...Death Penalty English Composition CM-220 Unit 2 Assignment March 31, 2013 Death Penalty My “Big Idea” topic is on the death penalty. My thesis statement is: Capital punishment is controversial and people have many different feelings about it but I believe that the death penalty is beneficial to society and the public and that the United States should continue to use capital punishment. When doing research for an essay paper it is important to use reputable sources and avoid unreliable or opinionated web sites or articles, such as Wikipedia and Answers.com. Areas or items I will use to do research for my death penalty paper will be the U.S. Department of Justice, Amnesty International, CNN news reports and articles, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Pro-death Penalty web site. The Kaplan library has a Homeland Security Digital Library database which might contain some information that I can use and the Newspaper Source database is bound to have some pertinent information. The Kaplan library also has an abundance of articles and reports as well as a database with news and current topics I can explore for information. To get an idea of some material readily available in the Kaplan library database I did a keyword search on “pro death penalty” articles and three periodicals came up that I am going to review and they are: Top Ten Death Penalty Myths: The Politics of Crime Control; Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment; and Capital...
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...John Vera English 101H Professor Kaufman 23 October 2014 Is the Death Penalty Actually Effective? Of the many crimes one could commit, murder, felony manslaughter, espionage, genocide, and treason are a few of the crimes that can lead to one paying with the ultimate price, their own life. Lethal injection, gas chamber, firing squad, electrocution, and hanging are the methods of death afforded for those who commit such heinous acts. However, does knowing the possible consequences of capital offenses deter individuals from committing the crimes? Did it make you stop and think? In the United States the death penalty is used as a punishment for capital offenses. These specifically can vary from state to state, but commonly include first-degree murder, murder with special circumstances, rape with additional bodily harm, and the federal crime of treason. (Facts) The goal of the death penalty then, is to deter these crimes from even taking place, to be so feared that offenders think twice about committing such horrible crimes. But does it? In the following paper, the above question will attempt to be answered by looking at the background of capital punishment and the death penalty, the ideas behind it, viable alternatives, and finally, the effectiveness of the death penalty at deterring crime. Early death penalty laws date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C.. The death penalty also had a heavy presence in the Fourteenth Century Hittite Code, the Seventh Century Draconian Code...
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...IS THE DEATH PENALTY Is the death penalty the right form of punishment for crimes such as murder? 1 IS THE DEATH PENALTY Is the death penalty the right form of punishment for crimes such as murder? 2 During this paper you will hear supporting and opposing arguments for the death penalty when a murder charge is sought. You will hear information on the trial, the families, and the way it affects the jury. The death penalty has long been an ongoing debate. There are numerous reasons to be pro-death penalty, as well as, con-death penalty. When is the death penalty appropriate? What types of crimes should be considered for the death penalty? Throughout the course of this paper were going to look at the pros and cons of the death penalty when dealing with murder charges. We’ll discuss the money that goes into a trial and sentence of an inmate on death row, weather the death penalty actually gives the family a sense of justice, as well as, weather the death penalty is the right punishment for murder. We will also look at if the death penalty is the only answer for murder and weather the evidence and information given to the jury plays apart in the way they vote. The death penalty can mean many different things to many different people. Many people think that if you take a life you should have yours taken away. The question there, is it really effective? Taking the life of someone else isn’t going to bring the dead back, but allowing them to sit in jail gives them many...
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...Article Tittle: PRO: Death penalty best way to deal with violent criminals In the article entitled PRO: Death penalty best way to deal with violent criminals the writer discusses why the death penalty should be mandatory in certain criminal cases. Personally, I Believe the article was based more on the author’s personal opinion regarding the death penalty. In the article, the writer referenced a bible verse that provides “justification” for death penalty bring place. My argument would be, how this applies to those who are NOT religious. Or maybe they are religious but just done follow the policies of the Bible? The Author also touched on the financials of housing a convicted felon in prison. The author stated its best to sentence these criminals to the death penalty to avoid the $20,000 + per year that it takes to house this population of prisoner. Based on my research, in many states he average convicted felon remained on death row for twenty years, before they were actually executed. So to that I say, where are costs being cut in this situation? One point within the article that I partially agreed with is, people who commit these type of crimes are not good people. The writer also stated that for the benefit of the victim(s), the inmates should be immediately executed, so that their pure existence would not haunt the surviving victims and families of those victims who did not survive. I cannot verify the validity of the data; because again, the article seems...
