term paper on why im against the death penalty?

Question

im doing a term paper on the death penalty and why people should be against it. i need to write 6 paragraphs but i have no idea what to put in each paragraph so can people pleaseee help me...give me an outline or ideas or each paragraph.. PLEASEE

i know it would be easier to write about me agreeing with the death penalty but the teachers making us write why the death penalty is wrong... i didnt choose to

Answer 1

Your assignment is actually much easier than if you had to defend the death penalty. On the facts, the case against the death penalty is much stronger. Those of us who oppose it do not condone vicious and depraved acts. We believe that murderers should be punished severely and swiftly. Knowing the facts about the death penalty, rather than calling for revenge, makes good sense. These will make for a stong term paper.

1. The death penalty is not a deterrent. In fact, states with the death penalty have higher murder rates than those that do not have it.

2. The system makes mistakes. Over 120 people have been released from death rows with evidence of their innocence. Although it is often in the news, DNA was not available in most of these cases. There are 4 cases where it is highly likely innocent people were executed. In one case, there may not even have been a murder, in another the local prosecutor has opened an investigation into the case, citing her doubts that the right person was charged. Once an execution takes place the case is closed. If an innocent person was executed that means the real killer is still out there.

3. The system is racist in the sense that it is the race of the victim which matters. A defendant is twice as likely to face the death penalty if the victim was white than if the victim was non white. (Baldus study, see testimony of Baldus at the Senate Judiciary Committee, www deathpenaltyinfo.org)

4. The cost of a system with capital punishment is many times greater than that of a system that does not have it. And a huge part of these costs has nothing to do with appeals. A death penalty trial is really two trials, the guilt phase and the sentencing phase. It takes much longer to select a jury, the prosecution will have a larger team and if the money is available, so will the defense.

Most non capital cases end in guilty pleas. Money saved by not resorting to capital punishment should be used for victims services, which are always underfunded.

5. People suffering from severe mental illness face the death penalty and have been executed, some after being forced to take anti psychotic medication to make them sane enough to understand what is happening.

6. More and more states have life without possibility of parole on the books and Americans are realizing that it is a better sentence than death and that it does not risk killing an innocent person. Life without parole means what it says, and being locked up 23 of 24 hours a day, in a tiny cell, is no picnic. Life without parole is swift and sure.

7. A death sentence can be very hard on the families of murder victims. As the appeals process goes on, necessarily, so we can be as sure as possible that the prisoner is truly guilty, the families are forced to relive their ordeal over and over again. Again, sentences of life without parole are swift and sure and allow the families to deal with their terrible loss with the people who love them, not in courts and in the media.

Answer 2

Major arguments:

1. You can't reverse it. The US governmetnt acknowledges over 80 people were wrongly convicted and put to death in the last 150 years. For society to kill someone, the justice system would have to be perfect, and it isn't.

2. Cost. Because the Supreme Court has ruled many times on this issue, the means of death is very carefully controlled, as is the trial process that leads to the penalty. This means more expense in lawyers, longer trial times, two trials instead of one (a penalty phase separate from the first trial) an automatic appeal and so on. In addition, most inmates will file multiple appeals. The total cost to execute someone is more than the cost for keeping them in prison for life.

3. Most research shows the death penalty is NOT a deterrent. Most murders happen in the heat of emotion, or as part of another crime, like robbery. The criminals are not considering the consequences of these actions, so are not deterred by the death penalty.

Answer 3

1st paragraph should be your introduction - Just simple statements about whether or not you are against the death penalty
2nd paragraph - History of the death penalty in the US and notable criminal cases
3rd paragraph - Historical methods of execution and how and why execution methods have changed over time.
4th paragraph - What makes a person eligible for the death penalty? Is this uniform from state to state? From state to Federal Court? What other countries use the death penalty?
5th Different methods of execution and why they are cruel (*BONUS* A Florida inmate recently had to be given the lethal injection TWICE before he died because it was improperly administered the first time - gross!)
6th - Conclusion - you are against the death penalty because it's cruel, against the natural law to kill people, doesn't deter crime.

Answer 4

Well you could start by saying that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. How bout adding something about how horrible it would be to put an innocent man to death? Perhaps mention that there is no justice for the dead...so does killing the inmate get justice for the dead? Mention maybe that it doesn't really deter crime.
Just so you know, I'm for the death penalty but those are some ideas.
Good luck.

Answer 5

Murder is a SIN could be 1 paragraph and you can also write about the guy in florida that took 30 minutes to die when he was injected with poison and had to lay there and suffer and you can also write a paragraph about the war in Iraq or anything from war's about innocent people having to die because of a country invasion...

Answer 6

Did you pick this topic, or were you assigned?

Personally, I hate it when someone tells you to write a persuasive paper about something you do not believe in.

Paragraph one: Intro, Thesis, and four points of contention.
Paragraph two: Contention against executing the innocent due to human error in the trial. Humans run the courts, humans are falliable, innocent people are in jail, exectuion of innocens is wrong.
Paragraph three: Cruel and Unusual constitutional guarantees. THe words cruekl and unusual evolve as society evolves. We do not use firing squands, hangings, drownings, or beheadings anymore. Most free nations do not execute, hence the death penalty though arguably cruel, is definitly unusual.
Paragraph four: Cost of appeals, supplies, security, and other related expenses to the execution process. Due process rights allow appeals, appeals cost money, making the death penalty a financial burden for the people.
Paragraph five: A governement that sends people to kill and die in war lacks the moral authority to demand that its citizens allow the execution of their fellow citizens. No free government has the moral authority to enact vengenance against citizens. OR for a different point......"vengence is mine so says the Lord", and execution of criminals is social vengence. It turns the people into the killers that they themselves are executing.
Paragraph six: Restate thesis, summarize points, power conclusion.

Answer 7

Write your paper on why the death penalty is good and why there should be more of it.If you need some inspiration to get started,just think of how you would feel if 3 of the people you loved the most were murdered by some sicko scumbag!I know that I would want to pour water over him as they were throwing the switch!!

Answer 8

Well, the first paragraph is always your "hook". Make sure the state that you are against it and that in your paper you tend to prove your reasons why. In the last paragraph, you pretty much reitterate what your stand is and gently sum up all your reason without going back into detail on each. In each paragraph in the middle, use each one to detail a certain reason. I have always written my papers that way and I have always done so well.

Answer 9

It is an extremely flawed system because innocent people have been put to death. It was supposed to be a deterrent, yet there are more people on death row than at any time in history, we also have more people on death row than any other country in the world.

Do some google searches on these topics.

Answer 10

It is not a deterrent for crime.
It costs more taxpayer money to try a death penalty case than to keep someone in prison forever.
Innocent people have been convicted and sent to death row, only to be released.
The disproportionate number of Black offenders on death row (sentences are often arbritrary and Black offenders rely mostly on Public Defenders [who may not be as competent]).