler , Locock 2009 pg. 501). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is one of the key fighters trying to get rid of the death penalty.
There have been many studies indicating both a positive and negative effect on the homicide count regarding executions. A study by Hashem Dezhbaksh, Paul H. Rubin, and Joanna M. Shepherd published in the Journal of Law and Economics in 2003 concluded that each execution deterred a rough estimate of 18 murders. While another study by Katherine Baicker and Sendhil Mullainathan published in the Journal of Political Economy in 2004 found no evidence supporting that conclusion. This debate in detail would require a whole other paper. Another argument is retribution.
in Cromie and Zott 176). What a privilege to be given the opportunity to choose how your life will end after committing a capital offense; the man Parsons stabbed to death did not have that
Yet, numerous research has shown that the death penalty has no effect on the deterrence of crime. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, murder rates have remained consistently higher in states with the death penalty than their neighboring non death penalty states. Another argument of advocates of the death penalty is that it prevents crime by putting fear of death in the minds of criminals. However, most crimes are committed in a heat of passion, therefore, criminals are mainly concerned about whether they will be caught, not what might happen to them afterwards. Since most murders are not recidivists, the death penalty does not work as a deterrent.
Criminals are shielded from cruel and unusual punishments. Finding the better option for good is sometimes the only answer. More so, execution is a crueler punishment than a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The process of entrusting a jury and judge with the power to decide someone's fate and put an end to their life will always be inhumane and seen as a cruel punishment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled capital punishment constitutional, it is difficult to determine if someone really deserves to die rather than just spending life locked away with no possibility of release.
The death penalty is a good thing at times it gets closure to the victim's families who've suffered a loss while Justice is being served. The United States isn't the only place that that still has the death penalty for certain crimes, other nations do as well. It's very beneficial when it comes to contributing to our issue of overpopulation in the prisons. If there's a lot of overpopulation it can be very difficult when prisoner's get loose to keep them in control as well as the costs of keeping them locked up presents an issue when coming out of tax. The death penalty becomes a tool of fighting with violence against murders who've not yet committed the crime, due to the fear of death or getting caught.
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a legal process in which a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime by the government of a nation. The United States is in the minority group of nations that uses the death penalty. There are thirty-three states that allow capital punishment and seventeen states that abolished it (Death Penalty Information Center). The morality of the death penalty has been debated for many years. Some people want capital punishment to be abolished due to how it can cost a lot more than life imprisonment without parole, how they think it is immoral to kill, and how innocent people can be put to death.
The Death of Capital Punishment Should we put capital punishment to death? Capital punishment has been used as far back as the eighteenth-century B.C. The death penalty has spread from Great Britain to the States during the American Revolution, where it has brought a whole slew of problems and despair across the country. Capital punishment may seem to be the solution to heinous criminals, but it should be abolished due to the extensive costs, the fact that it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, and the tremendous emotional stress on everyone involved.
The death penalty would keep the criminals out of the cities and lowering the crime rate. Take a city like New York City, crimes are a daily event in this city weather it is a big case or not. If we were to pass this penalty, the safety of citizens would increase because the criminals would know the consequence to killing victims. There has been several times on the news or in newspaper, were they talk about another criminal getting away and walks free from their crime. By having a criminal walking free, this put everyone life in danger because the killer with continue to commit more murders.
I am not one to argue that capital punishment is without its flaws, nor am I one to argue that the death penalty is not inherently ugly in its entirety. I simply make the argument that the death penalty, or capital punishment, is a necessary evil. To accomplish this, I will begin by dissecting the arguments made by Stephen Nathanson in An Eye for an Eye. Nathanson states that for some crimes, it would not be considered morally acceptable to provide equal punishment to crimes committed. For example, I listed earlier that if we applied the equal punishment principle flatly across our justice system, it would require us to not only kill murderers, but also rape rapists, torture torturers, and kidnap kidnappers.
Rough Draft Is the death penalty an effective and justified punishment? This is a topic many Americans have discussed for a long time, and has caused much controversy. Both sides have their pros and cons, and they will be discussed. The first point that many people have about capital punishment is that it’s unconstitutional.
According to Randa (1997), the first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, this codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. Death penalty is the punishment of execution or took part in someone legally convicted of a capital crime. Although death penalty is the cheapest way to remove criminal from society, death penalty should be banned because it puts innocent life at risk and mentally ill people are executed. First, death penalty should be banned because it put innocent lives at risk. Once a prisoner is killed, nothing can be change to make amends if mistake has been made.
I agree that the death penalty is inhumane and should be abolished; no one deserves to be killed, even those who have killed. However, I also feel that the death penalty solves nothing because all the government or state does is end the person’s life. This means they don’t get to learn from what they have done; they don’t receive punishment. It is better that the prisoner be sentenced to life so that they could ‘feel’ dead, but still have to live in a confined space for the rest of their lives, thinking about what got them there in the first place. That to me, is a real death penalty.
The Death Penalty, loss of life due to previous crimes and actions, is believed by some to be extremely costly, inhumane, and cruel unlike some others whom believe it is just, right, and provides closure. The Death Penalty is not a quick and easy process. Most who get sentenced to deaths row wait years for their ultimate punishment of death. Some believe that it is not right to punish and kill a human for actions they have done because, they believe that the inmate should have another chance. Then others believe that it is right to punish someone for their actions especially if their actions involve killing another or multiple humans.
Should Death Penalty be abolished? Over decades people have been arguing about whether the death penalty should be abolished or not if death is morally right or cruel and unusual penalty. Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for crime. Is it right to see people dying even though it’s under the act of government punishment?