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...12/10/12 English Research Paper Section 1 “Should The Death Penalty Be Legalized?” I. Although the death penalty is in decline, the “Golden Age’ of capital punishment in the United States peaked in the year 1999, where there were a total of ninety eight executions (“The Tide Shifts Against the Death Penalty” 1). This was the highest number seen since 1976. Advocates of the death penalty feel that the fear of death will make criminals think twice before committing a crime. However, opponents of the death penalty feel that innocent people are too often sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. As to any argument, there are pros and cons of the death penalty. Is the death penalty just a punishment? Do certain crimes cry out for the death penalty? Does it violate the United States Constitution? Does it deter crimes? As of January 1, 2008, the number of people on death row in the United States since it originated is 3,263 (“The Death Penalty in the U.S. 1976-2008” 1). II. The most common means of executing prisoners on death row is by lethal injection. Some claim that this violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (“The Tide Shifts Against the Death Penalty” 1). There are other methods of execution in the United States, such as firing squad and electrocution. There are thirty seven states in the U.S that use the death penalty (“Death Penalty Information Center Facts About the Death Penalty” 1). This includes...
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...U.S. Justice System? Siddiqui Carter Research Process Outline Paper University of Phoenix RES 341 Dr. Frank Poter January 1, 2005 Week 2 Should Capital Punishment Continue to be a Part of the U.S. Justice System? Capital punishment has long been a part of the American criminal justice system and the topic has created much debate on if this punishment is appropriate for the U. S. society. Many believe capital punishment is a necessary punishment for those who commit capital offenses and acts as a deterrent to violent criminals. Essentially, Americans that support the death penalty believe that it contributes to the overall wellbeing of U. S. society. Activists still desire to eliminate the punishment. Though, this country’s founding fathers broke away from England they did not completely disagree with everything they believed. When it came down to capital punishment, they adopted it from British common law. Even as history is reviewed, debate over capital punishment can be seen as far back as the American Revolution Debates over capital punishment continued from the Civil War until the 1960’s. During this period some states abolished and later reinstated the death penalty, but from 1968 to 1976, due to public out cry, no executions took place in the U.S. In 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty in the Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia because of the unfair application of the death penalty, and in this case, capital punishment was...
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...Death Penalty Imagine yourself as a mother sitting by the window, looking at the swing set in your backyard, remembering memories of your son, an accused murdered now facing the death penalty. You know there must be some mistake. You cannot understand how your son could ever do something so terrible. Imagine yourself next as a father whose daughter was brutally murdered, and whose killer has been sentenced to the death penalty. You desire to push the button that sends the lethal drugs flowing through his veins. The death penalty has been the cause of many emotional, political and ethical debates since its inception. At what point do we as human beings agree or disagree with the Death Penalty if the victim or the offender is a family member? Should the Death Penalty still exist or should we keep offenders on Death Row for life to rehabilitate them? With the Death Penalty in America dating back to Jamestown Virginia in 1608 with the first recorded execution of Captain George Kendall, the question that remains today is, should the Death Penalty be legal? With the Death Penalty still in effect in 34 states, this raises the question, if violent crimes are down in the states that don’t have the Death Penalty why is it still in existence? When an offender commits a violent crime, it is the responsibility of our government to punish the offender, and keep the rest of us safe. There are many factors the government has to consider when sentencing a...
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...state has the responsibility and the legal authority to punish the criminal or groups of criminals based on the given law. The punishment of the criminals may vary from simple fines and imprisonment to sever torture and the deprivation of life. Capital punishment or the death penalty has existed as part of the human justice system since ancient times. In these earlier periods people were sentenced to death as a punishment for crimes considered as first degree offenses by the state. These crimes were most of the time political as well as religious and the method of execution, in addition to different brutal ways, was mainly beheading. With additional types of crimes resulting in capital punishment and more sophisticated methods of execution, the death penalty has continued to be practiced in the 21st century. However, capital punishment, especially after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, has became an issue of greater debate among states, human right organizations and other nongovernmental organizations. Since 1948, the number of countries employing death penalty is decreasing and currently nearly half of the states in our world have abandoned the death penalty for all kinds of crimes. This paper will focus on presenting the diverging views regarding capital punishment mainly from a human right perspective. The study then tries to present facts, figures, and tries to look in brief the move towards its universal abolition. As far as the methods and methodology...
