...Although the death penalty has many problems including its expense and cruelty to inmates, it is imperative that we utilize this punishment due to the horrendous crimes people. Many people believe that we should get rid of death penalty, but really people need it for all the outrageous things people have done. There are so many pros and cons debating whether the death penalty is good or bad. Many believe that its way too expensive taking care of the inmates such as electricity, water, food, and clothing. The government approximately spends about $1 million on each inmate sentenced to life in prison. There is around 2,000 inmates that are in prison for death row a year, that is a lot of money spent on just bills and food, also that's not even...
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...1. Philadelphia County ranks third among counties in the country in terms of the number of people on death row. However, capital convictions there are frequently reversed on appeal and later reduced to life sentences because the county did not provide adequate representation to many defendants. According to a 2011 study by the Philadelphia Inquirer, 69 Philadelphia death penalty cases have been reversed or sent back by state or federal courts after findings that the defense attorney’s inadequate performance deprived the defendant of a fair trial. When these cases were retried, almost all of the defendants received a sentence less than death, and some were acquitted altogether. Maricopa County in Arizona ranks fourth among counties in the country...
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...capital sanctions are imposed on the state level for murder. Currently, thirty-two states have death penalty statutes. Of those thirty-two, only seven states carried out executions in 2014 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). Those executions total 35 (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2015). As a result of the low number of executions carried out, experts in the United States have examined the efficiency of the death penalty. To accurately assess the economic costs of the death penalty, the difference between the costs...
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...state fond of the death penalty ever since the establishment of capital punishment. The circumstances in which a person can be subject to capital punishment are clearly defined in section 19.03 of the Texas Penal Code. (5, Metze.) Most of the reasons for executing an inmate pertain to the act of intentional/premeditated murder. Despite the fact that Texas legislature strongly supports capital punishment and the idea of retribution, the issue is growing to be quite controversial to the general public. The Texas legislature largely supports the death penalty and their voting tends to indicate this as fact. A spring 1985 poll conducted in Texas reported that 74% of the Texas electorate support and favor the...
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...Response Paper 11 February 2011 The Death Penalty According to David Bruck, “neither justice nor self-preservation demands that we kill men” and I beg to differ. Death penalty is considered as a controversial topic today. Death penalty is the best way to bring justice because it is cheap, it serves as justice for the victims, and it gives a higher regard to the victim’s suffering in the hands of the murderer. Although some people oppose death penalty saying it is immoral and a waste of life, it is still the best way to bring justice to the victims of heinous crimes. Death penalty is the best way to bring justice because it is cheap. The government can save a lot of money with death penalty. When prisoners get sentenced to death, taxpayers would not have to pay tax to supply the needs of the prisoners who did a heinous crime. Instead of using the money to sustain murderers, the money could be use in many other projects that can help the citizens of the United States. We can use the money to make roads and give the budget to financial aid, towards education, and projects for the future of the country. We do not have to pay for these killers and murderers. Death penalty serves justice for the victims of these heinous crimes. If someone takes a life of another person with no reason, that person deserves to die too. If that person values his/her life, he/she should not take another person’s life. The idealism “eye for an eye” works in this topic. Without penalty, our...
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...For thousands of years, the death penalty has served as part of the criminal justice system. The U.S uses the death penalty for prosecuting certain crimes. The debate over the death penalty has progressed for many centuries. However, in the past years, the debate has increased in the United States. In the recent past, opponents have held that the death sentence is ineffective, racist, barbaric, as well as against the American values. Conversely, the majority of people view the death punishment as a vital tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. Both sides have appealing arguments. Regardless, the support of the society for capital punishment is wanting. The death penalty is cruel and immoral. The society punishes murderers by killing...
