We have all heard of the saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Patrick Hannon was ordered to be executed on November 8th by a lethal injection after Governor Scott signed his death warrant for a murder scene in 1991. On Patrick’s day of execution, I attended his vigil at the Florida State Prison in Starke with the Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. At the Vigil, I met two of Patrick’s Pen Pals and heard great things about him. From that moment, I realized that our past does not define who we are. A person who steals is not just a thief, he or she deserves a second chance – everyone makes mistakes. Seth, another individual in attendance at the vigil was incarcerated 18 years for a crime he did not commit. Whether Patrick was innocent or not, he is a human being and deserves a right to life. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta committed her life to proclaiming that human life is sacred and dignity should not be taken from anyone. …show more content…
At the vigil, we rang a bell in hope that Patrick could hear it from the building where he was strapped down to a gurney and would know that he was not alone. At this point, the only thought that came to my mind was: “a human being is about to be killed by the state, just like Jesus was. What if Jesus sought revenge as many people do?” Murder for a murder, or “tooth for a tooth” is not virtuous. Pope Francis, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI have all spoken out against the death penalty. In the words of Pope Francis, “the death penalty is an inhumane measure.” My brothers and sisters, please pray for the aching hearts of families and friends of victims killed in violence to seek peace through grace and love and not spitefulness. One of the greatest commandment God shows us is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:28), and that means learning to forgive others who have done wrong to
Charles Edmund Cullen, also known as the “Angel of Death” or “Killer Nurse”, was sentenced to eleven consecutive life terms on March 1, 2006 after confessing to murdering patients with poison and non prescribed medications at hospitals throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania during his sixteen year course working as a nurse. The “Angel of Death” is still incarcerated today at Trenton State Prison and will be there for the rest of his life. From 1988-2002, Charles Cullen murdered at least forty elderly patients because he believed that he was doing them a favor and relieving the patients from suffering like an angel would do. This report will discuss Charles Edmund Cullen’s life, crimes, and his path to prison. Charles Edmund Cullen was born
The Story of Maci Kean When you think of people in a kid’s life, you probably imagine two parents, siblings, friends, and teachers. What you don’t typically think is a social worker, a judge, foster homes and a dead mother and father. This became the case for the then 15-year Maci Kean, as well as over 100,000 kids in the United States. When Maci was just a toddler, she became deaf due to a high fever and her father passed away when she was just two due to drug abuse. When she was around the age of 13 her mother passed away as well due to a drug overdose after getting out of jail.
Editor Anna Quindlen wrote many articles and essays conveying her opinion toward the death penalty. Such as, “Death Penalty Fails to Equal Retribution” and “Public & Private; The High Cost of Death”. Although Anna Quindlen makes many valuable accusations regarding her reasoning to being opposed to the death penalty, she undermines the real purpose of the penalty itself. The Death penalty, is indeed necessary. Many of the accusations Anna proclaims permit to the emotions of the victims families that have been robbed of their loved one by the said killer.
The United States of America has been a long-standing symbol of liberty; the pledge of allegiance even states “with liberty, and justice for all.” However, digging not-so-deep into America’s government and justice system reveals anything but liberty or justice. Luckily, there are many people out there willing to push to reform the system and help those who have been treated unfairly. Bryan Stevenson is one of those people, and his anecdote about Walter McMillian intends to show the deep rooted problems in the justice system, as well as the fairly easy solutions to make strides towards repairing it and the people who have been wronged by it. He does this by using a somber tone about the life of McMillian, as well as using a hopeful one when
Georgie Milton did something not many people have the guts to do, he took the life of his best friend to save him from the torture that awaited him, but, he took the life of another man and he took this life with the intention of murder. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, there is no difference between euthanasia and murder; and to this indictment, George Milton has pleaded not guilty. If I am to prove him otherwise, you must find him so. Lennie Small has been described to us as a caring giant. He had no bad intentions; and it is fair to say that our witnesses have provided us with sufficient evidence to support my argument.
Since 1977, the majority of death row inmates in the United States have been executed for killing white people. Yet, studies have shown that African Americans make up almost half of all homicides victims. For this reason, for years, capital punishment has been a source of a lot of controversy among human rights advocates and the american government. The book Dead Man Walking depicts the journey of a nun, Sister Helen Prejean, against the biased judicial system in the United States. Focusing in the death penalty issue, Prejean share her deepest thoughts while she experiences being the spiritual adviser of a “dead man walking”, a man convicted to death.
