2010 were thousands of people that were executed, many of them in courts that don’t meet the international standards, and often without a proper attorney. One of the most shameful things with death penalty is when someone is executed but the person in question is innocent. It has happened many times, for example Timothy Evans. Imagine how it would feel if your daughter was murdered and you were accused of it. Not only was he accused and convicted for the murder but after his death he was pardoned because the found the real murderer!
Capital Punishment Some people question the death penalty as to wether or not it is cold blooded murder or just an equal punishment for one who commits murder. Should there be any exceptions, such as minors or people with mental retardation. Televised executions should be completely out of the question. Also some question wether or not the criminal should be lethally injected or be given the same punishment as his victim. There’s a claim that it is more expensive for the state to execute a criminal than to incarcerate them for life.
It is expected that the murderer be sent to jail as payback for taking the victim’s life, but the justifiable punishment would be to sentence them to death just as they took the life of an innocent person. Many years ago, criminals had to accept the consequences for their crimes because their freedom to live with society was taken away due to their actions.
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.
According to Attorney General John Ashcroft “black and Hispanic defendants were less likely at each stage of the department's review process to be subjected to the death penalty than white defendants," The study found that other factors contributed to what appeared to be racial bias. The factors of geography, differences in state laws, and decisions by state prosecutors explain why the majority of defendants facing death row are minorities. “The study also showed that only nine of the ninety four U.S. attorney districts accounted for about forty three percent of all cases that prosecutors called for the death
The defendant’s race is considered in terms of whether this was a same race crime or whether the victim was of a different race. If a defendant was black and killed a white person, he is approximately twice as likely to receive the death penalty, than if the defendant was white and killed a black person. “A close examination of these types of cases revealed that the seemingly anomalous executions could be explained by the presence of a low-status defendant and/or a high status victim.” This is because the “death penalty is less likely to be imposed for a low status victims, defined by low-skill occupation, unemployment, criminal behavior and/or record, gang membership, public housing, dilapidated nonpublic housing, dropping out of high school, and mental retardation.” Never the less, the justice system seems to be a bit prejudice in it
Taxpayers shouldn’t have pay for inmates just because they want to pursue a goal while they’re locked up. Prison isn’t a playpen, it’s a punishment. If private sponsors want to support them, that’s fine, but people shouldn’t have to reward a criminal for their mistakes. Perhaps the strongest argument against a death sentence is that innocent people can be and have been killed. In the movie “The Exonerated”, a film based on true events, the ordeals of six formerly condemned inmates are discussed, among them Sonia Jacobs, whose husband Jesse Tafero was wrongfully executed in 1990.
Every year hundreds of people are murdered while the criminal who did this horrible crime continues to live their life until they are put behind bars. When these murderers go to trial, they are either put in prison for live or they receive the death penalty. There are many people who believe that the death penalty is a violation of a person’s constitutional rights, but didn’t the person who committed the crime violate their victim’s constitutional rights? I believe in capital punishment and I believe that if you commit the crime you should be held responsible for your actions. The death penalty is a deterrent to crime and it ensures that the criminal will never have the chance to harm anyone ever again.
If someone kills a person he or she will be punished, but the government can kill people not only without punishment, but it is also enforced. What type of statement is this saying to American citizens or other countries, if we say this country will murder its own people? Not only that a country that supports the most horrible way to punish a person? Innocence and the Death Penalty states “The vast majority of countries in the world have now abolished the death penalty in law or practice. The numbers are as follows: Abolitionist for all crimes: 96, Abolitionist for ordinary crimes: 9, Abolitionist in practice: 34, Total abolitionist in law or practice: 139, Retentions: 58” (Innocence and the Death Penalty).
These criminals deserve the worst death penalty for breaking American laws. They know that there are consequences and that they will get caught in the long run. Now many people argue if the death penalty is constitutional and there have been many controversies over the death penalty. Argument is: Whether the United States should keep this punishment or abolish it completely. Very few nations such as The United States, Iran, China, and other nations leave the death penalty as an option depending on the victim then there are a few other nations that completely abolished the law of killing someone by using the death penalty.