The Pros And Cons Of The Death Penalty

"Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by ... any … kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing ... from a premeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree." (Cornell) First-degree murder is very clear in its definition in US law. On the fateful night of November 14, 1959, Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock seemed to have completely disregarded that very law when they made the decision to murder the innocent Clutter family after a planned robbery attempt and murder for cover up. Herbert and Bonnie Clutter and two of their children, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter, were brutally slain that night only for a total gain of fifty dollars for the killers. For the brutal murders of the Clutter family, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock should undoubtedly be punished by receiving the death penalty.

The death penalty also known as capital punishment ,happens when the court makes the decision to put a prisoner on death row. Soon it will be the prisoner's time to be executed. On Deathpenaltyinfo.org they show the top five execution methods. #1 is lethal injection (injecting poisons into the bodies, #2 is electrocution A.K.A the electric chair, #3 is the gas chamber, #4 is where prisoners are strapped to a chair while executioners use them to practice shooting, finally #5 is hanging but the prisoners are normally injected first.

The death penalty has been battered backwards and forwards by the questions of abolishment and replacement, with mixed results. There seems to a jagged line in the sand on where people stand, and due to the continuous use today (albeit at a slower clip than in the past), it is still very much a prevalent topic of punishment. Those who argue for it believe that taking it away will take away a great deterrent, that families find peace, and that those who commit egregious crimes deserve only death. Anything less “would fail to do justice because the penalty – presumably a long period in prison – would be grossly disproportionate to the heinousness of the crime” (“Top 10 Pro & Con Arguments,” 2016). Those who don’t believe in this punishment as a modern-day, useful tool of deterrence and punishment for crime, continuously counter these arguments, as well as any others, daily at every turn. Though many states have made it illegal, others placing moratoriums or refusals to use it, the death penalty can still be found active today. But why can’t it be replaced with life without parole, and it if can why should it?

The death penalty has been around for ages, but criticism about the death penalty is new. The has been criticism has soared to a new high because some people believe it is inhuman. In recent years debate about death penalty has risen to a new height. The pros and cons of the death penalty are being weighed in court rooms across America because of court cases killing innocent people. While the cons have noble intentions behind them for saving a human life. The pros far outweigh the cons because certain situations, the only true justice is through the death penalty. The death penalty is beneficial to America due to the cost of keeping prisoners in prison, and it is the only moral way to punish some crimes while also keeping some crimes from happening.

In Kellow Chesney's book The Victorian Underworld illustrates that the Victorians tried to use the death penalty as a means of controlling criminal elements in forms of hangings, lethal injection,Electrocution, and firing squads in order to prevent crime( the victorian underworld). in Victorian times, the death penalty was used as a means of controlling. There should be abolishment of this because of the countless innocent men and women being put to death for the stated purpose of preventing crime out of fear. So There should not be a death penalty because it violates human rights, it does not deter crime, and is a cruel and unusual punishment.

Death is something that a lot of people think about, but do people think about the Death Penalty? Having been given the death penalty means that someone is going to be put to death by a lethal injection or an electric chair; There are more ways, but the injection and the electric chair are the most used. There are many different opinions surrounding the idea of death penalties; which some people think the death penalty should be used more and some believe the complete opposite.

The Death Penalty is the punishment of execution to someone who legally by court of law convicted a capital crime. In the United States of America this is mainly used for aggravated murder. Additionally this means that the murder has circumstances that are severe. For instance it was planned murder, intentionally killed below the age of 13, killed someone while serving term in prison, killed a law officer, and killed someone or illegally terminated a person’s pregnancy while in the process of committing, trying to commit or escaping after the act of rape, kidnapping, aggravated arson, arson, robbery, aggravated robbery, burglary, aggravated burglary, terrorism, or trespass. The death penalty is balanced between pros and cons, where it

In this paper I will be discussing everything you need to know about the death penalty such as its pros and cons. While the innocent can be killed, the death penalty has its pros because it prevents them from killing again if they are released or have escaped from prison, it helps overpopulated prisons, and it can help victims’ families get justice and closure. Not only can the innocent be killed, but in the past the death penalty was very inhumane. To some its feels right but to others they feel like 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Most people think that the defendant deserves the death penalty, but what does the defendants’ family think?

