Death penalty
Death Penalty: Revised During this class period today, seven adult men will be falsely accused of committing a serious crime, carrying a penalty of capital punishment. This means approximately 51,000 adult men are falsely accused of committing serious crimes each year. This figure is roughly the number of people who attended Super Bowl-Thirty-Three. Currently, there are 3,500 people on death row in thirty-eight states that support and carry out the death penalty while only twelve states have outlawed it. At the same time, more than half the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Capital punishment is very relevant to each member of society. It is not just a male only issue. Every single one of us in this room has a father, brother, or significant others who could be affected. Capital punishment in America is morally unjust and should be eliminated because it is cruel and unusual; it kills innocent people; and it is used in a discriminatory manner. Sometimes criminals suffer more during their executions than is anticipated or planned. People sentenced to death are certain to face one of the following methods of execution still practiced today: firing squad, electric chair, lethal injection, ga
More than half of those on death row are people of color, although they represent about six percent of the U.S. population, about forty percent of those on death row are African American. On the basis of race, the death penalty still discriminates against minorities; therefore, our principles of justice and fairness are being selectively applied. Currently in America we have not a system of justice, but injustice. For example, one case in May 1990, Jessie Tafero, a Florida prisoner, gurgled and his head bobbed while ashes fell from it, for four minutes (Seideman 5). Another case in July 1986, Kevin Barnes, an Alabama prisoner, took three jolts of electricity and ten minutes before being pronounced dead (Seideman 5). Hiding or presenting false evidence was the prosecutor's strategy to deceive the courts and win their case; they knew they would not get punished. Armstrong reports, "they have prosecuted black men, hiding evidence that the real killers were white. They have prosecuted a wife, hiding evidence her husband committed suicide. They have prosecuted parents, hiding evidence their daughter was killed by wild dogs" (Armstrong). Studies show, since 1975 at least 381 innocent people have had their conviction thrown out (Armstrong 2). Dishonest lawyers who represent our justice system should be held accountable for the deaths of those innocent people convicted of crimes they did not commit. A report released by the Chicago Tribune points out that recent advances in DNA technology have stirred the hopes of many prisoners that may be innocent and looking for a loop hole in getting another chance to appeal. As a result, 1000 new cases crowd the courts, and 75 of which are death row prisoners (Armstrong 5). Verneal Jimerson of Illinois and Kirk Bloodsworth of Maryland, both were later exonerated by DNA tests, but not before spending 5 years in prison (Armstrong). Capital punishment is prone to killing innocent people. A court error can be corrected with a pardon but a pardon after death is not valued to anyone (Seideman 2). Race is an important factor in determining who is sentenced to die. When dealing with race, statistics are important because they provide facts that are unbiased
Some common words found in the essay are:
Scotty Sutton, Bowl-Thirty-Three Currently, Accounting Office, Chicago Tribune, Luther King, Armstrong Guilty, Penalty Revised, Armstrong Capital, Armstrong Studies, African American, death penalty, capital punishment, innocent people, death row, hiding evidence, lethal injection, innocent person, chicago tribune, accused committing serious, people convicted, percent prison, injection gas chamber, adult falsely accused, lethal injection gas, 1975 381 innocent,
Approximate Word count = 1484
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
