Death Penalty?

Question

I need opinions and reasons for your opinions... I am doing a reasearch paper and I'm totally stuck. Please only educated opinions only.

Answer 1

I support the death penalty. Why?

Given enough time (on the scale of thousands of years), and given that the standard for what is considered a capital crime doesn't change over that time, and given that evolution is alive and well, the death penalty will cause humanity to be genetically predisposed to not commit capital crimes.

You're welcome to quote that in your paper so long as you list this page and my name (Jack Schitt) as a source.

Answer 2

A very good source for this is the Death Penalty Information Center (deathpenaltyinfo.org). There you can find statistics, information about some specific cases, current legal issues and much more. It is very well researched.

Some points to raise are:

The death penalty is not a deterrent. Homicide rates in states that have a death penalty are higher than states that do not.
The costs of a criminal justice system that has includes capital punishment are far greater than a system that does not.

The death penalty system is biased. The murderer in a case where the victim is white is far more likely to face the death penalty than where the victim is not white.

More and more states now have life without parole on the books. It means what it says. People sentenced to life without parole do not get released.

Because it is in the nature of human beings to make mistakes it should not be too surprising that well over 100 innocent people were sentenced to death and later exonerated.

Lifers are among the least violent prisoners.

There is so much more to say- these may provide a start for you.

Answer 3

The strongest justification for the death penalty is that the recidivism rate for the executed is zero.
There may be some for whom the death penalty acts as a deterrent.
Among the general populace there is a sense of justified vengeance in the death penalty.
The equation of murder with the death penalty is incorrect, as murder is the unjustified act of an individual, and the death penalty is the justified act of society.
Philosophically and to many ethically the death penalty puts a limit on the value of human life.
Life imprisonment without parole may be a greater penalty that an early and humane death.
There is an irreducible error rate in any court system, and an occasional innocent will be executed.
The delineation of who will be executed, and what particular crimes will be punished by the death penalty, must be somewhat arbitrary, given the multitude of variables in even the most similar of cases, and is therefore inherently unfair.
The checks and balances in the U.S. system are so numerous and cumbersome that they are in themselves cruel, expensive, and perhaps not worth the bother of having the death penalty at all.
My personal opinion is that the balance is close, and this last is the thing that tips the scales in favor of abolition of the death penalty. It's just too big a bother.

Answer 4

This is a very good question. I believe the Death Penalty should be stopped. For a few reasons. First of all who are we to play god and end someones life. And don't you think that it would punish the criminal more to sit in jail for the rest of there lives and have to think about what they did. I know it cost so much a year to house criminals and I know if something happened to one of my family people tell me I would think different but I think that putting them to death they get off easy. The Death Penalty does not seem to slow crimes in places where they do still have it so I don't see that it does any good to begin with. Should not a law in place slow the rate of that crime down is that not the purpose for the law. It seems to me people that murder or child molest or rape I dont think they really care what the punishment for the crime is nothing will stop them. I say let them rot in jail Life with no parole is better. Great question. Good Luck on your reasearch. Post a remark on your findings once you are done.

Answer 5

Not keen on the death penalty and would like to see murderers and some others sentenced to serve the rest of their lives locked up where they can't do any more damage. The trouble with that is that they are allowed to appeal at a later date or some dogooder comes along and lets them out. Until they can guarantee that a life sentence is for sure then the death sentence is a reasonable alternative.

Answer 6

I think that the death penalty is entirely justified.

personally I can not think of a better deterrent for people than death. Now I am not talking about the run of the mill crime, I am talking about people who commit hardcore crimes. quite frankly I could even lax that to people who knowingly opt to take another persons life.

Why should a criminal who has taken a life be able to live when his victim is dead?

I ask you this question would you opt for capital punishment if it was your family who was murdered by a criminal, I certainly would love to seek that kind of justice.

the shame for me is that Australia does not have capital punishment any longer, I am sure if it did there would be less re offenders on the street not to mention less crime.

Answer 7

While there has been no substantiated link between punishment and deterrence, I am in favor of the death penalty. If there are witnesses, video evidence, or concrete links to the crime (alot) then and only then. I would execute anyone found guilty of killing/torturing children, killing for hire, killing for profit (meaning the death of victim brought financial gain not just for robbery), and definitely for terrorism.

Answer 8

What are you asking? What is the paper for and what is the topic? I mean, the death penalty is a pretty big field!

Answer 9

Pro. There is a 100% rate of non-recidivism among executed criminals. The problem is that ACLU and other anti-American groups clog the court system with paper and make it nearly as expensive as keeping a felon, letting him get his law degree and clogging the system himself.

Answer 10

Death penalty can be defined as : aremedy to the lethal lose and no other possible ways to bring justice to the dead person.