...PRO Capital punishment which is also known as the death penalty has become an increasingly controversial issue over many decades. Capital punishment is the pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person. Capital punishment should be legalized in all states, because it is morally just and it will deter crime. The many opponents of capital punishment who are against it feel that the death penalty is not a deterrent and that it is a thing of the past. It has no place in a civilized society today. One of the biggest arguments against capital punishment is people feel that it violates the eighth amendment which forbids cruel and unusual punishment. People against Capital Punishment believe the death penalty is absurd and is in un-Christian practice. Further more, they feel society should not" encourage sentiments of revenge or cater to morbid interest in ritual execution." Criminologists also built a strong case that the threat of death failed to deter murder, anymore effectively than prison. Therefore, to inflict harm to one, it is simply useless. However, the punishment fits the crime therefore, it is morally just. Capital punishment is an expression of society's moral outrage at offensive conduct. This may be appealing to many but it is essential in an ordered society. It asks our citizens to rely on legal procedures rather than to self-help their wrongs doings. It is morally right to sentence...
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...Though the nineteenth amendment may be few in words, there is a story behind it that couldn’t be told with a million. The struggle to gain this amendment was lengthy and difficult, but the final product : “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex,” and, “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation (US Congress).” This short statement immediately inspired those who supported it and continues to act as fuel for the fire of feminists today. Many events led up to the ratification of the nineteenth amendment. In July of 1848, the woman suffrage movement got a great start in the Seneca Falls convention headed by Elizabeth...
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...What is causing a lack of constitutional privacy? The United States of America is a country founded on the principles of seven founding fathers. These men strived to produce a constitutionally based system, a system which was based upon certain doctrines, one of which was privacy. This topic has been mentioned subtly in the Bill of Right and the Declaration of Independence, such as in the first amendment, the right to free speech, and in the fourth amendment, the right to no unreasonable searches and seizures. After all, we live in a country whose majority population believes in privacy being a god given right. Since America was founded on privacy, it seems absurd that the government has to look over our shoulders for insight information. A prime example of how the government interferes with the privacy of taxpaying citizens is through the U. S. Patriot Act. Yes, it was designed to prevent future terrorist attacks but it seems as if there are much more cons than pros; the checks and balances simply do not equal out. The U.S. PATRIOT Act is an acronym for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. This provision was passed in 2001 very soon after the multiple terrorist acts on September 11th, 2001. Under the supervision of George W. Bush, the bill was passed through congress and was enacted on within an amazing 6 weeks! The bill can simply be summarized...
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...and whether or not it’s going towards a helpful and productive cause? Thesis: Today we will break down the pros and cons of enforcing welfare recipients to be drug tested. Preview: Our group will inform you all about what welfare actually is, as well as reasons as to why some people believe it is a violation of their rights to be drug tested in order to receive welfare. More importantly, you will hear the opposing side of this issue, which is in favor of drug testing, along with reasons we believe it will benefit the welfare system. (First let’s get a better understanding of what welfare actually is.) Body I. Usually when one hears the word welfare, he thinks of public assistance. A. According to the welfare info website, welfare can also be characterized as a financial assistance to needy individuals, which is supplied through the taxes paid by the working society. (welfareinfo) 1. It also improves the quality of life and standards of living for the poor. II. Now that we all understand what welfare is, let’s look at the pros and cons of enforcing drug testing to receive this assistance. A. As said by Florida’s Governor Rick Scott, “the most important benefit to this is that it would show that we do not want to waste tax dollars, as well as give people an incentive not to use drugs.” (Drug testing for welfare recipients pros and cons) B. A major benefit of requiring financial aid recipients to pass a drug test is that it would help people...
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...diminish crime and many pro gun advocates, look at Switzerland as proof that it is false. To get into this heated debate, it is important to understand the term gun control. Gun control is defined as laws that control the selling, owning, and use of guns (Webster's Dictionary). Like in any debate there are always two very different stance on this topic. PRO Pro gun control advocates argue that having strict gun laws will decrease the nation's crime rate. They also point out that having tougher gun laws will save lives by avoiding any more public massacres. To the eyes of a gun control advocate, it seems like a no brainer. After all, the less guns on the street will result in less gun related deaths. In the United States, 33,636 people have died due to a firearm in 2013 (Alpers, Philip).That number accounts for murders, homicides and suicides across the country. Thousands of people that year lost their life due to a firearm incident and the number keeps growing each year. Many gun control advocates wonder why it is so difficult to implement stricter gun laws in the world's greatest democracy. The misinterpretation of the second amendment is what's holding back the U.S. Many people that are against gun control throw around the Second Amendment a whole lot. What many have failed to realize is that the Second Amendment protects the right of militias to own guns, not the individual. Let's take a look at what the Second Amendment states. The Second Amendment to the Constitution states...
