...Pros and Cons: the Abolishment of Death Penalty Death penalty, from a legal perspective, is the killing of a person by a state authority through judicial process as a punishment for an offense. The capital punishment has been used by nearly all societies and the use of it extends to the beginning of recorded history. People believe that if we owe one’s money, we must pay back for it, so as one’s life. This kind of idea has deeply carved in many people’s mind for a long time. Compared with Christianity, who are strictly on the side of abolishment of the death penalty, Chinese tend to in favor of the saying of an eye for an eye and teeth for teeth. According to Amnesty International, at least 23 countries were known to had executions in 2010 and at least 17,000 people worldwide were sentenced to death. In addition, there are countries which do not publish information on the use of capital punishment, most significantly China, which is estimated to execute hundreds of people each year. Although there are many execution in China each year in the present day, there was a time in Tang Dynasty when the death penalty was abolished. This was in the year 747, enacted by Emperor Xuanzong. Depending on the severity of the crime, a punishment of severe scourging with the thick rod or of exile to the remote Lingnan region might take the place of capital punishment. However the death penalty was restored only 12 years later in 759 in response to the An Lushan...
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...Death Penalty Death penalty is an serious issue that has the United States very much divided. While there are thousands of supporters of death penalty, there is also a great amount of opposition. As of now, there are thirty-three states where death penalty is legal and seventeen states that are against death penalty. Opposing arguments do not hold up due to a limited amount of bias thoughts. Reasons death penalty should be legal in all fifty states because of deterrence, retribution, and it is the only moral response to some crimes. Back in the old days death penalty was a fashionable event but, people do not see death penalty that way anymore. Death penalty acts as a deterrent to crime is widely removed but there is plenty truth in death penalty than the liberals and abolitionists like to acknowledge(Anderson). Studies show that three to thirteen lives are saved each year due to death penalty by killing a guilty killer. Documents shows that some governments try to raise fee cost to prevent human killing each other but that seemed to increase the crime rates. More research needs to be embarked upon to ensure the quality and accuracy of the methodology and data but the results seem incontrovertible(Anderson). The death penalty acts as a deterrent and as a result saves and secure lives....
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...waiting to strike again. However, if someone asked what your thought is on the death penalty, most would probably say that they are against it that is until a family member or someone you love is walking down the street and that man who was looking for their next victim found them. It was a family member and you will never see them again. Capital punishment has been a topic of debate for a very long time and it still has no certain solution. The Supreme Court, in 1972 said that it was unconstitutional and had made it legal after the Furman v. Georgia case. They said that it was in violation of our eighth and fourteenth amendment citing cruel and unusual punishment (Shaw, 2001). They then reinstated the death penalty after the Gregg v. Georgia case in 1976 (Shaw, 2001). As of September 2010, fifteen states that do not have the death penalty ("Death penalty information center," 2010.) Today about seventy percent of Americans who support the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). While thirty percent are against the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). When seeking the death penalty, it is something not done very often and it not taken very lightly. The reason is because the cost it accrued overtime A typical death row trial usually goes as follows: The District Attorney’s office will seek the death penalty in cases they feel it is the appropriate punishment. The case will be in front of...
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...Death Penalty In today judicial system, many criminals are getting away with very little or no punishment for the crimes they are committing. You could be walking down the street in your very own neighborhood looking for their next victim and you do not even realize it. These criminals have no remorse on what they do; they are just waiting to strike again. However, if someone asked what your thought is on the death penalty, most would probably say that they are against it that is until a family member or someone you love is walking down the street and that man who was looking for their next victim found them. It was a family member and you will never see them again. Capital punishment has been a topic of debate for a very long time and it still has no certain solution. The Supreme Court, in 1972 said that it was unconstitutional and had made it legal after the Furman v. Georgia case. They said that it was in violation of our eighth and fourteenth amendment citing cruel and unusual punishment (Shaw, 2001). They then reinstated the death penalty after the Gregg v. Georgia case in 1976 (Shaw, 2001). As of September 2010, fifteen states that do not have the death penalty ("Death penalty information center," 2010.) Today about seventy percent of Americans who support the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). While thirty percent are against the death penalty (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, 2011). When seeking the...
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...Introduction Nowadays, the death penalty debate is a heated issue in many countries, especially in the United States. The death penalty or the capital punishment is a sentence imposed by the law, which remove the legal life of the person who commit or is suspected of having committed a serious crime. The history of death penalty in the U.S is long and ruthless and the first recorded execution was in 1608. There are many kinds of death penalty which have been used in US such as shooting, electric chair, hanging, lethal injection. Some people believe that it is never ethical and justifiable to carry out the death penalty as means of punishment by the law. Nowadays, approximately 2/3 of all countries have banned the death penalty included 18 states of the United States. Most executions take place in the Southern states, according to this source, until 2008, 930 out of 1136 executions took place there, with Texas having carried out 422 (The pros and cons of the death penalty in the USA, n.d). This research will indicate whether the death penalty in the U.S should be abolished. Body Paragraph Reasons for the abolishment of Capital Punishment in the U.S It is possible to argue that the death penalty in the U.S should be eliminated because of inviolable human rights, unjust punishment and faint correlation between executions and crime rates. Firstly, inalienable human-rights are against the death penalty in all over the world because no one can decide who could be...
