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Utilitarianism And Punishment

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Rationale for punishment and corrections originate from the social contract, the social contract creates the basis for the control that policemen carry. The social contract provides a logic for belief in controlling types of punishment and corrections. One of the ethical frameworks, that prevents rationale for punishment is utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a principle that punishing an individual is effective if it benefits society. Relating to this principle is ethics of care, this principle helps both the victim become whole and the offender become a better person with rehabilitation. However ethical formalism is the opposite, this principle supports retributive justice. This supports owning up to a punishment, rather than judgement from …show more content…

This type of punishment is often questioned, is authorizing someone to get killed illegal? While many people find it inhumane, others find it just, according to both the Harris and Gallup Poll, “ In 2008, 63 percent of Americans supported capital punishment (Harris Poll, 2008), and in 2011, the percent dropped to a 38-year low of 61 percent, with 35 percent opposing capital punishment (Gallup Poll, 2011)” With results from this poll, some states actually take this punishment into consideration and use it on offenders who are often involved with homicide. The states that favor this type of cruel and unusual punishment in the United States, surprisingly are 31 out of 50. In amazement there are different forms of the way an offender is authorized to be killed. Offenders could be killed through hanging, the gas chamber, firing squad, electrocution, and lastly lethal injection. From the Death Penalty Information Center, “ 3 states (all have lethal injection as primary method) [use the Firing Squad method] Mississippi, Oklahoma, [and] Utah.” This method is only used if lethal injection fails to euthanize the offender. Even though many individuals agree with this type of punishment there are consequences that come along with …show more content…

As Coop had explained, people argue for those who are on death penalty, he explains that there are innocent people that are claimed of doing a crime that actually didn’t. “... capital punishment in this country is “irretrievably broken” and has withdrawn their intellectual rationale for it (Liptak, 2010). Morality from capital punishment is a strong topic of debate, it arises strong feelings on the part of many people. This meets the deterrence goal, which indicates scaring individuals in hopes that they wouldn’t do an act that is dangerous to society.
Analyzing all this information on capital punishment, I would agree with this type of punishment to an extent. I do believe that there are some innocent people on death row, praying for another hearing. Although, I do think pedophiles and mass murderers should get capital punishment. This type of punishment should still be legal, what I do no agree is the types of death an offender gets. The firing squad and the execution process is unbearable and inhumane, although according to the Supreme Court it does not object to the

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The electric chair, hanging, gas chambers, and death by firing squad are all unnecessarily inhumane and hence, in my personal opinion, should all be declared by the White House to be unconstitutional. According to the Preamble to the Constitution, every citizen is guaranteed the right to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” and since the first few words guarantee life, the death penalty itself would, technically speaking, be unconstitutional. I aver that even a murderer may sometimes feel guilty about what he or she has done. Another reason against capital punishment as stated in, “The Innocent on Death Row,” demonstrates that sometimes even the innocent are sometimes put on death row, because Henry Lee McCollum, who was nineteen at the time he was tried, and his half-brother, Leon Brown, who was fifteen at the time he was convicted, were both convicted and sentenced to death. Ever since they were released, the death penalty was made illegal for minors and mentally handicapped

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Susan Vreeland’s Girl In The Hyacinth Blue follows the journey of a fictional painting by J. Vermeer over several centuries and tells the stories and appreciation each family has towards the painting. As the stories proceed, the influence the picture gives on the essence of their lives is descriptively illustrated and shows the various ways the artwork is interpreted by each individual. Vreeland starts off in present-day America and ends in the 17 century Netherlands, which shows the reader the history of the painting and reveals the truth behind the portrait of a young girl. In this review written by Cristina Deptula, she wrote a small summary on each story and then breaks down her perspective of the book by categorizing it by three different topics.

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More specifically, the criminal justice system uses four philosophies during sentencing. The four basic sentencing philosophies within the criminal justice system are rehabilitation, retribution, deterrence, and incarceration. Each punishment listed above will fit roughly into one of these philosophies commonly used. Rehabilitation is the belief that by addressing the causes of crime, society can reduce repeat arrests.

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Many argue that capital punishment is indeed “cruel and unusual.” The strongest argument is the physical and mental suffering falling under the Eighth Amendment which is commonly referred to in terms of the death sentence. As stated above there are many execution methods used. Many of these methods are no longer practiced, at least in the United States, but some of them such as lethal injection, electrocution, and a firing squad is still practiced, with lethal injection being the most common. Lethal injection depending on your point of view is the most “humane” way of execution, and electrocution most likely being the most inhumane.

