...Death Penalty In 1991, Cameron Todd Willingham had been accused of murder of his three daughters by burning down his house. There was no physical evidence of this accusation, and he pleaded not guilty time and time again. Yet in 2004, Willingham was put to death. After his execution, the case was investigated, and the truth was uncovered. He was innocent like he had been pleading all along (Grann). Is the death penalty really worth the risk of killing an innocent person? Today, the death penalty remains a method of punishing for murder and other heinous crimes. But is this really the most effective method to stop people from committing a crime? Arguments on whether the death penalty serves as a valid and justifies form of punishment continual to spread on in today’s society. One says it is a form of justice and punishment, when the other side says execution is an act of murder. But since the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime, it has a much higher cost than keeping the criminal in prison, and the belief is true because our society is much more highly evolved, therefore, the death penalty should be abolished. The death penalty was supposed to decrease homicides, but there is no evidence that has proved this theory. Most people who commit murders either do not expect to be caught or do not carefully think through the differences between an execution and life in prison before they act. Studies have also find out that states without the death penalty have better...
Words: 988 - Pages: 4
...agree with in today’s society but, out of all the wrongdoing that takes place, I believe murder including the death penalty is the worst of them. I am strongly against the death penalty because it violates God’s rules, costs the tax payers too much money, the possible “wrongly accused,” and it is cruel and unusual punishment. How often do these concepts creep into the public’s mind when it hears of our ‘fair, trusty’ government taking away someone’s breathing rights? I do not support having the death penalty because it violates religious beliefs. Many religions, such as my own, Catholicism, follow the rules that God sent to use through the Ten Commandments. One of the most important of those ten states, “Thou shall not kill.” If you are executing an individual, that clearly violates this commandment. Murdering any person, no matter what the individual has been convicted of, is a mortal sin. Therefore, God will punish anyone who aids in executing people. I believe that religious beliefs, such as the Ten Commandments, are the corner stone for our law system. Executing someone should not be made an exception to God’s rule. My next reason against the death penalty is that taxpayers waste too much of their money with the death penalty. The average death penalty case is appealed three times. This means that the taxpayers must pay for the same trial to be heard three times. This is a very expensive practice. Also, the average convicted murder spends 12 years on death row. If supporters...
Words: 646 - Pages: 3
...on this topic. If properly used right, capital punishment is good for society because it is a deterrence against future crimes and protect the rights of victims of malicious murders, capital punishment is a legal and an appropriate measure in the United States legal system. Capital punishment was reestablished in 1976 by the Supreme Court as an appropriate measure for murder cases. Since then, many murderers have been convicted and put to death for their awful crimes. With each execution of a murderer, society is a safer place. When a human makes the ultimate decision to commit a crime of murder, rape, child rape, and torture, would a life in prison term be fair. Prison's are for much less acts of crime and people who do the acts against fellow humans should be punished by capital punishment. Prisons and jails are used as a deterrent so that people in today’s' society will not perform an act against another human. If they do, they know the repercussions of the acts they are performing. Some people are clearly not mentally capable of knowing the difference between right and wrong and they are put into hospitals because of their sickness. The majority of society know the difference of right and wrong. Another form of a deterrent that our county has is the speed limits. Without having speed limits, people would be driving at very high speeds with no care for their life or others. The death penalty has the same deterrent in that people who kill others, rape others, or...
Words: 1741 - Pages: 7
...Should Death Penalty be abolished in America? Death penalty, or capital punishment, the most severe punishment for criminals, has been in the punishment system in countries all over the world for thousands of years. The history of death penalty is almost as long as the history of human beings. Death penalty was once considered as natural as life itself. It was usually applied to those criminals who had conducted grave crimes and no one would feel pity for the criminals in the past. However, with the development of human beings, different voices about death penalty appear more and more often. Some people argue that in modern society where life is highly valued, death penalty that deprives of a person’s life would be too cruel. Therefore, campaigns are launched for the purpose of abolishing death penalty. However, there are still some other people who firmly support death penalty. As a result, in today’s society, death penalty has become an extremely controversial issue, both sides of which have its own supporters and reasons. This paper explores to the different sides of death penalty, to find whether death penalty is necessary or not in today’s world. In the coin of death penalty, side A stands the firmly supporters of death penalty, claiming that death penalty is a cruel necessity in today’s world. A latest Gallup poll shows that 64% of the Americans support death penalty and 29% oppose it. For especially atrocious crimes, the support rate rises to 80% (Jones, Jeffrey M)....