During the year of 1608, the first recorded execution took place, killing Captain George Kendall. Since that moment, as the United States of America expanded, the death penalty became part of the law. Killing 1465 criminals since 1796, the death penalty has kept numerous crimes from happening. The death penalty is supported by the victim of the crime’s family, follows the “eye for an eye” rule, is a deterrent of crimes and should not be abolished.

The death penalty has been debated for centuries. Within just America, it dates back all the way to 1608. In an article entitled “History of the Death Penalty” from the website Death Penalty Information Center, it states, “The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain.” So, it is safe to say that the death penalty has been around for a long time, and has been debated by many for just as long. Most people will claim that they are against the death penalty with no reason other than they believe it is immoral and wrong. Those people simply do not know the facts of how the death penalty actually helps the American Justice System. The death penalty prevents overcrowding in prisons, reoffenders, and is cheaper to the taxpayers.

The death penalty has been a truly controversial topic in the past decade. Many different states having debates whether it is a constitutional punishment or if it violates the Eighth Amendment. There are thirty-one states that have decided that it is a just capital punishment and nineteen states have decided it contradicts the Constitution. That the death penalty violates the right to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment(“Death Penalty Information Center). Although, there has been a significant decrease in the past years of people being sentenced the death penalty as states start to review the death penalty. Some state’s have also started to forbid their healthcare practitioners from taking part in the death penalty as it contradicts the Hippocratic Oath. As is the case in North Carolina, where someone who has committed a violent crime can still be sentenced to the death penalty, but because North Carolina uses the method of lethal injection they cannot execute those on death row. This is due to North Carolina healthcare professionals being barred from partaking in the death penalty. This can cause problems such as overcrowding as well as have negative effects to the prisoners, the families of the victims and on society.

Many people argue that the death penalty is justified because it is a fair and equal punishment for the crimes committed and that the murdered should receive fair and equal punishment in order to have justice. It is often assumed that murders should be punished by death, but isn’t it true that ending or killing anyone is morally wrong? In this counter argument I will argue that nobody has the right to take anybody's life no matter what and if murderers deserve to die, the state does not have the authority to carry out the sentence because the death penalty promotes a violent society.

The death penalty has been a heated discussion for a very long time. A lot of people feel like if someone does something that is way over the top, then they have to face the consequences, and face the death penalty. Some people think that the death penalty is way too harsh, and we should punish them in a different way. Either way you think about it, there are positives and negatives to both sides. The death penalty is illegal in 18 states, but 32 states in America still have the death penalty, although rarely used. There are a lot of factors that need to be talked through before sentencing a punishment so serious. Once you sentence something like this, you can't change your mind, and you can't take it back. Usually someone that is going to get this sentence has killed multiple people, or did something really terrible to get themselves in that situation. The death penalty was first brought up somewhere around the Eighteenth Century, and has been around ever since then. I think that there are both good and bad arguments as to whether we should keep the death penalty or not, and they should be thought about very carefully before you sentence anyone to death

“I don’t think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don’t think thats right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people’s lives.” George W. Bush. The death penalty is a very debatable topic, both sides seeing two different views of putting people to death because of crimes they committed. People who are for the death penalty have an opinion that someone killed someone and they should be killed because it could save more lives, or that they put someone through that so they should be put through it. The other side sees it and they know that it costs less to keep them alive then to kill them, and that they don’t want their families to suffer because their loved one was executed. Both of these opinions are very valid and you cannot say one is correct and the other is wrong or vice versa, but many more variables come into effect with this topic.

Immanuel Kant a philosopher has said, “a society that is not willing to demand a life of somebody who has taken somebody else’s life is simply immoral” (ProCon.org). Kant a german philosopher brought this idea into society during the 1700s. Since then scholars and philosophers have debated if a death penalty should be allotted. In the United states the government has the power to take away life to those that they see fit. Certain states have stopped using the death penalty and this Over multiple years critiques“Currently out of fifty states, seventeen have abolished the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center). The death penalty should be legalized in all states. The perspectives I’m going to use to look at the death penalty is deterrence and morality. If you see the death penalty through the lens of irrevocable mistakes you can see that the opposing argument do not hold up.