Capital punishment. The big debate on who gets to decide whether someone lives or dies? Pacifist would say that it’s unethical and inhumane and that it is highly ironic that you’re killing those who kill, just to get the point across not to kill. Realist, like me, however, would retort back that by not ridding ourselves of these kind of people, it would feel as if we were just letting them get away with what they’ve done, without them knowing that there are serious consequences to your actions.
The actions of certain criminals is the main reason why we need the death penalty. Who knows what could happen if we didn’t. For example, even though that is a very slim chance that a prisoner could escape from a high security prison that should be placed
…show more content…
Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life… Time and time again we have witnessed the specter of mistakenly convicted people being put to death in the name of American criminal justice.
However, it is not the intention of those who support capital punishment to kill those who are innocent. Even though it does not happen often, it still happens, but anything that has to do with humans there will be human errors that occur. As Austin Sarat says
Many of those who fervently support capital punishment nonetheless worry about the risk of executing the innocent.
Also on Gale Student Resources in Context, 2014 also commented on the innocent affect by the death penalty said
…that the death penalty is an effective deterrent against those who would consider committing such a crime as murder, and that it is justifiable punishment for the taking of another innocent person’s life. They cite national and local crime statistics that show murder rates decline when the death penalty is enforced, and that murder rates rise substantially when a state’s death penalty has been
American society has always wrestled with the concept and ethics of capital punishment. Despite the meticulous process involved when convicting someone, there are many questions and exceptions about who qualifies and the process in and of itself, as to be expected when dealing with something so profound and permanent. What if the accused is mentally ill? What if the perpetrator committed the crime when defending someone else? What if the convicted is innocent, but still put to death?
The death penalty sends a message to citizens; a message that says murder is not outrageous, unless the state is doing it as a sanction. This message helps to justify civilian killings of people believed to be deserving of death and may possibly even cause an uprise in vigilante style murders. This message also leaves an almost open air on what is wrong and provides no consistent moral ground for society to base their beliefs on. This does not mean that people will suddenly think murder is a favorable deed, but it may cause some to not realize how terrible it is. Joseph Summer wrote this in an article titled “Some Adverse Effects of the Death Penalty in History”: “…people learned 3 lessons from the government’s violent example: to use
Currently, the death sentence is only applied to those who commit murder, however, in the past, it has also been used for rape and armed robbery. Arguing in favor it can seem justifiable to take the life of a person who unjustifiably took the life of someone else. And with murder being the only way to be sentenced to the death penalty it seems fitting. Along with that, it provides deterrence from committing murder for possibly many people. The deterrence that execution provides is a debated topic nested into another controversial topic.
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.
Some see the death penalty as the only means to extract justice for victims. Others see it as a morally reprehensible act where a second wrong is committed in order to make something right. With recent issues surrounding the death penalty in which execution hasn 't gone as planned sparking a nationwide debate, this is my outlook on why I 'm for the death penalty not only being abolished in the state of Texas but in addition to the entirety of the US..
Joey Arbuckle Mr. Lealos English II, 2 17 September 2015 Capital Punishment Only 13 of 800 total prisoners sentenced to the death penalty in California have been . The amount of money spent keeping these prisoners on death row for all these years is over $4 billion (End the death penalty in California 2012). From having the death penalty, California has been wasting tax-payer’s money on repeal and living costs. California should abolish the death penalty because the prisoners cost too much and it does not deter criminals.
In recent years, anti-death penalty propagandists have succeeded in stoking the fear that capital punishment is being carelessly meted out. Ironically, Of the 875 prisoners executed in the United States in modern times, not one has been retroactively proved innocent. The benefits of a legal system in which judges and juries have the option of sentencing the cruelest or coldest murderers to death far outweigh the potential risk of executing an innocent person. First and foremost, the death penalty makes it possible for justice to be done to those who commit the worst of all crimes. The execution of a murderer sends a powerful moral message: that the innocent life he took was so precious, and the crime he committed so horrific, that he forfeits
People want closure and security after something so tragic has happened. The death penalty may seem harsh to some people, but in the end is the right thing to do. People will need justice and security, they need that relief that the killer will not come back and do anything. We need capital
While there are far more subjects to discuss regarding to this issue, I feel it necessary to state that I believe the death penalty should exist in a perfect society. I believe that certain crimes and certain situations warrant the punishment of death. However, the our society is not perfect. The justice system has failed to fairly use this punishment in far too many instances, and concludes that they cannot justly wield this
Support for capital punishment requires valuing retribution over rehabilitation. Those who favor capital punishment value highly the closure it provides to the families of the victims, and they believe that it deters would be murderers from killing. Retribution, closure and deterrence are the main reasons in favor of the death penalty. Opponents of capital punishment generally believe that it is hypocritical and immoral for the state
It seems hypocritical to kill someone for murdering someone else. Some people believe this penalty is helping our government and
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.
Another pressing issue associated with the death penalty is the morals behind it. It teaches society that if someone has done something wrong you could just murder
Death penalty is like the ‘’tooth for a tooth – eye for an eye’’ theory. Instead of acting inhuman to our fellow beings we should find a better way to solve the mind of criminals. Making the problem vanish is not a good idea. We should do psychological researching instead! I, myself have a lot of faith in humanity.
This may not be an overwhelming amount, but we don‘t really know how many innocent lives have really been taken. Now with that being said even if the amount of innocent lives taken is very small that‘s still an awful thing to happen. Is the death pentaly worth the risk of any innocent lives? Or it might be very unlikely that it‘ll happen because according to this same article death penalty cases are taken with extreme caution, and if there is any doubt most of the time the defendent will be senteced to life imprisonment or exonerated „Advocates for a defendant are much more likely to pursue any plausible postconviction claim of innocence if the defendant is under sentence of death. “ "NCIB PMC Barbara O 'Brian, Chen Hu, Edward H.Kennedy, Samuel R. Gross,“ Another concern to think about is, is there really any humane way to perform the death penalty?