Is the Death Penalty Applied Fairly?

Over the years criminals were dealt with in many different ways: they were sent to jail, getting little punishment, or in worse cases, death. The death penalty continues to be an issue of controversy, and it is an issue that will be debated in the United States for many years to come. The death penalty is the highest punishment administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. This is the only punishment that leaves room for no mistakes. The death penalty system buries its worst mistakes. Although the opponents of capital punishment believe it to be immortal, advocates of capital punishment have proven it to be effective and ethically correct. The death penalty should be enforced on

The death penalty is quickly becoming one of the more controversial topics in the United States. Currently, there are 31 states where capital punishment is legal. As of April 2016, there have been 1,431 executions in the United States, but the number of executions in recent years has been steadily decreasing (Timmons 2017). The death penalty can be put up for moral debate, and one can ask oneself whether the death penalty is ever morally permissible. There are some pros and cons to having capital punishment. For example, deterrence and prevention are good reasons to have the death penalty, but, in reality, the cons far outweigh the possible benefits that may come from capital punishment. The cost of imposing capital punishment is

The United States of America is quite divided on the issue of capital punishment, also known as the death penalty. Capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another as a punishment for a crime. The death penalty carries a risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole. Since capital punishment is the most severe order of punishment, people would believe the system to be perfect before ended someone else’s life. As humans, it is inevitable for us to make errors. However, when a life is at stake, error cannot be an option. The sad reality is that the system of execution has serious flaws and this is why the United States should

In America, we no longer feel that crime should go without harsh punishment. Tim Robbins’ film, “Dead Man Walking” is a movie about a man named Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) who is on death row, and the different things he goes through as he counts down his final days until execution. The movie is based on a true story. Through the movie, I was able to see the different the steps that a death row inmate goes through leading up to execution. I cannot really say that the movie was pro or anti death penalty because I think it covered both sides well. In “Dead Man Walking” the justice system was right, and they executed the right man. However, in reality our system isn’t always right and sometimes

Multiple prisoners in the United States still receive death as a punishment for heinous crimes. More than 1,420 inmates have been sentenced to death since 1976 ("Capital Punishment: Should" 1). Because so many lives have been lost, some question weather death is a suitable punishment. In addition, there are a number of states of which have enacted the death penalty. According to the DPIC as of 2015, 31 states have enacted the penalty but several are debating abolishing it. The many issues of the punishment have provoked controversy within states. Lastly, the method of execution for the prisoners is also frequently debated. Although it has been rendered unaccountable, more than 85% of executions since 1976 have been by the method of lethal injection ("Capital Punishment: Should" 1). The inaccuracy of the method raises many suspicions of unreliability and violation of the 8th amendment. Overall, the debate over capital punishment is likely to continue in the near

The United States has a long history with the death penalty. The “first recorded execution was in Jamestown in 1608” (“Death Penalty in America” 259). Since then, thirty five states have continued to use the death penalty. Now it can be considered a normal punishment and many people feel strongly about it, but maybe we should forget what we have done in the past and take a second look. The death penalty should not be used in the United States because it is too expensive, affects the poor and minorities more than others, and (even though many people think it is true) the death penalty does not deter crime.

The death penalty is quickly becoming one of the more controversial topics in the United States. Currently, there are 31 states where capital punishment is legal. As of April 2016, there have been 1,431 executions in the United States, but the number of executions in recent years has been steadily decreasing (Timmons 2017). The death penalty can be put up for moral debate, and one can ask oneself whether the death penalty is ever morally permissible. There are some pros and cons to having capital punishment. For example, deterrence and prevention are good reasons to have the death penalty, but, in reality, the cons far outweigh the possible benefits that may come from capital punishment. The

The death penalty is a subject of much debate amongst the American people. Some people support capital punishment while others do not. Examination of sources and analyses of important history regarding the death penalty will hopefully add to the understanding of why it is so important in our day and age to have such a penalty to deter and deal with the most violent of offenders in our modern day society. A major influence on my position is my uncle being murdered when I was younger. The points I use to support my argument for being Pro Death Penalty are the history of the death penalty, the death penalty as a

We have had a long standing debate in this country on whether or not the use of capital punishment (a.k.a. the death penalty) should be allowed in the United States. Poll numbers over the last ten years have been consistently in favor of the death penalty in America. The last time a Gallup Poll showed the majority of Americans not in favor of the death penalty was in 1966, while as recently as 1994 nearly 80 percent of American’s polled favored the death penalty. The death penalty should continue to be implemented in the United States under strict guideline and for only the most heinous of crimes.

The death penalty has been around since the creation of justice systems. Today, 58 countries worldwide still enact it, the U.S. being one of them (Smith). In our country, the majority of the states still perform the death penalty at an astounding number of 32 (32 “States with the…”). It seems that the majority of the country believes that the death penalty is necessary, despite the other common belief that it is barbaric, outdated, and unconstitutional. With so much controversy over its use as a deterrent, it only gets more heated with people’s beliefs that either the entire world should use the death penalty, or nobody should use it at all. This leads to the question, “Should the death penalty be abolished throughout the entire U.S.?” While

The death penalty has been used since the 13 colonies. This replaced the form of many other harsh punishments It is a consequence that is harsh but to some necessary. I believe that the death penalty is fair in all ways. The beneficial reasons are morality, deterrence, and cost of death vs. life in prison.

Although the death penalty sounds harsh, it really is not. To begin death penalty is very fair. Initially, if a person did a horrible crime they should pay for their crimes. However, sometimes not all the time, innocent people die from it. All in all, there are many reasons that support the death penalty.

Used almost exclusively for homicide cases, the death penalty takes killers and disciplines them by letting other people kill them; how can this be a proper and just punishment? The word humane is defined as showing compassion, benevolence, and kindness, thus making the term “humane execution” an impossible oxymoron, as in no way does execution display any of these values (Green). Killing people in capital punishment only makes us more like the murderers we so despise. Not only is capital punishment a horrific form of punishment for the victim, but its effects on those who perform the execution and those in whose name the execution is done are traumatic and unforgettable thoughts of guilt and sadness (Brook). It is bad enough that our society is plagued by crime, we don’t need to be further affected by becoming perpetrators ourselves by enacting the death penalty and living with the consequences (Brook). To add to capital punishment's inhumanity, it can sometimes even be deemed as discriminatory and unfair by being based on race and social class, as since 1976 the race of victims has been 75.6% white, and the race of defendants executed has been 34.5% black, which can be interpreted to favor the white race. (Race of Death Row Inmates Executed Since 1976.). The death penalty can also be seen as unconstitutional, due to its possible violation of the 8th amendment, stating that

For years, the death penalty has been a big controversy. Many have argued that the death penalty is not ethical. Yet, in society today the rate of recidivism and jail overcrowding is increasing. In cases where rehabilitation and reform aren’t possible, the death penalty is a justifiable option.

With this being said, there are countless faults with death penalty in America. Whether a person gets the death penalty or not sometimes is not determined by the atrocity of the crime but instead by the quality of the defense lawyer, the race of the victim and the county and state in which the crime was committed. Since 1976 a total of 1440 execution took place in the U.S. There are currently 31 states which allows for the death penalty and 19 states which abolished it. In a report done by the National Research Council it stated that the claim that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on murder rates are “fundamentally flawed” and should not be used in policy making decisions (FactSheet).