Death Penalty

A detailed Summary of Death Penalty

For a moral argument paper I chose a topic that is always hotly debated, the death penalty. In considering the issue of the death penalty, there will always be people that are going to be satisfied and others disgruntled or even furious. Many sides and arguments come into play with this matter. They both have effective points to make. With so many factors to look at there is really no right or wrong side to this matter. The decision is up to each person's preference. People's arguments for both sides will be looked at to determine the more reasonable choice.

First off, there needs to be a definition of what capital punishment and the death penalty are. According to Hugo Bedau, capital punishment is the lawful infliction of the death penalty. The United States uses the forms of hanging, electrocution, firing squad, lethal injection, and the gas chamber. Although some are used much more than others, these are the forms used today.

Some of the obligations to this issue involve justice, non-maleficence, and obligations to the victim's families. The first issue to talk about is justice. If justice is served and the person is found guilty he or she should have to deal with their punishment. In some states that can cons

One more consequence that I have brought up is the violation of the Sixth Commandment, "thou shall not kill." The death penalty is an obvious form of killing. Whether it is legal in some states or not, a living being is being killed. Some people may not have a problem with breaking a commandment, but I would not want to be the one

The next aspect to look at is the consequences of putting someone to death. One of the consequences is that you are getting rid of a dangerous criminal and helping with the over crowding in the prison system. This is an obvious plus to society as a whole to totally getting rid of dangerous criminals. However, the prison population is indeed overcrowded, but using the death penalty is a very expensive form of punishment. According to Robert Baird, in a 1991 study of the Texas criminal justice system, it was estimated the cost of just appealing a capital murder at $2,316,655. And often criminals get many appeals and their trials wind up in court for years. Also reported by Baird, the amount it takes to house a prisoner in a maximum-security prison for forty years is $750,000. These facts are just to show that executing people has the consequence of a large sum of money to put these people to an end.

death penalty. The possibility of executing an innocent person is an obvious reason not to have it. Deterring criminals from committing these crimes with the death penalty is already shown not to do much good. The last, and for some people the most important reason not to have it, is violating a sacred commandment. Violating the Sixth Commandment is a major reason not to have capital punishment. After looking and analyzing each side of this moral dilemma the only ethical thing to do is to not have the death penalty as a form of punishment.

doing it. If you are a Christian you should be against t

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Approximate Word count = 1250
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics