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The Controversial Debate Over The Death Penalty

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The Death Penalty

The controversial debate over the death penalty has been going on for centuries, whether it should be allowed or banished forever. When the two words “death” and “penalty” show up or are hinted in a subject, arguments arise and both sides express their valid points on their opposition of it and also their approval. While some people focus on the thought that killing a person is not morally right no matter how heinous the crime may seem, others focus on the fact that many families or people need closure in knowing the person that caused them such harm is no longer in this world to create such pain towards anyone else. Today, the death penalty remains legal to any state that wants to allow it as a punishment in the terms of …show more content…

In many cases capital punishment is said to violate the Eighth amendment, which states that the U.S. cannot enforce “cruel and unusual” punishment. While the death penalty may not be unusual- due to its long history-, some may say it is an infliction of suffering which in other words may be cruel. People will always commit crimes as long as it is in their best interest to do so. The main purpose of our criminal justice system is to uphold and protect our rights of life, liberty, and property for all of the U.S. citizens. While protecting those rights, the punishment must inflict the proper initiative to defend the victims of the crime. Under the mindset of preserving those rights, the death penalty is the perfect crime to uphold those constitutional rights that were given at …show more content…

Opponents of the death penalty may propose that someone might be wrongly accused in the courts. Of course, there is a possibility of sending the wrong man to prison, but they only challenge that fact because of the finality and severity of the death penalty. Our judicial system takes many precautions on preserving the rights of the innocent. Even if the wrongdoer is sentenced to die, his case is automatically repealed in the state Supreme Court, and he may create as many appeals as he wishes. Therefore, this evidence must present that every precaution is presented when convicting a

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Difficult, protracted executions constitute infringement of the eighth Amendment, which forbids savage and surprising discipline. Capital punishment disregards the privilege to life as announced in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a definitive remorseless, cruel and corrupting

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Consequently, extreme pain is inherent in approved methods of execution. Gomez, 503 U.S. at 655. Therefore, punishments are cruel when they involve lingering death or torture, but death is not not cruel under the meaning of the Eighth Amendment. In re Kemmler, 136 U.S. 436, 447

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However, general protection can be found in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th Amendments. Basically, the cruel and unusual punishment section assesses punishment against the general public’s exclusion of inhuman treatment. It stops the government from inflicting penalties that are barbaric or way to severe for a crime, including prison conditions

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“The Court has consistently ruled that capital punishment itself is not a violation of the Eighth Amendment, but that some applications of the death penalty are "cruel and unusual." (Cruel & Unusual Punishment) The execution of the death sentence is subject to mistakes and flaws that may lead to the punishment being applied unfairly and in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The death penalty is an extreme and irreversible punishment placed on criminals in the United States legal system. The error and bias found within sentencing capital punishment cause it to be an unjustifiable and unethical practice that should be abolished and replaced with more life sentences without the possibility of

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The fact that the Supreme Court initially rejected the challenge in one case and then later reconsidered it in another case makes the issue complex. Finally, the evidence highlights a significant moment in the history of the United States Supreme Court's stance on the constitutionality of the death penalty. It shows how the Court has evolved in interpreting the Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishments clause and this evolution has led to the abolition of the death penalty in some states and more

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

The 8th Amendment of the Constitution states that no one should receive any "cruel and unusual punishments" for the crimes they have commited. The death penalty is a violation of the 8th amendment, and should be banished from the USA as it is an unreasonable and extreme punishment that is unnecessary and avoidable. The death penalty is inhumane, irreversible, and much more expensive compared to a non-death penalty case. Currently, 27 states are still using the death penalty and many of these states are either Midwest or South. Methods such as lethal injection, electric chair, hanging, gas chambers, and firing squad are used to execute these inmates.

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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.

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Capital Punishment has been one of the most highly debated topics of all time. Many argue whether The United States government, or any government for that matter should have the ability to take someone 's life. Knowing this capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. It is currently ranked with gun control and abortion as one of the most controversial issues in America. Many issues regarding its controversy include racial bias and morality.

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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.

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“I believe that more people would be alive today if there were a death penalty.” -Nancy Reagan Most people would be shocked to hear that the death penalty saves lives. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Gregg v. Georgia in 1976, capital punishment has been legally administered in 31 states in order to punish those who commit grievous crimes and harms to society. What makes capital punishment superior to other forms of punishment is that it generates the most happiness for all those actually or potentially affected by carrying it out. From a utilitarian perspective, capital punishment is morally justified because it maximizes human happiness.

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The death penalty should not be legal in any form and is unconstitutional in every possible way. It is randomly selected and very often, it is racially biased. There are many reasons why the death penalty should be illegal, such as innocent people being put on death row, the fact that the death penalty does not make crime rates lower, and the death penalty could be considered unconstitutional. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, over 138 innocent men and women have been released from death row.

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Death sentences are not predicted by the heinousness of the crime, they are predicted by the bad work of the defense lawyers, the race of the person on trial or the race of the victim, and in what county and state in which the crime occurred. Between 1976 to 2015, 1,392 executions occurred in the United States, and 995 of them occurred in the South. It has been proven that the criminal justice system fails to protect the innocent and those with serious mental disabilities and illnesses from execution. Every method of execution comes with a very high risk of extreme pain and

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Capital punishment, also known as death penalty, is an act of execution of an offender that is sentenced to death after they were convicted by a court of law of a criminal offence (Hood). In American society, the threat of capital punishment stands as the ultimate sentence for a criminal. The moral complications of the taking another life, whether it is by murder or as legally accepted punishment, remains an unresolved conflict between Americans. Death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. Many people believe that death penalty is not a justifiable approach for murderers, but does not justice mandate that criminals receive what they deserve?

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About 7482 death sentences have been handed out over 31 years. Of those 117 were innocent people (7). Even though that doesn’t like much, over one hundred innocent people died because they were falsely accused. The topic of deciding one's punishment for killing another has been discussed many times. In many cases innocent people are killed, because they were wrongly convicted.

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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.

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