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...three subtopics. Write your thesis statement in the box below: The death penalty is one of the most flawed forms of punishment in the court systems today. It does not penalize a convicted person of 1st degree murder, it echoes ancient roman/ medieval spectacles. | Thesis Statement Grading Criteria: Consider the following questions when developing the thesis statement for your essay. These criteria will be applied when this assignment is graded. The answer to each of the five questions below should be yes if you have drafted a quality thesis statement. 1) Does the thesis statement respond to the writing prompt? Yes 2) Did you take a position that others may oppose? Yes 3) Is the thesis statement specific? Yes 4) Does the thesis pass the “So what?” test? 5) Does the thesis statement not leave the reader with questions? Part 2: Gathering Resources Assignment Directions: Use the GCU elibrary to find three sources to use in your persuasive essay. Fill out the requested information in the table below about your sources. | Article 1 | Article 2 | Article 3 | Title and Author(s) | Challenging the Death Penalty w/Statistics: Furman, McCleskey, and a Single County case study.Shats, S. and Dalton, T. | Religious Characteristics and the Death Penalty.Miller, M K., Hayward, R D. | Ending death by dangerousness: A path to the de facto abolition of the death penalty.Berry, William W. | Persistent GCU Library Link |...
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...Death Penalty In this paper I will be talking about if the death penalty is wrong or if it is ok to take away someone's life, and I will also be talking about why we even started the death penalty. In my own opinion I believe that the death penalty is wrong and a few reasons why it is wrong. The people who would normally get the death penalty are the people who take others life. Also, in some states if you rape a child you could get the death penalty. Now, a few reasons why the death penalty is wrong is because it is still taking away someone’s life. If you are killing that person who took away someone else's life means that you are no better than them. The only difference there is between the killer and they person who is killing the killer is, the person who is going to kill the person in the chair has the judge knowing they are doing it, whoever the person in the chair families knows you are doing it. No matter what it is still wrong and you are still taking away someone’s life....
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...The Death Penalty; when people hear this term many thoughts and emotions are immediately brought to mind. The death penalty is considered by many to be the harshest form of punishment for crimes against society, but is it too harsh? Many would argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment and that it punishes not just the one convicted but also all of those involved. In this paper we will look at not only the one receiving the punishment but also those involved, including the family of the victim, the jurors, the executioner(s), and the family members of the one being convicted and argue that the sociological impact that the death penalty creates is too devastating for its continued use in the United States. “The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. (deathpenaltyinfo.org)” This is where the term “eye for an eye” originated as well as the belief that the crimes punishment must equal the severity of the crime. United States law was heavily influenced by Great Britain due to Britain maintaining primary control of the original 13 colonies. Currently, in the United States, the Death Penalty is mainly used as a form of punishment for first degree murder however some states still use it for acts of treason. Opposition of the Death Penalty began obtaining a foot hold during the Abolitionist movement when Cesare Beccaria's 1767 essay, On...
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...A politician would probably disagree with Freedman because he would believe a price tag cannot be put on doing the things that are right. He would probably see the statistics Freedman gave as irrelevant. Freedman says, “In Florida, each execution costs $3,200,000, six times the expense of life imprisonment” (141). The politician would see these costs as very high but taken out of context. He would most likely look to the statistics of how the death penalty has actually been a crime deterrent, as proven by Jay Johansen in his article “Does Death Penalty Deter Crime?” Johansen says that the “[h]omicide rate is a mirror image of the number of executions. Consistently as the number of executions goes down, the homicide rate goes up, and when the number of executions goes up, the homicide rate goes down” (138). He would see this as proof that capital punishment is a deterrent, and it should remain legal as long as it continues to deter crime. A politician might use Johansen’s statistics to prove that the death penalty should not be abolished. He might see that even though a capital punishment case costs more, if the crime rate goes down than we have fewer criminals to take to trial. If we have fewer criminals to take to trial, we are actually saving more money in the long run by keeping capital punishment legal. A politician might be angry that Freedman does not show the actual statistics of the crime rate as executions were outlawed and then when executions...