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...These words come from the daughter of the victim, Rebecca Patton, who was shot execution style seven times because of a botched ransom attempt. How many times do you think Rebecca Patton pleaded for her life before she was shot and killed by her murderer? Should the court exercise mercy on the defendant because he now “understands” what he has done and regrets his decisions? Should the convicted killer be given the opportunity to live his life behind bars with the ability to visit with family, make friends, play sports, and/or educate himself even though he intentionally took those very things away from another individual? In an effort to explain why the death penalty is justifiable and civil I will be providing the pro arguments to the death penalty based on its justifiableness and morality. I will also examine the death penalty as a civilized punishment for mankind and why it is appropriate to exercise. The case that I noted above took place in the state of Texas and the verdict of the case was to execute Lesley Gosch, the defendant, for the crimes he committed. The execution of this criminal seems both justifiable and civil in this case due to its uniqueness. The victim in the case became part of a ransom plot that included threatening her life in order to force her husband to acquire funds for the murderer. Unfortunately, something in the home caused Lesley Gosch to shoot and kill Rebecca Patton even though the ransom was raised and all other factors were met. Lesley Gosch...
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...DEATH PENALTY ARGUMENTS: Deterrent or Revenge (Pros and Cons) INTRODUCTION What is Capital punishment? Capital punishment is the death penalty. It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of offenses. Even the bible advocates death for murder and other crimes like kidnapping and witchcraft. When the word death penalty is used, it makes yelling and screaming from both sides of extremist. One side may say deterrence, while the other side may say, but you may execute an innocent man. Today, one of the most debated issues in the Criminal Justice System is the issue of capital punishment or the death penalty. Capital punishment was legal until 1972, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia stating that it violated the Eight and Fourteen Amendments citing cruel and unusual punishment. However, in 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia and reinstated the death penalty but not all states have the death penalty. Thirteen states do not have the death penalty: Alaska, District of Colombia, Hawaii, Iowa, Main, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY (CONS) Death Penalty Fails to Rehabilitate What would it accomplish to put someone on death row? The victim is already dead-you cannot bring him back. When the opponents...
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...What is death penalty? Death penalty is a form of punishment that involves the act of revenge to those people that commit a serious crime. Originally, death penalty viewed as an action that makes the criminal to pay the price to what they committed at the past. Death penalty is an irreversible form of punishment (Debate.org, 2013). It usually implement on person who commit on espionage, murder, or dealing drug crime. In the previous time, the methods to execute death penalty are very terror and cruel compare to now. This is because during past, death penalty normally does not see as the punishment but must be executed to ensure person was executed had to be painful (wisegeek, n.d.) Some of the common means of execution included crucifixion, boiling alive and etc. Until today, death penalty had been executed in more humane way. For example, electric chair, death by hanging or injection that can reduce the time of suffering for criminal. Recently, most of the country has executed death penalty as a form of punishment. The country with the most population among the world which is United State, China, India and Indonesia still practiced capital punishment. However, execution of death penalty is a very controversy form of punishment among the world. Many people started arguing whether the execution of death penalty is wrong since a long time ago. Although execution of death penalty is considered mandatory to deter criminal activity, there is several strong reason that death penalty...