Words: 2317 - Pages: 10
...Name Tutor Course Date Federal Death Penalty Law Death penalty is advocated for by the state legislature or congress in cases of murder and certain capital crimes. A ruling from the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban regarding unusual and cruel punishment. However, the Eighth Amendment shapes the procedures to be employed by the jury regarding the use of the death penalty. According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s law, a penalty given to the defendant should be proportional to the kind of crime committed. Contrary to this, the punishment will have violated the Eighth Amendment, which is against unusual and cruel punishment (U.S. Department of Justice 3). The Supreme Court has to consider a number of factors in determining whether a death penalty is the appropriate penalty in the case. First, the court has to consider the gravity and severity of the penalty. Second, the court has to consider the jurisdiction under which other criminals are punished. Finally, the court has to consider the jurisdiction under which the same crime cases are punished. The defendant is granted a death sentence penalty in certain circumstances. First, in the event that he/she is charged guilty of a crime committed and capital sentence is the only legal authorized sanction. Second, if the defendant is found guilty of intentionally killing the victim. Finally, if the case presents several aggravating factors that feature in the statutory list...
Words: 3126 - Pages: 13
...Society is complicated structure composed of various phenomena and actions and we are all needed in some control to ward off disorder in our environment. Еvery yеаr numbеr оf сrіme is risen to reduce growth over 60 country have passed different law, one severe of them is capital punishment. However capital punishment one of the ancient types of punishment and now we live in developed century where moral and ethics are highly appreciated is it still justifiable use death penalty for diminish crime? There are a lot of opinions around this problem, firstly, some people think that crime will grow, if thoroughgoing measures do not apply; accordingly, they offer death penalty as the right decision of the problem, so they assume capital punishment has helped to make their life more secure. Secondly, the main reason using capital punishment consists in reduction criminal by suggestion fear. Murders, serial killers and others are kept in check and think twice before perpetrate a crime; hence people will feel themselves defence of them. In contrast capital punishment is not effective method in decision situation, as itself law is against to take somebody life and it will contradict at constitutional rule, even if he is murder who takes else anyone’s life. In practice can be moments, when verdict of handing judge is fault and it clear up after execute the sentence or after many years. Besides itself idea about death penalty can cause of stir or violence in society. One against the death...
Words: 461 - Pages: 2
...Capital Punishment Capital punishment or the Death Penalty is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The death penalty has been a staple in the justice system of America since its inception. In the United States Death Penalty is agreed by almost 78% of Republican with approximately 52% Democratic. Though very controversial, it has stood the test of time as the ultimate punishment. Many countries are currently abolishing their death penalty practice. America, on the other hand, has 38 of 50 states with laws regarding the death penalty. It seems the United States requires the death penalty more than ever due to the increased rate of violent crime. In modern time, it’s a high controversial topic due to the increase of crime rates in USA and in other countries in the world. Death Penalty is an undivided part of history of mankind ever since humans have started to live in society. From, the time of Vikings to the time of Saddam Hussein Death Penalty is something that follows the Death Penalty for one or another reason! However, the main intense among all those is to reduce the crime factor in society. Death Penalty is sentenced to someone when he/she does something that harms others or the community severely. Such as, to kill someone, to attack someone with an intense to kill them, to physically abuse in other...