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...Pros and Cons of Capital Punishment Capital punishment is a topic that anyone can count on to stir emotional discussions with plenty of opinions. In the world today, people commit horrific crimes daily. There are many who feel that those who carry out these terrible crimes deserve one fate: death. Capital punishment is used in reference to the death penalty that is issued in a judicial manner to execute those found guilty of a capital or hard offense. This according to our text is called legal punishment. Legal punishment is defined as the state-authorized imposition of some form of deprivation-of liberty, resources, or even life-upon a person justly convicted of a violation of the criminal law. (Stohr, pg 3) In this review of the pros and cons of the death penalty we will examine some different aspects of the process and allow the reader to form their own opinion. History The death penalty can be traced back a long time throughout history. The first established death penalty laws date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. In the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which gave the death penalty for 25 different crimes. This code expressed the well-known concept of lex talionis (the law of equal retaliation), which is further enunciated in the Mosaic code, the ancient law of the Hebrews, as “an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.” (Stohr, pg. 3) During the 18th century, many philosophers like Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham wrote influential writings on prison...
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...the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. Some people see it as a barbaric means of punishment while others see it as an important tool for fighting pre-meditated murder and other horrific crimes. The death penalty has bee in existence since the Eighteenth Century B.C. At first, it was carried out by horrific means, boiling, beheading, and burning at the steak just to name a few. Later as man became more civilized, more humane methods were invented and used. It was not until the Nineteenth Century that the death penalty finally found opposition. Since then the civilized world has been at odds on whether to abolish the death penalty. In conclusion, the reasons for abolishing it as well as reasons against abolishing the death penalty are argued; however, the victims of the crimes and their families cannot be ignored. . Over 15,269 Americans have been executed since the beginning of the death penalty in the United Sates, which dates back to colonial times. America remains a minority of nations in the world that still uses the death penalty for punishment of certain crimes. Many see this as a barbaric and against human values. Others see it as a very important means to fighting violent crime and pre-meditated murder. The death penalty’s history started as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. during the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. During that period there were 25 crimes that were considered punishable by death. The...
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...Capital Punishment What is Capital Punishment? Capital Punishment which is also known as the Death Penalty. Death Penalty is the infliction of the death penalty as punishment for certain crimes according toDictionary.com. In the following essay will show why Capital Punishment is implemented to our society. Capital Punishment in any form is acceptable according to the following to the following articles will help justify this concept. To some people Capital Punishment would be considered an act of cruel and unusual punishment; while for others it is a system that should be considered needed in all the States in order to keep the country more safe for the people. Many states within the U.S. have performed executions of convicts since the early 1600’s. Views on capital Punishment vary with people in different ways; there are various organizations within the country that have different opinions on the subject, and organizations such as Religions, Political, or Humanitarian have diverse perspectives on the Death Penalty. “The death penalty is also most commonly argued to be a violation of the right to life or of the "sanctity of life." Many national constitutions and international treaties guarantee the right to life. the right to life demands that a life only be taken in exceptional circumstances, such as in self-defense or as an act of war, and therefore that it violates the right to life of a criminal if she or he is executed, since this is purely murder by the State” according...
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...to die in prison” (Citizens for Juvenile Justice, 2008). For some, the idea of having a child spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars for capital and even noncapital crimes can be daunting and unfair. For many young people, they are at the point in their young lives where they are still trying to figure out who they are and they willingly test certain boundaries. Life in prison without parole attempts to snuff out what little life they have just begun to build. However, many would also argue that if you are capable of doing adult crimes and are willing to accept the responsibility of the crime, then you are capable of serving adult time. But with the landmark Supreme Court decision of Roper v. Simmons in 2005, the sentence of death is no longer possible for juveniles under the age of 18. This decision has changed our views about the level of a juvenile’s culpability and our response to such criminal offenses. Instead of facing...
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...arguments for both sides of the issue. Most people who believe that the death penalty is a fair punishment use the argument, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an arm for an arm, a life for a life." Otherwise known as Hamarabi’s Code. While most people who are in opposition use the argument that capital punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment which violates the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution. In the times surrounding the origins of capital punishment, it was used for a wide variety of crimes. Capital punishment can also be found in the Bible. The Bible prescribed the death penalty for crimes such as murder, kidnapping and witchcraft. By 1500 AD, in England, only major felonies carried the death penalty: treason, murder, larceny, burglary, rape, and arson. (Lexicon Universal Encyclopedia, 1989) The United States inherited capital punishment from European settlers in the seventeenth century. They promoted the idea that heinous crimes deserved severe punishment. And this is what brought capital punishment to its present standing. In the United States justice system a proportionate punishment is achieved, in the case of a person who committed a crime, when the death penalty is enforced. By 1800 Parliament had enacted many new capital offenses, and hundreds of persons were being sentenced to death each year. Today, in the United States, there are approximately 3,624 people on death row, and all of them are awaiting their much anticipated execution. Throughout...