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...Some of these cons consist of: • Most conservatives would argue that because the Bible states that same sex marriage is an abomination, the state shouldn’t legalize it. (However, in opposition of this point of view, not everyone shares a perspective from the Christian Bible and some people would end up dismissing this claim since it’s biased and has no real authority to it due to it being a religious context). • Tradition in the United States says that a man and a woman are supposed to marry instead of a woman and a woman or a man and a man. (Again, in opposition of this, we live in an era where cultural and traditional views are constantly evolving and changing and it is now almost a completely accepted idea that same sex marriage is a possibility throughout...
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...language is to be able to conduct all government business in one language. Having English as an official language could possibly eliminate a lot of issues that have occurred and will occur due to words getting misplaced during translations. It will be very important for the United States to adopt English as its official language. Having an official language can possibly help with how the country flows. It will allow all government documents and issues to be presented in one language. There will be no room for mistakes that could happen during the translation of a document. In my preliminary research, I have found that the debate on adopting English as the official language of the United States has been going on for years. New amendments are being brought up at almost all sessions of Congress. I have also found that such...
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...Karen Dade Ms. Benson US History, Block 4 5 May, 2014 Failure of the Prohibition 18th amendment was doomed to fail from the beginning. Numerous reasons show why it was a failure. Even though intentions were noble, the 18th amendment didn't achieve it's goals but rather caused many problems that it intended to be solved. The 18th amendment was a failing law from the beginning and had given many organized group of criminals power in corruption that caused crime in the U.S. The Volstead Act enforced the 18th amendment by “prohibiting the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages for consumption" (Sann 62). The Volstead Act had clarify the law. The law had began with any type of intoxicating liquor beverage for example wine or beer over 0.5 percent alcohol. (Sann 62).It had also explained that by owning an item that promoted or tolerated alcohol became illegal. If the law was broken, there was a punishment which could bring you jail time. Even though the government enforced the law, there were many loopholes to drink legally. Citizens were only allowed the use of alcohol if you were prescribed by the doctor. Very large prescriptions were written which did not help the Volstead Act.(Sann 192) It did not help stop people from consuming alcohol. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was founded and organized in 1874 to encourage the 18th amendment. They were sent by the missionaries to spread the word about temperance. The issue was recognized...
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...Internet Resources 1. Agresti, James D., and Reid K. Smith. "Gun Control Facts." 11 Feb. 2013 Web 18 Sept. 2014. http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp. This is a web document in which the authors cover pure statistics and facts. Graphs, tables, quotes, and statistics are all that this piece contains. This resource is useful since it was updated a little more than a year ago with the most recent data and continues to be updated as new stats and facts become available. It is also neutral in nature, giving just the facts and referencing both the affirmative and negative sides of the argument. 2. McEntee, Peg. “Utah Teacher Shoots Herself in Leg With Concealed Weapon.” Huffington Post 11 Sept. 2014 Web 18 Sept. 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/11/teacher-shoots-self-concealed-weapon_n_5807826.html?utm_hp_ref=gun-control The Huffington Post is a news site with an entire section dedicated to news surrounding gun control, both recent and past. This article is helpful because it outlines the concealed carry laws in Utah schools, a state which has closely modeled it’s laws after Colorado’s. This article is useful because it describes some of the negative effect that concealed carry on campus has for the person carrying as well as the student population/their parents if they find out about the firearm. 3. Students for Concealed Carry. “Common Arguments Against Campus Carry.” Concealed Campus 2011-2012 Web Sept. 18 2014 http://concealedcampus.org/common-arguments/ ...
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...Reconstruction of the United states of America was a big failure and here are some reasons why. The government never had taken the biggest step and that was land redistribution. After the civil war slaves were left with no economic rights and basically became peasants to society and had no lives and couldn't live like they would of liked to. “Freeing slaves also led to crippling the land and the foundation of the south.” The reconstruction of the south lasted between the years of 1865 to 1877. Republican legislature failed to protect people who were once slaves from the white people that had been apart of the persecution committee. The supreme court eventually came to totally get rid of anti-progressive legislation to reverse the rights...
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...The right to bear arms, is always a hot-button issue, especially during election season. This essay will examine the gun control issue. It will provide a brief history, statistics, and quotes from gun control experts to describe the present state of gun control in the United States. In addition, it will offer a brief analysis of gun control efforts. This examination and analysis will demonstrate that stronger gun control is necessary to reduce gun violence and ensure the safe use of guns in the United States. “Since the American Revolution, when colonists went to war against Great Britain, the right to bear arms has been central to – and controversial in – American culture. Take a look back over milestones in America’s relationship with and regulation of firearms”. Following by U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, news reports. Gun control is nothing new in the United States, and neither is the controversy surrounding the control of gun ownership. According to an author , gun control has been an issue since at least 1934, when Congress passed a law restricting machine guns and sawed-off shotguns . An Author points out that after the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, a law was passed that banned the importation of inexpensive handguns called "Saturday Night Specials;" in 1993, the Brady Bill was passed, which required background checks for handgun purchases; and a 1994 law banned...