Words: 1124 - Pages: 5
...Name Tutor Course Date Federal Death Penalty Law Death penalty is advocated for by the state legislature or congress in cases of murder and certain capital crimes. A ruling from the Supreme Court rules that the death penalty does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban regarding unusual and cruel punishment. However, the Eighth Amendment shapes the procedures to be employed by the jury regarding the use of the death penalty. According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s law, a penalty given to the defendant should be proportional to the kind of crime committed. Contrary to this, the punishment will have violated the Eighth Amendment, which is against unusual and cruel punishment (U.S. Department of Justice 3). The Supreme Court has to consider a number of factors in determining whether a death penalty is the appropriate penalty in the case. First, the court has to consider the gravity and severity of the penalty. Second, the court has to consider the jurisdiction under which other criminals are punished. Finally, the court has to consider the jurisdiction under which the same crime cases are punished. The defendant is granted a death sentence penalty in certain circumstances. First, in the event that he/she is charged guilty of a crime committed and capital sentence is the only legal authorized sanction. Second, if the defendant is found guilty of intentionally killing the victim. Finally, if the case presents several aggravating factors that feature in the statutory list...
Words: 3126 - Pages: 13
...The Death Penalty Introduction The death penalty is a huge controversial issue all over the world. This punishment is carried out by the country's government when a citizen of that country disobeys the law by committing an unthinkable crime, such as rape or murder. But having the death penalty has it negatives as well as the benefits to a country .In this assignment I research and discuss , the benefits as well as the negatives. Currently, there are thirty-three states in which the death penalty is legal and seventeen states that have abolished it all together . I believe the death penalty should be legal as I will now debate . There are many reasons as to why I believe the death penalty should be legalized, including deterrence, retribution, and morality; and also their are other arguments to this topic that do not show enough evidence to prove it is wrong. This discussion is important because I feel it is a decision made within what you believe is right. I don't see why society should tolerate such people, I suppose throwing a person in prison for life works, but then again why should good citizens who go about their daily lives and pay their taxes and be responsible for supporting the life of a peadophile or murderer ? My hypothesis is the death penalty, is more beneficial than harmful. My research report will be based in the United States , as the USA still has the death penalty in many of their states. What is the Death Penalty? The death penalty, also...
Words: 1251 - Pages: 6
...For some cases, life in prison is an understandable sentence. If justice is served, there should be no problem. But, in our court today, those who are sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty usually are not well represented. This means the person who is being tried does not have a high income and cannot afford to hire and pay a lawyer to help his or her case. When this happens, a public defence lawyer is appointed to them. This usually results in that person losing due to poor representation in court, since they can not afford an attorney. Being of a specific race also leads some to believe the conviction rate of that specific race is more common. In reality, those who are tried are more of a certain race with a lower income, making...
Words: 741 - Pages: 3
...military should be regulated in terms of punishment before the courts. Prior to the military courts such as jag corps, the military was a mess in terms of how criminal law was enforced. What Pollock questions about the information gather is the treatment of military officials and prisoners through the evolution of military courts. It is important to see how the military readjusted their system. It reaffirms how people are tried which gives it a more civil component. Even in the terms of a death penalty you have the ability to appeal it to a higher court which was most likely not allowed back then. It also serves to not make the same mistakes again and follows our human rights pact. In today’s society the idea of cruel punishment is...
Words: 496 - Pages: 2
...in the world that practices this savage and immoral punishment of death. Retentions argue that the consequence of death prevents persons from committing the heinous crime of murder. It is also proven that the death penalty does not deter persons from committing murder, nor does it serve as an example of the consequences of capital crimes to society. Beccaria never like capital punishment, never like the execution of a criminal convicted of a crime, or did he not like someone being killed for legal taking of the life of a criminal. Beccaria suggested that there are other ways to deal with criminal punishment. Social controls are other ways to deal with crime. Social control comes with rules and guidelines of behavior that we all should be follow being a member of today’s society. A great number of these behaviors fall into the category of everyday good manners. Social control also come in other forms: values, rewards, norms and punishments. These different forms help control our everyday way of life. Now, reward and punishment of people come from what people accept and don’t accept in society. Meaning time and place will be the final answer. Bad behavior is a deviance of one attention. This covers a mast of criminal behavior that we deal with from society to society. Here are some other ways we can control behavior by educating what’s right and what’s wrong. We all have a sense on good and bad behavior. Society is trying to reinforce acceptable behavior. This is a need that needs...