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...Death Penalty 1 1 1. Death Penalty Your document’s heading is not formatted correctly. In the upper left corner of the first page, the words "Running head:" should preface a shortened version of your title. The upper right corner of the page should have the numerical page number. The shortened version of your title should be in all capital letters. On subsequent pages, the shortened version of your title should appear on the lefthand side, with a page number on the right-hand side. For additional information, visit the Ashford Writing Center located in Constellation. Click on Ch 7 -Sample Paper with Formatting Instructions. [Jayno Aki-Siler (TA)] The Death Penalty: Is it a Flawed System? PHI103 Informal Logic – Week 5 Final Paper Instructor: Galen Johnson December 16, 2012 -1- 2 Death Penalty The Death Penalty: Is it a Flawed System? People have many arguments against the death penalty, and most citizens do not believe that it is a discouragement for the crimes that it punishes. American societies that use capital punishment do not find that they have lower crime rates than those that don’t 1 use capital punishment. Most people would still not accept capital punishment even if it did reduce the crime rate. This indicates that capital punishment is focused on the financially deprived, and targets those who can’t afford to pay for a good lawyer. Research shows that people with little or no money get the highest penalties in society. A lot of people have no...
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...Factors Influencing Social Policy Paper Alisha Muller BSHS/355 Delivery of Human Service 6/29/2015 University of Phoenix Factors Influencing Social Policy Paper For the social policy assignment we chose to research an ad for the Affordable Care Act, also known as, Obamacare. This is a very touchy subject for the nation. We wanted to find an ad that used a fun way to present the Act in a lighter way. We thought that this ad accomplished that. Plus roller derby is always cool because it shows the strength that women can possess. When critiquing the ad we described the ad, assessed if the ad accurately portrayed the social policy, and the pros and cons of the ad. The ad that we have chosen for this assignment features the Roller Derby team members Sylivia’s Wrath, Craazy LuLu and Harper Bizarre Hell on Wheels of team Pain Killers. They ladies are looking very tough. Instead of the slogan got milk? It says got insurance? The words that are displayed next to the girls say that derby is dangerous and if you are going to play them you better have insurance so that you can be treated after they are finished. The ad also says that they have insurance and you too can have insurance thanks to Obamacare. The roller derby advertisement does not accurately portray the Affordable Health Care Act obamacare. The advertisement does not tell you that you have to have health care by March 2014. The advertisement does not tell you can purchase new coverage plans at any time. The advertisement...
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...Death Penalty By Susan Doe PHI 103 April 15, 2013 Is the Death Penalty Just and Applied Fairly? The death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is the punishment of execution, administered to someone convicted of a capital crime; it is the most severe form of corporal punishment. The death penalty in the United States has been an ongoing debate throughout history. Capital punishment has been banned in many countries, except in the United States; there are thirty-three states that currently have the death penalty. According to ProCon.org, the United States has executed 1057 people from 1997 through 2006. There are some that are against the death penalty, they feel that it is unconstitutional and immoral. Then, there are others that have a different feeling towards the death penalty; they feel that the ones that commit serious capital crimes should be punished with their own life. Those that support capital punishment say that it is deterrence and that it wastes money on the ones that are doing life. Those that are against capital punishment say that it is killing innocent people and that it is not saving money, that it costs more to put someone on death row. Is the death penalty just and applied fairly? There is no evidence that supports the death penalty being a deterrent to violent crimes. The death penalty is a waste of taxpayer’s money. There have been many innocent people have been sent to death row. Both sides will be argued to give an unprejudiced look with...
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...The Death Penalty Is It a Deterrent to Cop Killing And Crime in General Eastern Michigan University School of Police Staff and Command Executive Lieutenant Ronald Livingston Huntington Woods DPS Huntington Woods, MI An applied research project submitted to the Department of Interdisciplinary Technology as part of the School of Police Staff and Command Program. 2 Abstract This paper examines whether or not the Death Penalty is a deterrent to crime in general and more specific, it examines if the Death Penalty is a deterrent to the murder of Police Officers in the line of duty. It explores the history of the death penalty as our country moves through different periods in its history. Comparisons were made of regions throughout the country as to how the death penalty impacts crime in general and whether the fact that having the death penalty makes Police Officers safer with potential Cop killers knowing that the death penalty awaits them should they kill an Officer. This paper was compiled mainly by researching online periodicals, newspapers and books. This is a topic that evokes strong feelings, pro and con. These feelings and responses to certain crimes provide a virtual emotional roller coaster ride depending on circumstances. The killings of two Detroit Police Officers earlier this year proved to be no different. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ………..……………………………………………………………………..2 Table of Contents………………………………………………………………….....3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...
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