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A question to ask regarding capital punishment in the United States is not about the deserving nature of an individual's punishment for their crime, but instead if, as a society, we deserve to take the responsibility of ending someone's life. Nobody should ever be given the accountability for another person's existence. Taking someone's last breaths is not justice. Killing someone is the easiest way out. They should remain for the rest of their lives contemplating their deeds and how they ruined their own lives.

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As of 1976-2022, there have been 163 executions by the Electric Chair which is considered the secondary method of execution for the Death Penalty after the lethal injection. In general, it is inhumane kill these inmates and make them suffer for long periods of

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The information provided here, the ethical argument I might use to justify retaining this form of punishment over the long is using retribution. Retribution is a rationale for punishment that states that punishment is an end in itself and should be balanced to the harmed caused. In the textbook, it says that the retributive rationale for punishment is consistent with the social contract theory. The ethical argument I might use is positive retribution which is the demands that one is guilty ought to be punished. Retribution says that people who commit a crime deserve to be punished.

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It can be noted that the way one is punished is often unjust. “The fundamental purpose of sentencing is to…. have one or more of the following objectives: to denounce unlawful conduct; to deter the offender and other persons from committing offenses; to separate offenders from society” (Pratt, January 26th, 2016). Even though there is a fundamental purpose of sentencing most of the time, the crime does not fit the offender (Pratt, January 26th, 2016).

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The attractiveness of this theory is primarily based on the ethical code that Hampton subscribes to, which is that pain-inflicted punishments should not be condoned when it comes to disciplining wrongdoers. Rather, constructive analysis done pertaining to why certain actions are morally wrong in society would be intellectually stimulating and productive for both the wrongdoers and the public, all while avoiding the infliction of physical pain. Compared to the retributivist argument, which circulates around the idea that the purpose of punishment is to make wrongdoers pay for their misdeeds, and that they should be treated the way that they have treated others, the MET is a more humane way to treat wrongdoers, and in the long run, would perhaps help them emerge from confinement as better citizens within society, rather than as potential repeat offenders. Therefore, the appeal of the MET stems from the positive implications of treating wrongdoers with respect and dignity, all while teaching them why their actions were wrong while simultaneously instilling positive and moral values in their psyche before allowing them to re-enter

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The basic premise of the utilitarian approach to justice is that punishment is intended to try and change a criminal’s behavior, so that they don’t repeat their offense. Utilitarian justice focuses on deterrence and rehabilitation. Deterrence works like in retributive approaches, where punishment for crimes are severe enough to deter potential offenders from breaking

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Around the United States, there are substantial variations in the way people view methods of capital punishment. Some conclude it essentially violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, while others see it as the only form of justice. But even so, this does not remove the fact that there are thirty-two U.S states that support and act upon capital punishment. In fact, there is a total of five different methods of execution authorized by most states that currently have death penalty statutes. During the course of this paper, I will be discussing each method which includes: Lethal Injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad, and hanging.

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There are many arguments for and against capital punishment. Ernest van den Haag described some justifications for capital punishments. One of the main points he makes is even if the use of capital punishment is discriminatory leading to an unjust distribution, which he argues that it is not discriminatory, it should make no difference because it does not matter on the quantity of those executed, but it is more about the fact that these criminals are all guilty. Therefore it does not make sense to get rid of capital punishment on the basis that the system is discriminatory because those executed are guilty and therefore deserve their punishment. Another point he makes that ties into the first point is that making everything equal, such as making the amount of

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Dr. Phil: As of November 2016, the death penalty is a legal form of punishment in 31 states (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). Of those states, 27 states actively administer the death penalty, while four states are currently under gubernatorial moratoria (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). The remaining 19 states do not have the death penalty as a form of punishment (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017c). There is a total of five approved methods of execution in the United States; however, lethal injection is thought to be the most humane method of execution and is the primary method used (Death Penalty Information Center, 2017b).

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Capital Punishment should be outlawed because it puts innocent lives at risk, bad representation, and there are other alternatives. The wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that can never be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, more than 150 men and women have been released from Death Row nationally, and some

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The death penalty, is the loss of life, which is induced by different tactics. The most common methods in the United States is lethal injection, hanging, firing squad, and the electric chair. The most chosen method by inmates is lethal injection. Lethal injection consists of the inmate being strapped to an operating table or gurney and a trained medical doctor will place two needles into the veins of the arms(Death Penalty Information Center).

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