Capital Punishment

Uploaded by SaRaH-BeTh on Apr 30, 2008

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Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, there
have been one thousand and ninety nine felons sentenced to death as of October
2007. (Capital Punishment in the United States)The death penalty is immoral, biase
d, vengeful, barbaric, and homicidal. Capital punishment is a direct contradicti
on to the very law it is meant to condemn and should be outlawed.
Capital punishment (also known as the Death Penalty) was first used duri
ng the 1600s; it was later considered cruel and unusual punishment due to its vio
lation of the Eighth and fourteenth amendments. (The Case against the Death Penal
ty) The death penalty was later banned. Currently thirty-eight (38) states have l
egalized capital punishment. The majority of executions take place in the states
formerly known as the confederate states. They are now often referred to as the de
ath belt. The states in this area include Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, and Texas. There are currently 3,500 men and women on death row. Aro
und 135 countries have already banned the death penalty in law or practice. 91 p
ercent of ALL executions take place in the U.S.A., Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Iran,
and China.
It is not only vain, but wicked, in a legislature to frame laws in opposi
tion to the laws of nature, and to arm them with the terrors of death. This is t
ruly committing crimes in order to punish them (~ Thomas Jefferson) This quote co
mpletely describes the government violating the eighth and fourteenth, and break
ing the law they created to punish felons who commit heinous crimes. The law cle
arly states that killing a man is wrong and should be punished. The law however
never specifies any exceptions to any one including the government officials who
execute felons. The government is committing a felony every time they execute a
criminal.
Capital punishment is the harshest form of punishment. Putting an end to
someones life is cruel and immoral. You can clearly see that this cruel punishme
nt is a violation of basic human rights and dignity. This inhumane punishment ha
s obviously not put the fear of death in criminal minds and has not discouraged
them to stop breaking the law. Although some people may believe that death is a
deterrent to crime its really not, death just doesnt really scare people these day
s. I hear much of peoples calling out to punish the guilty, but very few are conce
rned to clear the innocent (~ Daniel Defoe). There is always the slight possibili
ty that the person could be innocent. That fact alone should be enough to ban ca
pital punishment. (Moral Misconduct of Capital Punishment)
Capital punishment is not distributed fairly. The government has noticea
bly targeted racial minorities for execution. From 1995 to 2000, federal prosecu
tors sought the death penalty for 183 people 74 percent of which were minorities
. Twenty-one (21) people were on federal death row in June of 2001, 81 percent o
f those people were either African American or of Hispanic origins. In September
of 2000 a preliminary report, issued by the Justice Department, confirmed that
a large majority of defendants were minorities (non-Caucasian). (Abolish the Deat
h Penalty)
The death penalty is based strictly on retribution. Retribution is anoth
er word for revenge. For the majority of our society, our first instinct is to i
nflict immediate pain on someone who wrongs or harms us or our loved ones. Thoug
h this may be true the standards of a mature demand a more measured response to
felonies. (Retribution in Opposition to the Death Penalty) The emotional impulse d
oes not justify the cold blooded murder of another human being by those who are
paid to protect our delicate society. Although vengeance is a very strong emotio
n is does not have any place in our Justice System and/or laws.

Capital punishment is vengeful, cold blooded judicial homicide (Warda Shaz

a).It is immoral, racist, biased, vengeful, barbaric, and murderous. Capital pun
ishment is just another word for legalized murder. The death penalty has proven
not to be an effective crime punishment; it has neither protected the innocent o
r stopped felon. This cruel unusual punishment should banned not only in the Uni
ted States but across the entirety of the planet we call our home; Earth.
Submitted by : SaRaH-BeTh
Date Submitted : 04/30/2008
Category : Law
Views : 3411