Essay on Capital Punishment in America - 1180 Words

Capital Punishment in America Capital punishment is the execution of a perpetrator for committing a heinous crime (homicide), and it is a hotly debated topic in our society. The basic issue is whether capital punishment should be allowed as it is today, or abolished in part or in whole. My argument is that: 1) Capital punishment is not an effective deterrent for heinous crimes. 2) Life imprisonment can be worse of a punishment than death, not as costly as execution, and better for rehabilitation. 3) The innocent can be wrongly put to death. Conclusion: Capital punishment should be abolished. Though capital punishment might seem like the only way to get revenge, it is morally unjust. Who are we to decide whether a†¦show more content†¦They will live out the rest of their days with the same monotonous routine, and after a while, many become so accustomed to it, that they lose their skills for live on the outside. Some of those who support the death penalty base their argument on the fact that it is a cost-effective alternative to life imprisonment. However, it may be more costly to execute an inmate than to have that person serve a life sentence (Amnesty International, 1987). A 1982 study in New York concluded that the average capital murder trial and the first stage of appeals costs U.S. tax-payers 1.8 million dollars (Bohm, 1987). It is estimated that this is less than it would cost to incarcerate someone for one hundred years. Other sources estimate that it can cost up to 2.2 million dollars to obtain and carry out a death sentence (Johnson, 1990). The principa l factor in this cost is the appeals process, which lasts an average of ten years and is deemed necessary to reduce the likelihood of the execution of an innocent person. Obviously, the execution of a murderer deems him/her incapable of murdering again. However, those who support the concept of rehabilitation say that imprisonment is effective in preventing murderers from killing again. Murderers have the lowest rate of re-committing a homicide than people who have served time for other offenses (Johnson, 1990). The Innocent With convictions and executions, there is always a chance that someone was wrongly filed with charges.Show MoreRelatedCapital Punishment in America Essay1337 Words   |  6 PagesCapital Punishment in America In America, we no longer feel that crime should go without harsh punishment. Tim Robbins’ film, â€Å"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 sayRead More The Use of Capital Punishment in America Essay1432 Words   |  6 PagesThe Use of Capital Punishment in America The use of capital punishment in the U.S. is a growing concern for most American citizens. According to statistics, seventy percent of Americans are in support of the death penalty, while only thirty percent are against it. These statistics show that few people are against capital punishment (â€Å"Fact† 1). With the use of the death penalty growing the controversy is becoming more heated. With only twelve states left not enforcing it the resistance is becomingRead MoreHistory of Capital Punishment in America779 Words   |  3 PagesCapital Punishment, the process by which the government takes the life of an offender for crimes committed against humanity. Capital Punishment also referred to as the â€Å"death penalty† has played a role in the correctional process dating back to 1608 in Jamestown. 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In the United States there are more people sitting in prison on death row than actually being executed at timeRead MoreA Look into Capital Punishment in America Essay979 Words   |  4 Pages THE ULTIMATE PRICE: A Look into Capital Punishment in America Many Americans claim that capital punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment and goes against a persons constitutional rights. On the other hand, many Americans support it and claim it is against ther constitutional right not to carry out the death penalty. How are we to know what is right? In all honesty, facts, papers, journals, etc. can not decide how I am truly going to feel about a subject that is very much a macro-argument.Read MoreAmerica s Strategy Of Capital Punishment Essay1068 Words   |  5 PagesAmerica’s strategy of capital punishment believes that with killing someone actually solves the problem of reducing crime rates when in reality it is more of method to avoid the real issue with the criminal justice system. We are killing all these prisoners and not really getting the answers we need. Like are we really stopping crime. Also, the death penalty puts innocent lives at risk because of how flawed it is. Since the entry of the death penalty in the United Sta tes in 1976, 138 innocent menRead MoreAmerica s Strategy Of Capital Punishment Essay1085 Words   |  5 PagesAmerica’s strategy of capital punishment believes that killing someone actually solves the problem of reducing crime rates, when in reality it is more of a method to avoid the real issue with the criminal justice system. We are killing all these prisoners and not really getting the answers we need. For instance, are we really stopping crime? Also, the death penalty puts innocent lives at risk because of how flawed it is. Since the introduction of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, 138Read MoreAmerica s Debate On Capital Punishment760 Words   |  4 PagesAmerica’s Debate: Should the Capital Punishment be abolished in the United States? Violent crimes such a murder, rape, sexual assault, and robbery are perpetrated by criminals once every few minutes in this country. Lawmakers spend countless hours enacting laws to prevent these crimes. The introduction of the death penalty is an effort to deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. What exactly does the death penalty accomplish? The best description of the term death penalty is the legal executionRead MoreThe Positive Effect of Capital Punishment in Modern America1642 Words   |  7 PagesRonnie Kuester Dr. Borgmeyer Eng. Comp. II 30 Sept. 2010 The Positive Effect of Capital Punishment in Modern America â€Å"I don’t think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don’t think that’s right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people’s lives† (Bush). Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in the American society and is also one of the topics most people feel very emotional about. Everyone feels that their views areRead MoreAmerica s Capital Punishment Process1632 Words   |  7 PagesThus, it is not surprising that most people who are languishing in jail are those living below the poverty line that have no means to pay for a competent lawyer to defend themselves in a court of law. The United States of America’s capital punishment process is very flawed. Humans are imperfect and are always making mistakes, how do we justify being the group of people having the power to condemn someone to death when there have been times that our human judgments were flawed and immoral. This is