Eventually down the road, Wilbert has lectured at universities, seminars, national and international conferences, and at meetings of organizations for the reform of the criminal justice system and against the death penalty. He also has been a consultant to both federal and state capital defense teams on dozens of cases around the country. Lastly, he also become an author writing about the American criminal justice system and the prison system. In the final analysis, from Wilbert Rideau becoming a strong positive representative to the lack of empathy that Vincent Simmons received, even though his case seemed a bit open and shut, to Eugene ‘Bishop’ Tannehill making a full turn around becoming a preacher to his once fellow inmates.
The prisoners had seen and experienced so much brutality, endured repeated beatings, and humiliated beyond imagination, so one more death did not affect them. Their emotions hardened to the point of being non-existent… or so they thought. Although the prisoners seemed hardened and unaffected by death, a different hanging did deeply affect them.
In the essay “The Death Penalty Is a Step Back” the author, Coretta Scott King expresses her feelings about capital punishment and states reasons to back up her argument that the death penalty is both a racist and immoral practice. King believes that capital punishment is immoral and illegal, and that it by no means serves as a deterrent for other possible criminals. The author then further talks about how there have been numerous incidents where the mistakenly convicted is put down in the name of American justice. King then argues that by sentencing someone to death, one is assuming that the person convicted is not capable of rehabilitation. The
Zachary Shemtob, a teacher of criminal justice at Central Connecticut State University, and David Lat, a former federal prosecutor, in their essay “Executions Should Be Televised” (2011), discourse the issue whether the criminal execution process should be videotaped and televised or to be privately disclosed among the press and selected witnesses, in which both Shemtob and Lat affirm to broadcasting. Shemtob and Lat construct their claim by defining the transparency that arises when the public is notified of executions through the media and analysing concerns that may arise from misguided illustrations of broadcasting executions, such as relating them to a pet euthanization or obtaining a sympathetic feeling towards the executed felon who
In the village of Holcomb, Kansas a wealthy family, the Clutters, was murdered on November 14, 1959. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted of these murders and received the death penalty. In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the audience receives different viewpoints on why Dick and Perry either deserved the death penalty or not. Though the decision to sentence someone to death should be based on the truth, the truth is not always easy to define; Capote shows this through his depiction of the controversial executions of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Criminal punishment is an immensely ongoing controversial and societal issue in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
His combination of appeal and troupes proved to be effective when Leopold and Loeb were gifted life in prison rather than a rope. His plea became an avenue for the digression of capital punishment by creating a sense of shame and sadness in his audience, a result of his ethos and pathos. Darrow’s rhetoric directly saved the lives of two young men as well indirectly saved the lives of many more by creating a negative connotation towards the death
Killing another seems very unjustifiable, which might be the case but when someone takes another 's life and sent to prison, death row or capital punishment is needed to put that person were they belong. People like that deserve to die because of their mistake of killing another and it deters other people to not kill others, showing them what would happen. In the case of Capital Punishment, Hunting for Sport, or George and Lennie, killing is a justifiable act. In the case of capital punishment killing is justified and needs to be done. For example, “Some crimes are so inherently evil they demand strict penalties up to and including death”(McClatchy).
Bobby Allen had worked on death row for over decade but, he says those years were extremely confusing. Eventually Allen developed internal “emotional issues” and heavy drinking problems. Allen tried to be so professional but, some officers didn’t even care. They bought a couch to watch more. Allen believed that people can change, a man named William was going to be executed but was overturned, and he is now an ordained minister who preaches at prisons and youth detentions all over the country.
Anna Phillips 5/10/17 Research Paper Death Penalty and Lynchings The alarming increase in state executions is a cause for concern, especially in a society that values equality of all before the law. Executions are an inhumane and potentially unjust method of punishing criminals, much like lynchings were in the past. It does little to dissuade people from committing crimes and does nothing to bring restitution to those who have been the victims of crimes. Worst of all, executions carry with them a finality that should only be undertaken with the up most of certainty of a person’s guilt.