More handpicked essays just for you.
Questions about the ethics of the death penalty
Racial disparities and the death penalty
Ethical issues with death penalty
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Introduction: Despite the common misconception that capital punishment leads to a safer and utopian society, research provides evidence that there is no correlation between the two. During 1972, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled against the use of capital punishment in the Furman v Georgia case. This ruling arose after three African Americans were put on stand after being accused for different cases of murder and rape. Although death penalty was already imposed for these three cases, the court decided that death was “cruel and unusual” and consequently abolished the use of it.
The moral of the death penalty is that when someone commits a heinous crime, they should be prosecuted in a way that is equal to their crime. Robert Blecker, JD said that "We have the responsibility to punish those who deserve it, but only to the degree they deserve it...." This states that people should get what they deserve. If they go out and commit homicide or murder for fun they should get the same treatment. Losing someone can be tragic, but losing someone because a criminal killed them is even worse.
In the beginning of 2018 there was already 2,816 people on death row and in the first 3 months 6 of those people were executed. The death penalty is the punishment of execution administered by someone of authority. It is used to punish someone that has committed a horrible crime . The punishment is the most expensive form of capital punishment that is given. The death penalty is not fair because it is unconstitutional, gender biased, and inhumane.
The death penalty is currently legal in 31 states in the United States. The fact that capital punishment is not morally required in any case is true. One could argue jail is not moral either and we would have a larger number of criminals who do not fear any type of punishment. Why should mercy be shown to those who commit senseless acts that take another’s life, on of the most sacred things?
Research Paper: Capital Punishment Capital punishment is one of the most controversial and talked-about topics in the United States today. It is an issue that is not explicitly mentioned in our constitution, so states have been left to interpret the law. As of April 2017, 32 states in the US legally allow the death penalty. Of the 18 states that have banned it, the most recent was Maryland in 2013. The topic is so controversial that the Supreme Court has gotten involved many times, deciding on more cases that have to do with capital punishment than most other subjects.
As with many other controversial opinions both groups for, and against capital punishment have valid opinions. So let's dive into the philosophy of both sides and an
Back in 1796 there were more than 10 innocent people killed and today about 4.1 percent of the people executed are innocent, and that’s more than enough. I think it is un fair to families, friends and the defendant to have their life taken if they are not guilty, If the law officials cannot prove whether or not the defendant is guilty then the death penalty should be abolished. Now on the other side, executing someone who is actually guilty; I do not support this either. I strongly believe that someone who commits a capital crime and has received the death penalty deserves to suffer for the rest of their life. Democratic leaders will be the ones to change the death penalty.
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 execution in May 1989 involving Stephen McCoy is one in several examples of these defective results. According to witnesses, McCoy reacted violently to the lethal injection given to him. According to the Flawed Executions, the Anti-Death Penalty Movement, and the Politics of Capital Punishment article, “after the drug was administered McCoy was seen gagging, violently coughing, and undergoing body contortions” (Haines). Examples such as these show that the systems that has been put in place, and the methods used in order to afflict capital punishment has some defects. Morally speaking, one cannot consider to willingly and with a clear conscious sentence an individual to a punishment that completely fraudulent and unethical.
The more concerns that society has with prisons overcrowding, the higher the expenses are for the taxpayers of the community. The continuous use of community corrections programs is inevitable if inmate population is to be maintained under control. The overall percentage of the prison population often diminishes with the use of community corrections programs, but some of the percentage is diminished through the death penalty. As stated on page 158, “the constitutionality of the death penalty was decided in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976.
Therefore, there are many different things people can do instead of sentencing criminals to death. People can sentence murders to life without parole and, yes sometimes they still manage to be released somehow way before they should be allowed too, but for that not to happen we should make our sentencing stricter. Instead of spending the extra money on keeping the death penalty running, they could use that money to shape up the whole prison system, putting the worst criminals in certain prisons that are made only for those types of criminals around America. This would make our society more humane, because they are not doing any more legal murder. Because in all honesty the killers are not truly being punished with the whole being sentenced
The death penalty is simply racist, economically outrageous, and insufficient for modern American society. Black defendants versus white victims are three times more likely to be recommended for the death penalty than a white defendant versus black victim resulting in the statistics being unacceptable. The cost for one inmate on death row is estimated at 1.2 million United States dollars (USD). The death penalty is also unethical and there are also better alternatives. Life without parole.
“In the the 18th century over 200 crimes were punishable by death in Britain that included stealing, cutting down trees, and counterfeiting tax stam” (Staff). “The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Wilkerson v.Utah that firing squad should be the death penalty” (Staff). If we brought back the death penalty, there will be less murders because the killers will fear the capital punishment. “Oklahoma is the first state to do lethal injection as an execution” (Staff). “The U.S. Supreme Court also ruled that Florida's system for death penalty is not right because it gives too much power to judges and not enough to juries” (Staff).
Killing the Death Penalty Is murder ever justified? In terms of safety, there are times when the well-being of one person is put on the line in order to save others. When we look at controversial issues such as the death penalty, we want to debate with one another stating our opinion on the matter.
The death penalty is racially biased, ignores and neglects the mentally ill, and is not even a deterrent, all reasons to get rid of it. Capital punishment has been in the United States from the birth of the country to 1972, and from 1976 to the present. The United States is the only Western country that uses the death penalty. As of 2010, 33% of murderers get the Death Penalty. 19 States don’t use the death penalty.