Words: 468 - Pages: 2
...balance and order in our society through justice. Plato’s teachings of moral obligation are still followed today, but many laws and regulations, such as the death penalty, ultimately contradict the most cerebral philosopher of all time. Plato believed that a person’s moral obligatory behavior should be expressed by rationality. He also believed that moral obligation is based on five universals. Plato explains his reasoning using an example of man’s interests. Plato simply believed that a man should live by asking what benefits him, or what contributes to his own happiness. By entrusting that society is responsible, a man’s desire to be beneficial to “himself” would ultimately help other within the society. Thus a society of moral citizens would exist. Plato would believe to say that morality is what promotes the agent’s happiness. This can be explained by the “good feeling” a person gets when they do a good deed. Although Plato had a good understanding of proper moral behavior, he wanted to know what in general actually was rational for someone to do. Therefore the question of what moral behavior really is comes into mind yet again. Plato also created a two-fold method which is comprised of three steps. The first step is for one to omit ignorance. The second is to regain a desire to want to learn from the society. And the third is for one to understand rough intuitions leading to the knowledge of right and wrong. For decades the idea of the death penalty has been questioned...
Words: 562 - Pages: 3
...Arun sharma Prof.Brown ENGL-1302 04/02/2012 Capital punishment, the death penalty, death sentence, or execution is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. Ever since the inception of this practice, issues have been raised about its inhumanity, immorality and inefficiency. As human civilization is evolving and more effective and less violent practices for criminal justice are being devised, the debate is getting hotter than ever. And while some might find reducing criminals rather than crime, an easier approach to a better and safer society, Capital punishment is not an ideal solution for controlling crime because it is unusually cruel and the least efficient among all other methods of crime reduction. Capital punishment is an unacceptably cruel way of controlling crime. It has its roots in the barbarian era of human civilization when slavery, branding, and other similarly painful punishments were commonplace. There can be no justifications for the use of this savaged method which is based on the 4000 year old Babylonian law advocating the “eye for an eye” principle. Attacking this inhumane practice in his article The Case Against The Death Penalty, Professor Hugo Adam Bedau of Tufts University states, “No society can safely entrust the enforcement of its laws to torture, brutality, or killing. Such methods are inherently cruel and will always mock the attempt to cloak them in justice”. Capital punishment demonstrates a lack...
Words: 646 - Pages: 3
...Classical Criminology In today’s society, those who commit crime are subject to a number of certain punishments, which are selected by relevance and effectiveness as seen fit by the prosecution. This concept is not a recently implemented part of the criminal justice system. Systems of criminal punishment can be traced back to the beginning of human civilization. Whether or not the Bible is considered to be fact or fiction, the commonly used concept of “an eye for an eye” was mentioned in Exodus 21:24, where the criminal’s punishment is proportionate to the harm caused. (Sterling) An aristocrat named Cesare Beccaria was a man dedicated to reforming the criminal justice system that was in place at the time (late 1700’s). His views and ideas on the justice system are nowadays commonly referred to as classical criminology. There are many current day supporters of a more classical approach to the system and Beccaria’s influence on the common idea behind punishment helped shape the system for the ages. When looking at today’s forms of punishment from a classical criminological perspective, there are many commonalities in the main purpose behind these measures. Some of Cesare Beccaria’s ideas are evident in the justice system of today, proving to be logical and effective. However, many of the currently adopted philosophies behind the purpose of punishment go completely against those ideas of Baccaria’s as well. Cesare Beccaria was an advocate for the Utilitarian justification...
Words: 809 - Pages: 4
