Capital Punishment The most severe sentence used in our nation is capital punishment, or execution. More than 14,500 confirmed executions have been carried out in America under civil authority. Most Americans will admit that they approve of capital punishment. An “eye for an eye,” if a person can commit a heinous act of murder, or rape he, or she should be punished for that crime by giving his, or her life. The death penalty is considered a deterrent to criminal activity but does it make the execution morally correct or just brutal?
Currently, there are three partial defenses, diminished responsibility, provocation, and killing in pursuance of a suicide pact, for murder created under the Homicide Ordinance. If any one of the three defenses can be successfully pleaded, the accused can reduce his charge from murder to voluntary manslaughter. It is important to have a clear dividing line between murder and manslaughter because they have very different sentencing structure. While person convicted of murder will receive a mandatory life sentencing, a person found liable for manslaughter will receive a punishment of imprisonment up to life and imposed fines at the court’s discretion.
Due to the amount of appeals and thorough investigation of each case, no piece of evidence is overlooked for the benefit of the defendant. Unless there is strong criminating evidence and the court is certain the accused is guilty, the death penalty would not be issued. For the 2,293,157 behind bars in our country the miniscule 3,220 on death row is unlikely to contain innocents due to their case being examined extensively. If one innocent man was wrongfully put to death by the state, should we abolish the death penalty? This argument can be compared to if a police officer shoots an innocent man, the country should purge police officers of their weapons.
I feel it adversely is shown and sought out to enhance the value of human life by demonstrating the old saying “an eye for an eye.” If government were to lower the penalty of murder it would portray that the victims’ loss of life was less significant than that of the murderer. Some opponents feel that a life sentence in prison is a far worse punishment than death. If this is true, then why do so many convicted prisoners put on death row try to appeal and get a lesser sentence? These prisoners who committed the same act outside prison walls are now facing death with no alternative, as their victim had, and aren’t ready to answer to the consequences. In the case of Stephanie Benton, I saw this with my own eyes.
Culpability and the Death Penalty The death penalty and the qualifications for its sentencing continues to be a controversial topic in America, especially when it pertains to mental health inmates. The punishment of death is formidable, in states where the death penalty is allowed, as a comprehendible circumstance to deter an individual from a deviant behavior. If the person is capable of understanding the magnitude of the crime they are committing, then they are capable of comprehending the circumstances and consequences associated with that crime. However, if a person is incapable of understanding that same crime, and its implication, this is where the question of if they are deemed competent comes into play. The issue at hand as
Mencken and Kroll Essay Capital punishment is a very contentious issue that is disputed by many Americans. Most argue over whether it is morally right or wrong to execute a criminal, but some are more concerned with the treatment of criminals on death row. The essays The Penalty of Death by H.L. Mencken and the Unquiet Death of Robert Harris by Michael Kroll are examples of two different view points of the death penalty and use completely different methods of argument. Kroll appeals to the emotions of the reader through description of the harsh, cruel conditions of death row, whereas Mencken uses dark humor while arguing for support of the death penalty.
In “With death penalty, let punishment truly fit the crime,” published on CNN’s website on August 22nd, 2013, Robert Blecker, a professor at New York Law School, argues that the death penalty is suitable to anyone depending on the crime they commit. He mentions in his argument that the majority of people usually like to give the same degree of punishment to a person equal to the crime they committed. He is not fond with this sort of outcome as Blecker states the alternative of the death penalty, “An unpleasant life in prison, a quick but painful death cannot erase the harm. But it can help restore a moral balance”(Blecker 1). He describes lethal injections as too “hospitalized” and would oppose the thought of it.
Perry had some mental problems throughout the book but he was still hanged without a hundred percent check that he might not have full consciousness of what he did. After reading his Interview I got to know that he wanted to write the “true account” of a murder case. Truman Capote wanted to show both sides of the murder case. This is also connected to his thesis which is that the capital punishment is unjust. Presented by the unfair trial to be hanged and the actual event of hanging as being cold, distant and heartless.
April 4, 2012 The abolishment of the Double Jeopardy Rule In The United States The Double Jeopardy Rule is one of the most controversial topics today. The U.S. Court system can overturn convictions due to evidence that proves innocence but yet there is a law banning a retrial to prove someone guilty. Therefore The Double Jeopardy Rule should be abolished to create equality in the Court systems, to provide justice to the victims of the crime, and to allow the guilty to be fairly punished. One of the most historic cases in the American Judicial System is the O.J. Simpson case.
One is getting put to death. Their life is over forever. There is no opportunity for rehabilitation, or an opportunity to learn from what they did. Although it may seem that the death penalty is the ultimate punishment, many also believe that the death penalty is not severe