Two Sides of a Story: Death Penalty Debate Let us begin by looking at why the death penalty is morally wrong on many levels according to Stephen B. Bright, president of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and a teacher of criminal law. He wrote an essay on this debate called, “Why the United States Will Join the Rest of the World in Abandoning Capital Punishment.” We will also look at the other side of the debate (story), as to why the death penalty is morally legitimate in the views of Louis P. Pojman, whose essay is called, “ Why the Death Penalty is Morally Permissible,” which is just an excerpt from, Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? First, there are innocent people being executed for crimes they didn’t commit. Whether it be from forced confessions, where people have been interrogated too long, yelled at, and threatened to the point of exhaustion, and because of this, they give a false confession.
6 in 10 americans favor the death penalty for convicted murderers. There is no question that killing another person is the most heinous crime that one can commit. Yes, most prisoners convicted in death row are murders but there has been cases where someone innocent has been wrongly executed. For example, of this failure is the case of Roosevelt Green, who was executed in Georgia for the kidnapping and murder of a young woman. According to author David Bruck, "Green swore that his companion shot her . . .
Should America continue to allow the death penalty? This essay will tell you why America should not be continue the death penalty. For starters, the death penalty is punishment by death; usually resulting after a crime that America calls capital crimes or capital offences. There are many of reasons why the death penalty should not be carried out in America or anywhere “Application of the death penalty tends to be arbitrary and capricious; for similar crimes, some are sentenced to death while others are not.”
Luis Garavito, the world’s most prolific serial killer, is known for killing the most victims in the world. Garavito raped and murdered over one hundred and forty children in Columbia (Heyden). Since Columbia does not enforce the death penalty, he was sentenced to one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three years in prison. The Colombian law states that a criminal can only be imprisoned for up to forty years, and since he helped law enforcement discover a few bodies he was re-sentenced to twenty-four years in prison (Heyden). Reasons such as these exemplify the need for the death penalty and why it is beneficial in America.
Over the years the death penalty has been used way more than it should, especially with African Americans. Not only were they treated unfairly in court but they were often killed by mobs of white men for ridiculous crimes. In the past juries were not unbiased.
Every year there are tens of thousands of murders, and yet only about 300 murderers are sentenced to death. The death penalty is a permanent action, that is taken against those who are convicted of murder. There is a saying that goes “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. This saying seems fair and is generally agreeable, yet why is there so much talk and commotion about abolishing the death penalty? If murderers deserve to die, then shouldn’t they be sentenced to the death penalty?
Parks says, “Although historians have no way of knowing how long the death penalty has been an issue of controversy, they do know it has been debated for centuries”(Parks). Regarding this matter Amy Marcaccio published findings from polls that show around 70% of Americans support the death penalty (Marcaccio). Often times the death penalty is thought to deter criminals but others think that the death penalty is immoral and that the government has no right to determine whether someone should live or die. Capital punishment has been debated for centuries and will continue to be discussed for many years. While racial bias is considered a large issue, the process of being sentenced is far too extensive for this to be likely.
This type of bias undermines the core principles of impartiality that the justice system is meant to uphold. The justice system is meant to give equal protection to all, but being biased based on skin color is the justice system not upholding their key belief. The use of racial biases can cause harm to individuals who don’t deserve this harsh punishment just because of the color of their skin. The use of the death penalty should be free from racial bias to ensure that our society is giving everyone equal protection under the law regardless of one's race or
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.
There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in either crime or murder rates. Despite the fact that african Americans make up only 13 percent of the nation's population, almost 50 percent of those currently on the federal death row are african American. And even though only three people have been executed under the federal death penalty in the modern era, two of them have been racial
In conclusion the idea that the death penalty should be abolished can be supported by many reasons that include extensive evidence. With the death penalty still established we are putting innocent people's lives at risk, spending millions, and continue with racial segregation. The idea that someone's opinion in court can decide the fate of another person is
By the end of 1988, there were already 35 countries completely abolished the death penalty while another 17 removed it from all ordinary crimes in peacetime (Hood&Hoyle 14). However, over the 11 years from 1989 to 1999, there was a surprisingly giant increase in the amount of abolitionist countries. In the next 13 years from the end of 2000 to the end of April 2014, 24 more countries abandoned the death penalty for all ordinary crimes (Hood&Hoyle). Up to now, the countries or regions which has not abolished the death penalty are mainly from Asia, the middle East and the north Africa.
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.
The major reason why the death penalty should be abolished is that the cost of the death penalty is too much and the USA is in debt to many other countries. What this means is that the death penalty should be abolished and also the cost death penalty is more than the cost of maximum sentence life in prison. According to J. Marceau and H. Whitson, “The Cost of Colorado’s Death penalty,” 3 Univ. of Denver Criminal Law Review “A new study of the cost of the death penalty in Colorado revealed that capital proceedings require six times more days in court and
Death Penalty According to the 2010 Gallup Poll, 64% of the United State of America are supporting the death penalty, I as an American am part of that 36% that is against it. I do not believe that we as human being should determine whether another person should live or die. A second reason that I am against the death penalty is for the reason that the accused person could be innocent and normally the accused person only has one court presentation and is only judged by the judge not a jury of their peer, and is sent to death row where they pay for a crime that they haven’t done. My final reason that i do not believe that the death penalty should count as a punishment for the American people is because, a person that has done a massive massacre shouldn’t just be able to leave the world just like that without paying and suffering for what they have done, Or should the death punishment continue as it is for it has a great benefit to us as citizens of the United States.
