Free Essays on The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty: Utilize It Don’t Destroy It It is more reasonable to utilize the death penalty than to abolish it. The death penalty should not be abolished because it deters people from committing murder and because the death penalty gives peace of mind to the victims and their families and puts an end to the crime. It is more reasonable to utilize the death penalty than to abolish it. The death penalty should not be abolished because it deters people from committing murder and because the death penalty gives peace of mind to the victims and their families and puts an end to the crime. The death penalty deters some people from committing crimes and also saves human lives. Not everyone will be deterred from committing crimes because of the death penalty. However, since the death penalty is the highest penalty for crimes it will evoke the most fear in a human being. This fear will save human life. As legal expert Ernest van den Haag explains, â€Å"The threat of 50 lashes deters more than the threat of 5: a $1000 fine deters more than a $10 fine; 10 years in prison deters more than 1 year in prison- just as, conversely, the promise of a $1000 reward is greater than the promise of a $10 reward †¦ .† Most murders happen in the passion of the moment, however, serial killers, burglars, gang members, and others who plan their crime in advance can and do think of the possibilities. Many criminals don’t carry weapons while committing crimes, for example, to keep from killing, as Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania recalls, â€Å"My twelve years’ experience in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office convinced me that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. I saw many cases where professional burglars and robbers refused to carry weapons, for fear that a killing would occur and they would be charged with murder in the first degree, carrying the death penalty.† Ab... Free Essays on The Death Penalty Free Essays on The Death Penalty The Death Penalty: Utilize It Don’t Destroy It It is more reasonable to utilize the death penalty than to abolish it. The death penalty should not be abolished because it deters people from committing murder and because the death penalty gives peace of mind to the victims and their families and puts an end to the crime. It is more reasonable to utilize the death penalty than to abolish it. The death penalty should not be abolished because it deters people from committing murder and because the death penalty gives peace of mind to the victims and their families and puts an end to the crime. The death penalty deters some people from committing crimes and also saves human lives. Not everyone will be deterred from committing crimes because of the death penalty. However, since the death penalty is the highest penalty for crimes it will evoke the most fear in a human being. This fear will save human life. As legal expert Ernest van den Haag explains, â€Å"The threat of 50 lashes deters more than the threat of 5: a $1000 fine deters more than a $10 fine; 10 years in prison deters more than 1 year in prison- just as, conversely, the promise of a $1000 reward is greater than the promise of a $10 reward †¦ .† Most murders happen in the passion of the moment, however, serial killers, burglars, gang members, and others who plan their crime in advance can and do think of the possibilities. Many criminals don’t carry weapons while committing crimes, for example, to keep from killing, as Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania recalls, â€Å"My twelve years’ experience in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office convinced me that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. I saw many cases where professional burglars and robbers refused to carry weapons, for fear that a killing would occur and they would be charged with murder in the first degree, carrying the death penalty.† Ab... Free Essays on The Death Penalty â€Å"†¦Over 600 people were falsely convicted and 35 faced death for crimes that they did not commit†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Johnson). The death penalty is an ineffective and expensive way of dealing justice to the American people. It is easier and cheaper to send someone to prison for life than to have them face the death penalty and be executed. Capital punishment is an unnecessary punishment because criminals are already managed at prisons. 69 The death penalty can lead to the death of innocent people. For example, â€Å"†¦According to a new study, serious errors occur in almost 70% of all trials leading to the death penalty†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Leibman). This shows that if 100 people were put on death row, 70 would have serious mistakes in their cases, enough mistakes to have them executed even if they were innocent. This unacceptable amount of errors is the number one cause for mistrust of the legal system. In addition, â€Å"†¦dozens of inmates have been put to death in Texas despite unreliable evidence†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (The Chicago Tribune). This statement alone shows the truth about the death penalty. Innocent people are being executed and will continue to be executed unless the death penalty is abolished. For example, â€Å"†¦In several states innocent individuals may be executed because medical technology is not made available in time to prevent their death†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (American Association of Public Health Physicians). The lack of proper resources during a trial can make the difference between the innocence and guilt of a person. The death penalty does not always show the innocence or guilt of a person. It shows how much he or she is willing to spend to help the trial go his or her way. The death penalty is an unfair system to those who cannot afford the â€Å"evidence† they need to help free them. 224 The death penalty is a corrupt form of legal justice. For example, â€Å"†¦Defendants in about one-third of the Texas cases were represented at trial by an attorney who had been o... Free Essays on The Death Penalty THE DEATH PENALTY Jarret McCluskey English III Mrs. Williams April 8, 1993 McCluskey 1 The Death Penalty There is no easy answer to the capital punishment issue. Most people feel very strongly about it, even though their views differ considerably. This has been a controversial issue for as long as capital punishment has been around. The death penalty has been used through out history. Before societies were organized, people would kill others for committing crimes. They decided who was guilty and the punishment for most crimes was death. Many innocent people were killed in this manner. Laws came about because these people made many errors in judgment. They let their emotions decide who was guilty, not the facts (Flanders 4). During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Period the use of capital punishment changed very little. Most forms were uncivilized and included great pain. The idea seemed to be that not only should these people die, but that they should suffer greatly while dying. The offenders were killed by various methods, such as burning at the stake or being crushed by heavy stones (Flanders 5). When Henry VIII was king, over 70,000 executions took place. In 1780, the "bloody code" contained 350 capital crimes. They added to the number of crimes that were punishable by death, but the number of executions was actually less. By the mid- 1800s, there were only four crimes that were punishable by death (Flanders 6). One of the reasons given by the people who disapprove of capital punishment is, there is no real evidence that the threat of capital punishment decreases violent crime (Flanders 27). They also say that "if electrocution or lethal injection will deter murder, then burning at the stake, drawing and quartering will be even more effe... Free Essays on The Death Penalty Mead Shumway of Nebraska, was convicted of the first-degree murder of his employer's wife on circumstantial evidence and sentenced to death by jury. His last words before his execution were: "I am an innocent man. May God forgive everyone who said anything against me." The next year, the victim's husband confessed on his deathbed that he [the husband] had murdered his [own] wife (Radelet, Bedau, Putnam 347). There are an uncertain numerous amount of incidents similar to the one depicted above, that have repeatedly occurred throughout the course of history. Two highly distinguishable figures in the area of capital punishment in the United States, Hugo Bedau and Michael Radelet, discovered in 1992, at least 140 cases, since 1990, in which innocent persons were sentenced to death (Hook and Kahn 92). In Illinois alone, 12 death row inmates have been cleared and freed since 1987 (Execution Reconsidered). The most conclusive evidence in support of this "comes from the surprisingly large numbers of people whose convictions have been overturned and who have been freed from death" (Bedau 345). One out of every seven people sentenced to death row are innocent (Civiletti). That's nearly 15%. The numbers are disturbing. Innocent people are becoming victims of the United States judicial system by its overlooked imperfections. A former president of the American Bar Association (ABA), John J. Curtin Jr., said it best when he told a congressional committee that "Whatever you think about the death penalty, a system that will take life must first give justice. Execute justice, not people." Though some of the innocent death row inmates have managed to escape their execution, there are numerous others who are unable to overturn their sentence through appeals. Many cases of innocence go unheard and result in the unfortunate fatality of an innocent bystander. When the death penalty in 1972 was ruled unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia, the Justices e...