Labeling a particular crime as special or different does not deter criminals from their true intention. If we place a "special" label on certain types of murder, rape or vandalism we are not preventing the hate that is the motive for such crimes. This is not the true goal of society. Helen Dodge makes a compelling argument to shun the members of such hateful communities in her article "Special Crimes Need Special Laws", when she says that the public should band together against such forces (Dodge 140). However, even she had to admit that these special laws won't deter the criminals who practice these violent acts.
The people that Shelton killed are considered combatants because they support they governmental system and work with it. Based on Just War Theory, the proportionality of killing these people is that their deaths are outweighed by the justice that will bring to the judicial system. Shelton believes the system to be corrupt, focusing instead on conviction rates rather than making sure the right person is placed behind bars. By killing these people Shelton can put a new mindset into the “system” because those affected by the killings will want the right man punished rather since they now know how it feels to be wronged. All the killings made by Shelton were to people who were directly showed how flawed the system was.
The state is corrupt and corrupting. Bakunin believed ‘there is nothing more dangerous for a man’s morality than the habit of commanding’. The state is also destructive. It encourages individuals to fight on their behalf, at the expense of others. As Randolph Bourne put it, ‘war is the health of the state’.
... We cannot know whether the murderer on death row suffers more than his victim suffered; however, unlike the murderer, the victim deserved none of the suffering inflicted. ... Although penalties can be unwise, repulsive, or inappropriate, and those punished can be pitiable, in a sense the infliction of legal punishment on a guilty person cannot be unjust. ... To regard the
A Defense of the Death Penalty Louis P. Pojman The death penalty serves as both a deterrent for would be murderers and a fitting punishment for those who intentionally and out of malice take the life of another human being. Retribution: It is sometimes argued that the death penalty serves as a form of revenge for the victims of heinous crimes. For those who argue from this stance, revenge is never the proper method for assigning punishment because it is done out of anger and with the intent of inflicting harm upon another human being. Vengeance itself is not the basis for designating the death penalty. Instead retribution is justification enough, although it may be accompanied by feelings of anger and hatred.
Capital punishment does not deter crime; instead it increases the murder rate and there is a chance of error. Therefore, capital punishment should not exist in today’s society because it is an unconstitutional punishment. Capital punishment it’s not necessary and it is also unfair. There is a chance of error, you can execute the wrong person and later on find them innocent. Even though some may argue that death penalty deters crime, studies have shown that it does not.
“Can you name one law that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals” (Webster)? Assault Weapons Ban: “Handguns are used in about 90% of all firearm murders” (Webster). No legitimate study in the U.S. has ever shown that gun control has any positive impact on crime. People want to believe gun control will reduce crime, but the truth is that gun control will never work. History has shown that gun control will never work.
Nationwide Display of Race Discrimination In essence, the death penalty is a punishment which is arbitrarily applied. There are no rules or guidelines for when a prosecutor should pursue the death penalty, when a jury should recommend it, and when a judge should order it. This lack of objective measurable standards ensures that the application of the death penalty will be discriminatory against racial, gender and ethnic groups. Racially biased decisions can easily enter the criminal justice system through the discretion given to prosecutors to selectively seek the death penalty in some cases but not others. The General Accountability Office (GAO), an independent nonpartisan agency review of race discrimination noted that “race of victim influence
The rewards can involve money or even a sense of gratification according to sociologist Jack Katz in the text book Criminal Justice in action when said “’rewards’ of crime may be sensual as well as financial. The inherent Danger, according to Katz, increases the ‘rush’ a criminal experiences on successfully committing a crime” (pg32). Not all Crimes are fun and games. They do have their costs such as probation and jail time this is because it deters the thought process in doing right from wrong. This can be found in the text Criminal Justice in Action when stated “Because crime is seen as the end result of a series of rational choices, policy makers have reasoned that severe
About two years ago Illinois abolished the death penalty. The death penalty is an inhumane way to get rid of people that have committed serious crimes but that doesn’t mean that they have the right to do that. Some people say that the death penalty is much cheaper than keeping criminals in prison. Does this leave u perplexed? Well it shouldn’t because it costs a lot of money to create those lethal injections and electric chairs and other tools used to give the death penalty.