Abolishing the Death Penalty Thesis

Abolishing the final stage Penalty October 18, 2010 Abolishing the Death Penalty The destruction penalization has been an active force in the coupled States for decades. In the earlier history of our country, public executions were quite popular. Thousands dumbfound been workd with the majority occurring in the early twentieth century. But public sen termnt towards the executions began to wane as the concepts of basic human rights were universe incured through stunned the century. As a result, a kind of unofficial moratorium was placed on all in all executions while several Supreme Court cases were taking place to determine the faithfulness of the penalization.The result of the cases rattling pack the close avengement illegal as it stood, so several states rewrote their law of natures, world more specific as to the constituent as to which the penalisation give the axe be applied. The Supreme Court converse its decision and those states that met the new complian ce could reinstate the ending penalty. Today, it is legal to execute closing haggle pris whizrs in all but fifteen states. opus it may be legal, it still holds that the ending penalty has not and potnot turn over the task that it has been rein say to fulfill. Part I ThesisThe death penalty should be abolished for a variety of reasons. Initially, the death penalty has long been held to be inherently below the belt. It is considered unjust in relation to its application, unjust as to the type of punishment employ and unjust as a punishment at all. It has and continues to be argued in court that the executions amount to what is considered cruel and unusual punishment and so gaga that it should be done away with as a type of punishment. It is a sad but true statement to say that the get together States is one of the last democratic nations to continue to utilize the death penalty.Our country has wavered cover song in forth on the issue of capital punishment being illegal and a breach of human rights. Additionally, even while move to use the death penalty it has not shown to be a baulk of annoyance and actually may increase it. Opponents of the death penalty withal recognize that it has not been applied fairly. For instance, minorities, the poor, and the mentally disabled tend to grow the death penalty with farther greater consistency than their counterparts. That cannot be a punishment representative of a great industrialized country.Those against the death penalty also recognize the cost involved with executing a prisoner. To actually allow in a death row con through the pure(a) appellate system, so as to ensure the inmates wickedness with come out any doubt, would cost exponentially more than housing the aforesaid(prenominal) inmate for the duration of their lifespan. The monies saved could be better served if used towards something positive, like victims programs or the like. Lastly, the death penalty is a punishment that is irrevokable its effects ar permanent and at that place is the sad reality that unsophisticated lives may be lost. in that respect is no perfect system and mistakes ar bound to be made.This is one mistake, however, that cannot be corrected. This is why the death penalty cannot be the United States answer for unsafe wrongdoers of the law. Part II Anti-Thesis Proponents of the death penalty are large in number. According to many polls, as many as 80% of the the Statesn population still favour capital punishment. One reason for this is society as a intact believes that if a person kills another person, the killer forfeits his right to his own life. (Christie, 1990). If a person shows such comp allowe and utter disregard for human life, the unbelief is posed, why should any regard be shown for the person?Also, those in upgrade of using the death penalty argue that it is a just punishment for the crime and it is reliable. After all, though some states are trying to punish people with dea th for other heinous crimes, such as attack and repeat child molestation, so far the death penalty can only be imposed on implementation cases. As far as the reliability argument, supporters will always point out that because of the thoroughness in applying and appealing death penalty cases, the process itself will weed out the artless and wrongly convicted. Proponents of the death penalty also view it as a stoppage to crime. corresponding old, 1990). Just by having the likely punishment of death as an end result to a heinous crime has lowered the executing gait in some states. The touching is that the more executions you have, the lower the homicide rate you will have. Not to mention the innocent lives you will save. Supporters of capital punishment will cite studies showing that murderers who are allowed to live will inevitably kill again. Studies have shown that murderers awaiting their death penalty sentence to be carried out have killed correction officers, knowing th ere could be no additional fate assigned to them.Another argument made in favor of the death penalty is one of Biblical proportions. There are some activists that say the watchword itself proclaims the right to execute a perpetrator of the close to serious of crimes by quoting a scripture from Leviticus 2420 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured. The old adage has not been lost on those who looking that it is their God presumptuousness right to enforce the laws that God has given them regarding the taking of a human life. Gray, 2010) Lastly, many supporters of capital punishment feel that it is appropriate to give a punishment that fits the crime and one that is universal. It doesnt matter a persons color, race, creed, ethnicity, nationality, gender, or financial experimental condition if two people, one innocence and one non-white, commit the exact same crime under the exact same circumstances, they in fact should lift up the exact same punishment. It is believed that the death penalty, when applied under the circumstance of murder in the first degree with aggravating circumstances, is the great equalizer, with everyone being interact the same in the eyes of the law.Part III Synthesis It is important that