Capital Punishment4
Capital Punishment is a difficult issue to address and has been the subject of highly controversial debate for the past three decades. In 1972, the United States Supreme Court decided in the Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was a form of cruel and unusual punishment per the 8th Amendment of the Constitution. But in 1975, the court reversed their decision and executions resumed under the state’s supervision. Texas did not have another execution until 1982. As of July, Texas had 457 inmates on Death Row. We have 5 executions scheduled before December 15 and another 5 scheduled for January 2000. The Death Penalty is considered the harshest from of punishment enforced today. The most common form used to execute this task is Lethal Injection; although hanging, electrocution, gas chamber and the firing squad are also approved methods. The big controversy of the death penalty is does it work and is it morally right. People who favor it say that it is the only way for justice to be carried out and they think the criminal deserves it. People who are against it say that it is immoral and had no place in a civilized society. Capital Punishment is justified by several means.
Think for a moment that the death penalty did not exist. Then the only reasonable alternative would be a life sentence. This would be costly to taxpayers like you and I. Costly due to housing, feeding, and numerous appeals that the inmate would file. If there is no threat of death to someone who commit murder, then that person is guaranteed to be provided with a decent living environment until the next parole hearing. This shows that they would not get the deserved type of punishment. How would the victim’s family feel about this? The ACLU was once quoted saying that what families need is financial and emotional support to help them recover from their loss and resume their lives. The concept of money replacing your loved one is a ridiculous idea. What the victim’s family wants is justice, plain and simple. They want justice to be served, for the offender to be put to death, not any sort of financial retribution. Justice is all anyone wants or deserves. ty believe that capital punishment deters crime. I believe that is a false assumption. How can you tell if deterrence has occurred? You can not. Unless the “prospective” offender reports that the fear of punishment stop them from committing the crime, you will never know if it works. Recidivism occurs by one who makes sure they do not get caught. They plan and concoct stories to make others believe that they are not capable of criminal activity, especially murder. Usually the person who does get caught is someone who did not plan to commit murder in the first place. Deterrence can only work when the threat of punishment is combined with the act be
Some common words found in the essay are:
Capital Punishment, Lethal Injection, Hammurabi’s Code, Amendment Constitution, death penalty, Death Row, Death Penalty, Furman Georgia, Greeks Romans, capital punishment, Socrates Jesus, July Texas, victim’s family, innocent people, sentenced death, caught plan, death row, commit murder, murder person, justice served,
Approximate Word count = 1112
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
