Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
Wrongful convictions research
Wrongful convictions research
Wrongful convictions research
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Wrongful convictions research
Wrongful convictions research
Wrongful convictions research
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
A teenager mother from Mississippi, Sabrina Butler was first known as the only female offender on Mississippi’s death row who was convicted for child abuse and the murder of her infant son. On the eve of April 11th, 1989, Sabrina Butler arrived at the hospital after midnight with a nine-month-old Walter Dean Butler, who was unresponsive at the scene. She claimed that she have found the baby when he unexpectedly stopped breathing, and after multiple failed attempts to resuscitate her son, she rushed to the emergency room and seek helps from medical professionals who are more knowledgeable on the matter. Sadly, her child was pounced died by the doctors following their visit to the hospital. The next day, while Sabrina was asked to give her statements at the local police station, the prosecutors arrested Sabrina under the charges of capital murder.
In 1992 Kennedy Brewer was arrested in the state of Mississippi and accused of killing his girlfriend’s 3 year old daughter Christine Jackson. Brewer was babysitting the child that evening and two days after she disappeared her body was found in a creek. After he waited in jail for three years a trial began and Brewer was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. Police suspected Brewer because he was the only one home and there was no evidence of a break in. although there was a broken window by where the child slept that was overlooked that could have been an entry way for an intruder.
That's just over 1.5% of all the death penalties. Unfortunately, the rate of innocence is over double that, coming in at above 4%. These stats prove the point some dread: Many people have been killed for crimes they didn't do. Ledell Lee, a man from Arkansas, was executed on April 20th, 2017 for the murder of his neighbor in 1993.
For 18 years behind bars – 12 of them on death row – Anthony Graves maintained his innocence for the horrific murder of a family in Somerville, Texas. But that’s exactly how long it took for injustice to finally be overturned. On a Wednesday afternoon at the Burleson County jail in Caldwell, Texas; Anthony was writing a letter in cell when a guard unlocked the door and ordered Graves to come with him. “I had no idea what was going on, and why he wasn’t putting me in handcuffs”, said Graves.
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.
Jeffrey Dahmer, a famous serial killer who killed over seventeen people, died in prison while waiting out fifteen consecutive life sentences. Dahmer, one of America’s most notorious serial killers, had a difficult childhood that spiraled out of control and began an unhealthy obsession with killing animals as a young child that led to him becoming a murderous necrophiliac. Dahmer, who was born on May 21, 1960 had a relatively normal life until he was four. “He was described as an energetic and happy child until the age of four, when surgery to correct a double hernia seemed to effect a change in the boy” (Biography.com Editors). After the surgery he had little emotion and was an unhappy child most of the time.
After a while they decided to drop the charges and move on with the case. June 1st was the start of this horrific event and when he was sentenced the death penalty there was relief and sorrow in the court room on March 16, 2004. He still awaits the day for his death by lethal injection. As the trial progressed they investigated his motivations for murdering his wife and unborn child and came across
Working closely with people placed on death row, incarcerated children and many others; Bryan Stevenson is able to provide some clarity as to how unjust the criminal justice system truly is. Mr. Stevenson graduated from Harvard University Law School and is currently a Professor of Law at the New York University of Law. He is the founder and Executive Director of Equal Justice Initiative, with the help of his team he has been able to successfully “relief or release over 115 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row.” As well as establishing “life-without-parole sentences for all children 17 or younger are constitutional” through various cases handled by the United States Supreme Court. The cruelest of acts are those committed under the false
Today we are here to discuss the matter of the death of a local child. William Armstrong's death was caused by none other than his own brother. Brother had always thought William to be an embarrassment and was willing to do anything to end the humiliation. He had accumulated a plan to kill the child. Brother was compassionate and kind to his brother only when he wanted to be and would change his attitude whenever he thought right.
Why I Changed My Mind on The Death Penalty by Lance Morrow is a short story detailing why the death penalty should be eradicated. The story begins with it talking about Christina Marie Riggs a nurse who lived in Arkansas. She killed both of her children Justin who was 5, and his little sister Shelby Alexis by injecting them with Potassium chloride and later smothering them due to the concentration being too weak to kill them. Riggs later tried killing herself, but failed only to die later due to lethal injection. The same injection that she used on her children.
“Death with dignity is a human right: to retain control until the very end and, if the quality of your life is too poor, to decide to end your suffering; the dignity comes from exercising the choice.” says Jason Barber, whose wife, Kathleen Barber, died in his arms. He had one question in mind when she died. What was he going to say if someone asked him how she died? Whether she went peacefully? He decided to tell people that his wife died in peace, without any pain or suffering.
Intro: Sometimes in life we are given a choice. Some make us happy, some we regret , and others are the most difficult decisions we will ever have to make. We all live our lives fully aware that at some point we will end up dying just like everybody else in the world no matter how much we avoid addressing the fact. You wake up everyday with the routine you have created for yourself, until you hit an unexpected bump. You have six months to live.
Why death penalty must end ‘’An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,’’ said Mahatma Gandhi. The execution of someone who has possibly done a crime is an inhuman act. Death penalty is hypocritical and flawed. If killing is wrong, why do we kill when a criminal has done the crime of killing someone? In this essay, I will write why death penalty should end by writing about the violation of human rights, execution of innocent people, the fact that it does not deter crime and money.
If people have the right to live, then do they have the right to die? Is it okay to end someone’s life in order to end his/her pain and suffering? These are two of the biggest questions nowadays and I am here to take my stand on this issue. People are easily confused with this due to the fact that on one hand, we know that it is wrong to take a person’s life. On the other hand, it is difficult to see them suffering and in pain for a longer period of time.
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?