the United States realizes, sooner than later, that the death penalty has to be abolished. Proponents want us to speak out that a killer forfeits his own life. But the reality is all life is precious, regardless of its form or merit. (Thomson, 2001). Although someone has taken a life, and in no way should that be trivialized, it does not change that situation by killing the offender. All it does is show that two wrongs do not make a right. The execution of the murderer does not bring the victim okay to life.Quite frankly, the death penalty often provides a way out for the offender and if punishment was the true desire of the sentence then there are situations, other than execution that may be far more relatiative than the taking of his or her life. (Thomson, 2001). When it comes to reliability, the argument on behalf of the death penalty doesnt hold up to scrutiny. Yes, it is true that the exhaustive appeals process does on crossroads help to find innocent people who have been convicted of murder. This is largely collectible to the relatively new innovation of DNA technology as it relates to crime scene investigation. (Gzedit, 2010).Well, if anything, this records the fallibility of the death penalty process. If over 131 death row inmates could be exonerated and released from death row, that shows just how faulty the system is and proves it is unreliable. Again, as stated previously, once a prisoner has been executed, there is no returning from the grave to say a mistake has been made. At least if the inmate was helping a life sentence and found innocent, they could be released, although still wronged by a jail sentence, but it is a correctable injustic e. One of the master(prenominal) arguments in favor of the death penalty is that it serves as a deterrent to serious crime.Would it surprise you to know that this simply is not true? It is a proven fact that the death penalty has not demonstrably deterred crime. (Same old, 1990). The 2004 Uniform Crime Report that was create by the FBI published that Southern states demonstrated the highest murder rate in the country, despite being responsible for 85% of the nations executions. (Friedman, 2006, p. 37). As further narrate that the death penalty doesnt deter crime I affirm you to the state of Texas which has been nicknamed the killing machine because they tend to exercise the death penalty frequently and rapidly.Even with capital punishment Texas has a disturbing murder rate of 5. 6 per 100,000 persons s opposed to Massachusetts, which banned executions and only has a murder rate of 2. 6. (Gzedit, 2010). As for the paper that people who kill once develop an appetite to kill again , there have been no definitive studies that prove this theory. This mindset is based on gut reaction, conjecture, and hysteria. Perhaps one of the most controversial arguments in favor of the death penalty is the interpreted law given by God to exact the same punishment on the criminal as was forced upon the victim.Supporters of this notion quote scripture from the devoted Bible as a sort of guideline to follow. However the Bible also has scripture that specifically refutes the idea of the death penalty as retribution for man to man. For example, Matthew 538-39 insists that violence shall not beget violence. pile 412 says that God is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. Leviticus 1918 warns against payback (which, really, is what the death penalty amounts to). In John 87, Jesus himself says, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. This is truly what Jesus would do Finally, proponents of the death penalty exclaim that executions are given with perfect exactitude according to the crime, without regard to race, color, creed, nationality, etc , basically saying without bias. However, many different studies have show that the likelihood of you receiving the death penalty increases according to those very attributes. race of color are more likely than their white counterparts to receive the death penalty for committing the same crime under the same circumstances.Also, blacks that murder white victims are far likelier to end up on death row than whites killing blacks. Furthermore, studies show that prosecutors are more likely to seek the death penalty against blacks than they will for whites who commit the same crime. (Friedman, 2006, pp. 86-89). So much for all being equal under the law So, as you see, we are a country somewhat divided. While the majority of Americans still favour the idea of using the death penalty, it has become an increasingly more controversial subject.The United States always holds its head up high as the leader of the devoid world and is quick to condemn other countries with regards to their human rights violations. How then can we continue to justify our use of this antiquated, archaic method of punishment? It is time that our country steps in line with the rest of the industrialized countries into the twenty-first century and do away with the death penalty once and for all.References Gzedit. (2010, January 27). Pro-death America alone. The Charleston Gazette,A. 4. Retrieved October 13, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. Document ID 1948771421). Christie, J. (1990, March 29). At Last, Punishment Fits the Crime Death penalty It has wide support because ordinary citizens identify with media images of brutalized victims Home Edition. Los Angeles Times (pre-1997 Fulltext),p. 7. Retrieved October 13, 2010, from Los Angeles Times. (Document ID 60026222). Friedman, L. (2006). The death penalty. Greenhaven Press Gray, L. (4 November). Houston Chronicle Lisa Gray column Life, death and the prodigal son. McClatchy Tribune demarcation News. Retrieved October 19, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID1893533451). Same old anti-crime hype. (1990, October 15). Milwaukee Journal,p. a06. Retrieved October 13, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID 64063217). Thomson, R. (2001, June 18). A consistent pro-life stance rules out the death penalty SARASOTA Edition. Sarasota Herald Tribune,p. BS1. Retrieved October 13, 2010, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID 74204727).