The Death Penalty 8
The death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. People on both sides of the issue argue endlessly to gain further support for their movements. While opponents of capital punishment are quick to point out that the United States remains one of the few Western countries that continues to support the death penalty, Americans are also more likely to encounter violent crime than citizens of other countries (Brownlee 31). Justice mandates that criminals receive what they deserve . The punishment must fit the crime. If a buglar deserves imprisonment, then a murderer deserves death (Winters 168). The death penalty is necessary and the only punishment suitable for those convicted of capital offenses. Seventy-five percent of Americans support the death penalty, according to Turner, because it provides a deterrent to some would-be murderers and it also provides for moral and legal justice (83). "Deterrence is a theory: It asks what the effects are of a punishment (does it reduce the crime rate?) and makes testable predictions (punishment reduces the crime rate compared to what it would be without the credible threat of punishment)", (Van Den Haag 29). The detterent effect of
Van Den Haag, Earnest, and John Conrad. The Death Penalty: A Debate. New York: Plenum Press, 1997. The Constitution of the United States also supports the death penalty. Norton quotes James Madison, author of the Bill Of Rights: Hertzburg, Hendrick. "Burning Question." The New Reublic 20 February 1989: 4+. Life in prision without the possibility of parole is the alternative to execution presented by those that consider words to be equal to reality. Nothing prevents the people sentenced in this way from being paroled under later laws or later court rulings. Futhermore, nothing prevents them from escaping or killing again while in prison. After all, if they have already recieved the maximum sentence available, they have nothing to lose. For example, in 1972 the U.S. Surpreme Court banished the death penalty. like other states, Texas commuted all death sentences to life imprisionment. After being released into the general prison populaton, according to Winters: Twelve of the forty-seven prisoners that recieved commuted sentences were responsible for twenty-one serious violent offenses aainst other inmates and prison staff. One of the commuted death row prisoners killed another inmate and another one killed a girl within one year of his release on parole.(21) Turner, Richard. "Death-Penalty Taboos." Newsweek 30 June 1997: 83.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Den Haag, Eighth Amendment, Death Penalty, Winters Twelve, Supreme Court, Fifth Amendment, death penalty, Walter Burns, Surpreme Court, Researcher Vol, Constitution United, capital punishment, den haag, van den, van den haag, death row, death penalty debate, due process, commuted death, death sentences, executing capital, penalty debate, support death penalty, cruel unusual punishment,
Approximate Word count = 1242
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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