Capital Punishment Essay on Capital Punishment Capital Punishment

1. Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment
Murder, a common occurrence in American society, is thought of as a horrible, reprehensible
atrocity. Why then, is it thought of differently when the state government arranges and executes a
human being, the very definition of premeditated murder? Capital punishment has been reviewed
and studied for many years, exposing several inequities and weaknesses, showing the need for the
death penalty to be abolished.
Upon examination, one finds capital punishment to be economically weak and deficient. A common
misconception of the death penalty is that the cost to execute a convicted criminal is cheaper than to
place a convict in prison for life without parole. Due to the United States judicial system, the process
of appeals,...show more content...
Whatever they need, they can get (Cummings).
In addition to being racially prejudiced, capital punishment places innocent lives at risk. Recently
in Chicago, a black man was released from death row after nearly sixteen years in prison. This
man, Anthony Porter, came within two days of receiving a lethal injection, until the courts finally
agreed hearing on his mental capacity. Porter was very lucky to receive an excellent attorney
who managed to prove that Porter was innocent and led the police to a prisoner in Milwaukee
who confessed (Kile). This shows the importance of the appeal process found in the courts, which
serve to protect the lives of innocent citizens of the United States of America. A writer for The
Christian Century writes, "Porter's case brings to light the very real danger that overzealous
prosecutors, sloppy legal work and poor legal defense teams will send people to their deaths for
crimes they didn't commit," (Kile). If Porter had an equipped defense attorney from the start,
he would never have been to prison and nearly killed. Ryan Cummings of The Economist observed
that more crimes are punishable by execution, more states have adopted the death penalty and the
appeals process has been shortened. The overall expansion of capital punishment endangers innocent
lives. Cumulatively, there is now less time and fewer tools to save innocent men and women
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2. Essay on Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment
The definition of capital punishment is the legal punishment of death for violating criminal law. The
person who gets capital punishment is the ones who committed serious crimes. Methods of capital
punishment throughout the world are by stoning, beheading, hanging, electrocution, lethal injection
and shooting. The two most common methods capital punishment use in the United States are lethal
injection and electrocution.
The lethal injection is the most used form of capital punishment. It's an intravenous shot that kills the
criminal quick and painless. When capital punishment is done by electrocution the criminal is
strapped to a chair that a volts of electricity is pass through.
In America if all people agree...show more content...
The first pros of capital punishment are that it works as deterrence against major crimes. The death
penalty is a punishment that creates fear in the mind of any sane person. Most criminals would think
twice if they knew their own lives were at stake. Although there is no statistical evidence that death
penalty deters crime, we have to agree that most of us fear death.
The most conclusive evidence that criminals fear the death penalty more than life without parole is
provided by convicted capital murderers and their attorneys. 99.9% of all convicted capital murderers
and their attorneys argue for life, not death, in the punishment phase of their trial. (prodeathpenalty)
A Second pro is that a criminal that is executed can't another crime or escape. A dead criminal can
no longer commit a crime, and therefore the danger to the public is permanently removed.
A third pro of capital punishment is that it's more economical. Why should money be spent on a
criminal when it could be spent on education, the sick, or the needy? The only reason why it is so
expensive to execute an individual, is because of the numerous appeal processes. (~ab2166)
Another pro is that the retribution to the family and loves ones of the victims is payed. Endless
stress and anxiety plague the families of the victims and executions puts all those stresses to rest
better than life–long imprisonment or
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3. Capital Punishment
Capital Punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the toughest form of punishment enforced
today in the United States. According to the online Webster dictionary, capital punishment is defined
as "the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a
capital offence or a capital crime" (1). In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use
is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and premeditated
murder. In the 38 U.S. states and within the federal government currently upholding and enforcing
death penalty statutes, this method of punishment varies quite differently amongst them. It is a
controversial issue...show more content...
The crime rate is lower in the states that do not invoke capital punishment, but as Walter Burns stated
"the number of murders tend to rise with the crime rate in general–and not only in America (4).
Capital punishment is maintained to hopefully show criminals that when they kill they will
eventually meet the same fate. By enforcing the death penalty, the government could be trying to
scare criminals from their crimes, and in some cases it has worked. When the death penalty was
restored in Kansas, for example, the homicide rate dropped considerably (7). According to research
done by Bedau, the crime rate continued to soar between 1960–1969, when capital punishment was
rarely being used in most states (7). As a whole, capital punishment has worked to lower homicidal
crimes and deter criminals from illegal actions. Capital punishment could help to keep repeat
offenders off the streets. In some states the common belief is that imprisoning the murders of
society in penitentiaries will keep them from killing again, but this is not true. Even when criminals
are imprisoned, their killing can still continue. Bedau did a survey of all the male inmates in state
penitentiaries during the year of 1973. He came to the conclusion that after the men were
imprisoned for one year, at least sixteen homicides were reported (7). In effect, the
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