Capital Punishment Essays (1008 words) - Penology,

Capital Punishment ?The?Capital punishment is the infliction of the death penalty on persons convicted of a crime.? This has been a topic of debate for many years. People who are for: People who are against: ?Why do we kill people to prove killing people is wrong Unconstitutional The 1st argument I have against capital punishment is that it?s unconstitutional. Every person has an equal right to ?life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.? This is a quote from American Civil Liberty Union National Office, ?Capital punishment is a barbaric remnant of an uncivilized society. It is immoral in principle, and unfair and discriminatory in practice.? Does the government have the right to kill? Maybe in self defense, like a policeman firing on a armed and dangerous criminal. Suppose we apply the same standards to the government that we have for civilians. A civilian has the right to shoot at an intruder as he is entering his home but if the civilian catches the intruder and has him under his control, the shooting him would be considered murder. That?s what capital punishment is...simple murder. Against: I agree that capital punishment is a relic of barbarism but as murder itself is barbaric, death is a fitting punishment for it. It goes along with the ?eye for an eye? principle. For example, someone steals $10 from you and then the person who stole your money has the same thing happen to them? Doesn?t that satisfy you? Many feel the same about murders who are sentence to die. The criminal has brought the punishment upon himself, they deserve what they get. Cruel and unusual The 8th amendment of the us constitution, condemn gruel and unusual punishment is used to protest capital punishment. For:: When the constitution was drafted, capital punishment was practiced widely in this country, yet it was not specified as wrong or as cruel and unusual. John Locke went as far to say that murder is not intrinsically wrong. How can the constitution be brought into this argument, since it makes no mention of capital punishment? The methods by which executions are carried out can involve physical torture. ?Electrocution has on occasion caused extensive burns and needed more than one application of electric current to kill the condemned. It often takes 10 minutes or more to die in the electric chair. It is also torture to keep someone locked up when they know they are waiting to be killed. Officials often defend this and say it?s not cruel and unusual, but how can they defend this opinion in the case of John Evans who was executed by electrocution in 1983? According to witnesses at the scene Mr. Evans was given three charges of electrocution over a period of fourteen minutes. After the first and second charges Mr. Evans was still conscious and smoke was coming from oall over his body as a result of his flesh burning. An official there even tried to stop the execution on account of it being cruel and unusual punishment, but was unsuccessful. Witnesses later called th whole incident a ?barbaric ritual.? NEXT ARGUMENT The death penalty costs more than life in prison. It costs 5 to 6 times more than lifetime imprisonment, according to studies in a number of states. Most costs occur at trial level. Indiana, with smaller death row than Virginia?s estimates it could save $5 million per year by abolishing capital punishment. NEXT ARGUMENT Murder rates are lower in states that have abolished the death penalty. The Supreme court, United Nations, and numerous independent studies have concluded that the death penalty has no effect on the crime rate, on average the murder rate in U. S. which execute is almost double the rate in states without the death penalty. NEXT ARGUMENT possible death of innocent ?In case of a mistake, the executed prisoner cannot be given another chance. Justice can miscarry. In the last hundred years there have been more than 75 documented cases of wrongful conviction of criminal homicide. The death sentence was carried out in eight of these cases? Undoubtedly many other cases of mistaken conviction and execution occurred and remain undocumented. A prisoner discovered to be blameless can be freed; but neither releases nor compensation is possible for a corpse. NEXT ARGUMENT DOESN?T DETER CRIME Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to crime. ?Expert after expert and study after study have emphasized and emphasized the lack of correction between the threat of the death penalty and the occurrence of violent crime? Ehrlich?s study on the deterrent effect of capital punishment