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...The issue this paper is focusing on is the death penalty, in the United States. Anyone can be affected but mainly anyone who has committed a serious crime; on death row and their families are affected. The victims’ families can also be affected. Citizens living in the U.S. should care because innocent people are being killed by this controversial punishment. Some would say death penalty does not affect the vast majority of people, but however does affect taxpayers. Currently there are only 31 states that have the death penalty. All states that have this punishment use lethal injection and they use two or three drugs to stop the inmates heart. One stance on this subject is that the death penalty is just and beneficial for the government. It can be important for maintaining law and order. According to “Punishment is the only proven method to enforce the law” (Bowman). There has been the saying “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth” which can apply to the death penalty. Since they decided to end someone else's life, they can end theirs. These killers don’t see the value of their victims lives, so they can’t claim their own lives as sacred.”The ultimate crime deserves the ultimate punishment”(Delascio)....
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...THE EXECUTION OF PSYCHOPATHS Is the Performance Unconstitutional? Mental illness and capital punishment make an extremely controversial mix. However, what happens when the subject of psychopaths get introduced to this popular mix? The main focus of this paper is to shed some light on the argument of whether or not it is unconstitutional to execute psychopaths. This paper will introduce definitions, history, and current theories being introduced by both sides of the argument. Brief History of the Death Penalty on the Mentally Ill The death penalty is one of the most talked about punishments in the United States today. However, there are common misconceptions as to where did the death penalty originate in the United States. Early America actually...
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...Oral Article Rebuttal - Capital Punishment BCOM/275 18 October 2012 Debra Brown Capital Punishment Article Rebuttal This paper is to examine an article based on an argument that a 23 –year- old Texas mom of five children received 99 years for gluing her two –year- old hands to the wall and beating her. The child suffered bleeding in her brain, which put her in a coma for a couple of days; a broken rib, multiple bruises, and bite marks, and skin torn from her hands on the wall. * Elizabeth Escalona savagely beat her two- year- old child to the edge of death because of potty training issues. * For this monstrous crime Elizabeth received 99 years in prison with eligibility of parole in 30 years. * Lawyer asked for probation or a prison sentence of fewer than 10 years. My argument is the crime Elizabeth Escalona committed was so heinous she should be punished by death. Remember, this happen in the Texas judicial system that is known to have the highest number of executions per year in the United States. Because Texas is the capital of capital punishment Elizabeth Escalona should receive the death penalty. Her lawyer asked the judge for probation or a prison sentence of less than 10 years stating that she came from a broken home, abuse and childhood of drug use and gangs. This is no excuse for the crime committed. The state of Texas has established government assistance...
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...work in a chain gang on a public road. If the servant or convict did as he was asked such as Mr. Macqueen did he would receive 7 pounds of beef, 9 pounds of flour, and sometimes on good behavior a quart of milk and 2 ounces of tobacco. After long hours of work from sun up to sundown 6 days a week he would be allowed to travel to see his wife/girlfriend upon the allowance of his master until his sentence is up and can do as he pleases as a free man. Hughes talks about the system swelling in the 1830’s where more criminals were caught and processed but moved away from the harsh punishment of death and moved more towards the floggings and less harsh punishments. So as the time went on from the beginning of the first settlement to the 1830’s where they had set up towns, farms, post offices, and other important buildings crime was happening but had set more ground rules down and rules such as death was only given to more of the serious crimes and petty crimes were handled as accordingly. With the data and other historical data tends to show a...
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...Vagueness, Ambiguity, and Clarity in Writing CRT/205: Critical Thinking December 7, 2012 Gecobie Davis When I looked further into Capital punishment laws I found a very interested story about when it first started. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes, and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. I think the United States should ban using capital punishment because many of them don’t do serious crimes then others. Look at the case of Brian Dugan is one of the people that the United States reconsider to use the capital punishment. I think if a person breaks the law any type of form of fashion they are responsible for their own actions. Brain Dugan execution took more than twice as normal time to do and appeared to some families member that was in a suffering process at the time of crime happen(Chicago tribune, 2011). I feel like the government is doing what they can to put these criminals in jail for killing, murdering, raping, and kidnapping another human being. I think by giving them life in...
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