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...TOPIC #4: Human Experimentation PRO: Prisoners should be allowed to participate in human research CON: Prisoners should not be allowed to participate in human research History and definitions Dating back to 1965, seventy-five prisoners at Holmesburg prison in Pennsylvania were purposely exposed to a poisonous agent. This study was conducted to determine the effects of dioxin, a potentially harmful substance. Dermatologist Dr. Albert Kligman, exposed prisoners to a dosage 468 times greater than the required dosage for the experiment. All evidence has been destroyed; however, participants are still experiencing dermatologic issues. As a result of research and experiments like these conducted in prisons, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare terminated the use of prisoners as subjects. Shortly after, the federal government passed strict guidelines limiting the scope of experimentation among prisoners. These guidelines passed, codified at Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, in 1978. Although prisoner research has been outlawed decades ago, it is far from over (Reiter, 2009). Certain guidelines are in place to protect human subjects in research. “The Common Rule” provides for the proposed research to be reviewed by the institutional review board (IRB) in addition to requiring informed consent. A review body, known as the Institutional review board (IRB) was established to protect the natural rights and welfare of persons subjected to scientific research...
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...Zeba Hasan March 12, 2013 WRD 104 Professor Staley Suspected Terrorists Post 9/11: Constitution Abandoned The Founding Fathers of the United States created a basic set of laws that all people and officials abide by. Every individual has the right to a fair and speedy trial and the accessibility to a lawyer according to the Sixth Constitutional Amendment. The Eighth Constitutional Amendment bans cruel and unusual punishment while the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. The words ‘people’ and ‘individual’ occur frequently in the Constitution and do not specify a certain group of people or whether a person must be a United States citizen for these amendments to take effect. Michael E. Cannon, member of the military service for over twenty-two years, noted that these amendments are not followed through when it comes to investigations outside of the United States, notoriously in the Middle East where countless infamous prisons torture prisoners daily, such as Abu Ghraib (Cannon). Many arguments are made as to whether torture should or should not be used during investigations. Torture, in some circumstances, has been shown to aid investigations or in some way break the prisoner. Americans feel secure knowing that they are controlling people from the same nationality or religion as those who hurt the nation tremendously a few years ago. Although the safety of United States’ citizens is a vital necessity and a right when living in the nation, it should not...
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...Random Breath Tests for Drivers is a Smart Thing to do As a six year old little girl I was faced with what I thought was the worst news of my life. In April 1989, my father was hit head on by a drunk driver and was killed instantly. Almost twenty years later and this horrific memory still plays over and over in my head. If random breathalyzers were performed more often by police officers then maybe my father would still be alive today. I believe random breathalyzers for drivers is a smart thing to perform on a daily basis around the world because they will keep intoxicated drivers off the road and keep our roads and highways safe. Far too many people drink near the legal limit not realizing that they may innocently go over the limit. It’s not uncommon for us to be out on a Saturday night with a group of our close friends, have a few drinks and drive home. Sometimes it’s difficult to gage ones alcohol intake and is easier to assume that we are okay to drive. The legal limit in most states is 0.8%. If a person is driving while above the legal limit they are arrested and charged with drinking and driving more commonly referred to as a DUI or DWI. Driving under the influence of alcohol can be seriously harmful to themselves and innocent bystanders such as my father. Alcohol blurs our judgment and decreases our reaction time which can be crucial while operating a motorized vehicle. Driving while under the influence is illegal and those that violate that law should...
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...What is GST? The Goods and service tax is an initiative towards a reform in which this tax will replace all the indirect taxes in the Centre as well as the State, which can be levied in case of a sale being made or a service being provided. It is especially necessary in the current scenario, due to the degrading effects of the present tax system of CENVAT and State Vat system and the other complexities that prevail in the tax system of India. Some of the taxes that will be replaced under the central taxes are Service Tax, Surcharges, Central Excise Duty, Customs Duties and other Excise Duties. Some of the taxes that will be replaced under the state taxes are Luxury Tax, Entertainment Taxes, Tax on gambling and betting, Lottery Taxes, surcharges etc., as long as they are related to entry tax and the supply of goods and services. Due to reasons, which are social, environment related as well as those related to import dependence, certain products like high-speed diesel, alcohol (human consumption) is not included. Also, the direct taxes will be exempted from the GST, including capital gains, corporate and income tax. To better understand GST, consider the following: There exists a manufacturer, retailer and dealer (wholesaler). Goods and Service Tax is 10%. Now assume that the manufacturer buys the raw materials worth Rs 100 for Rs 140. Therefore, the total GST he will pay is Rs 4 by getting a tax credit of Rs 10 on the raw materials he had purchased. Now, the...
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