death penalty
The debate on the death penalty is a unique and controversial one, however after reviewing the relevant arguments associated with the debate the conclusion is quite clear. The death penalty should be retained. People throughout history have used the death penalty as a means of punishment, and the United States should continue to do so. However the United States should do so in a qualified way. The death penalty should be retained in a manner where the executions aren't considered to be a form pf cruel and unusual punishment, and the system of conviction is functioning at a level where innocent people are not being wrongly convicted. With these two qualifications, I cannot possibly see how there can be any objection to the continuation of capital punishment. One of the most important aspects of the death penalty is the "idea that certain criminal acts be paid for by death." This idea of justice is the central reason for justifying the death penalty. The criminal pays both society as a whole and the individual family of the victim. Professor Ernest van den Haag writes, "that to do justice is primarily to punish as deserved, and only secondarily to punish equally." Certain crimes, such as murder
As I have shown the death penalty should be retained, as long as it isn't administered in a cruel and unusual manner, and the method used isn't cruel and unusual either. Society needs the death penalty in order to have a punishment that is equal to the crime committed. History and religion have provided a basis for its use, and as long as it is used properly should remain in our legal system. Besides history, religion also provides a basis for the death penalty. There are several strong indications that religion has today and in the past supported the death penalty. Virtually all, religious scholars agree that the correctly translated commandment "Thou shalt not murder" is a prohibition against individual cases of murder. There is no biblical prohibition against the government imposition of the death penalty in deserving cases, as opponents of the death penalty may wish to contend. On the contrary there is even evidence in the bible that government imposition of death is to be tolerated. In Deuteronomy (19:21) there is a passage that infers the government imposition of the death penalty. It reads: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." This passage relates the notion that the punishment fits the crime, similar to the way our constitution recognizes that penalties be appropriate to the gravity of the crime. In both insta! Throughout the history of the world there has been incredible support for the use of capital punishment in many societies, and religions. In ancient Greek society Socrates was executed for not believing in the gods, and in Saudi Arabia in the seventies a princess was executed for committing adultery. History has demonstrated that the death penalty is an acceptable method of punishment, and that its use doesn't constitute any wrong doing on the part of the state. The constitution, the basis for our countries laws and regulations, doesn't speak to the abolishment of, or the illegality of capital punishment. Instead it requires "only that penalties be appropriate to the gravity of the crime." When the crime is murder then there becomes a basis for such a penalty right in the language of the
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Approximate Word count = 1470
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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