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...Abolishing the Death Penalty George L Turner III PHI 103 Mr. Russ Tompkins August 31, 2009 Abolishing the Death Penalty The Death Penalty in America today is a highly debated issue and has been for many years. Could you imagine not having a life threatening consequence at all, such as the death penalty when it comes to criminals that commit very severe crimes? There are many people in the United States today with many different opinions on why the Death Penalty should or shouldn’t be abolished in our Country. I’m one who feels that we should not abolish the Death Penalty; however our Capital Punishment system can be much improved. One advantage to keeping the Death Penalty is that it’s suppose to act as a deterrent against those people who might think about committing a serious crime. I believe that it does help as a deterrent for some people, but not to the extent that it should. If we started sentencing more murderers and serious offenders to death, then I believe that more people will fear the consequences in which they may face. Now, if we start convicting the serious criminals to death, then that doesn’t mean continue to let them appeal their sentence and take years before they’re actually put to death. One other thing that I believe that keeps the Death Penalty from being as effective as it should be is T.V. I know it’s only T.V. but that’s what people see and a lot of people believe that is the way it is. Whether or not T.V. is how...
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...aspects. Capital punishment is defined as the legal infliction of the death penalty on persons convicted of a crime. It is a form of retributive justice that some feel is justified when proportionate to the crime committed. In the United States capital punishment is not intended to inflict and physical pain or torture but rather just used as another form of punishment. Many civilizations such as the ancient Romans and Egyptians used capital punishment to punish citizens form crimes such as blasphemy, treason, theft and murder. They believed in the “eye for an eye” doctrine. These ancient civilizations would perform capital punishment in the forms of stoning, burning, garroting, beheading, decapitation and crucifixion. Unlike how capital punishment is used today these methods were used to humiliate and inflict pain; they would be considered as cruel, barbaric and unusual punishment. Most deaths resulting from capital punishment in ancient civilizations were very slow instead of immediate. Two of the most popular cases of ancient capital punishment are that of Socrates and Jesus Christ. Great Britain originally brought the death penalty over to the United States and implemented it into the laws of the original 13 colonies. Although capital punishment was mostly accepted there was also opposition that it was an inhumane way to punish those who violated the law. In the late 1700s opposition to the death penalty gained enough strength to lead to important restriction on the use of...
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...[Name of Institute] [Law] Capital Punishment Introduction Capital punishment that also known as the death penalty or sentence has been one of the most widely debated and contentiously oriented topic in countries and diverse societies in terms of its promulgation, legitimacy, conformity towards humanitarian principles and norms and its abolishment. Argument regarding the topic has been segregated on the basis of its advocacy and opposition. Since we all constitute an integral part of a democratic system where people are provided the autonomy to voice their opinion and perspectives irrespective to the nature of the issue and hence being a part of the system I could cast my vote in favor and advocacy of capital punishment. (Hodgkinson and Rutherford, 1996) The Dual Analysis of Capital Punishment There are a number of reasons behind my perspective related to the advocacy and support of capital punishment. One of the simple and straight forward reasons for voting in favor of this form of punishment which is viewed as discordant and diabolical by many is my strong adherence towards the famous quotation which says ‘One thief dead, is one thief less’ it is a self-evident fact that a dead criminal does not possess the tendency of committing any more crime and hence the fear and the intimidation that he has created will cease to exist with his death. It is worth mentioning here that sometimes the implementation of this saying is taken in a negative sense through which...
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...this case, the 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...
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...Death Penalty 1 The Death Penalty Student PHI 200 Instructor Date Death Penalty 2 The Death Penalty The death penalty is a decision that causes frustration and tension within society as there is a battle of its justification and validity. It seems to be a great divide between opinions of justification, retribution, and deserved punishment to the potential of killing an innocent person and simply the fact that execution is murder. Crime is an everyday threat to our lives and will always be, the questions is how do we deal with it and to what extent do we take the punishment. This has been a question that goes as far back as Biblical times. History tells us that capital punishment is an acceptable and efficient deterrent of crime. Even today the death penalty remains an effective punishment in some states for heinous crimes and murder, while others have abolished this penalty. The death penalty has been challenged in the realm that it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which states that the United States cannot use cruel and unusual punishment. Punishment itself is an infliction of suffering which is legal and somewhat cruel. It is not however unusual as it has long been used in history. During the eighteenth century B.C. the death penalty was codified for 25 different crimes, in the Fifth century B.C. death was the only penalty for all crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning...
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