What are some pros and cons to Capital Punishment?

Question

I need to know for my Political Science class. I have to write a report on both sides of the issue and I was hoping someone could help me out!

Answer 1

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~tonya/spring/cap/group1.htm
http://prosandcons.us/?cat=61
http://www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk/thoughts.html
http://www.hendersonchurchofchrist.org/articles/mike15.htm
http://www.albany.edu/~ab2166/

Passions in the US are sharply divided, and equally strong among both supporters and protesters of the death penalty.

Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes that "The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life...It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment."

Arguing for capital punishment, the Clark County, Indiana Prosecuting Attorney writes that "...there are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by committing murder with aggravating circumstances present. I believe life is sacred. It cheapens the life of an innocent murder victim to say that society has no right to keep the murderer from ever killing again. In my view, society has not only the right, but the duty to act in self defense to protect the innocent."

And Catholic Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, writes "...the death penalty diminishes all of us, increases disrespect for human life, and offers the tragic illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing."
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The death penalty has not always been practiced in the United States. The Depression era 1930s, which saw a historic peak in executions, was followed by a dramatic decrease in the 1950s and 1960s. No executions occurred in the US between 1967 to 1976.

In 1972, the Supreme Court effectively nullified the death penalty, and converted the death sentences of hundreds of death row inmates to life in prison. In 1976, another Supreme Court ruling found capital punishment to be Constitutional.

Latest News
Stanley "Tookie" Williams was put to death on December 13, 2005, by lethal injection by the state of California. The case of Mr. Williams, an author and Nobel Peace and Literature Prizes nominee, brought capital punishment back into prominent public discussion.
Mr. Williams was convicted of four murders committed in 1979, and sentenced to death. Williams professed innocence of these crimes. He was also co-founder of the Crips, a deadly and powerful Los Angeles-based street gang responsible for hundreds of murders.

About five years after incarceration, Mr. Williams underwent a religious conversion and, as a result, authored many books and programs to promote peace and to fight gangs and gang violence. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Literature Prize.

Mr. Williams' was a self-admitted life of crime and violence, followed by genuine redemption and a life of uniquely and unusually good works.

The circumstantial evidence against Williams left little doubt that he committed the four murders, despite last-minute claims by supporters. There also existed no doubt that Mr. Williams posed no further threat to society, and would contribute considerable good.

The case of Stanley Tookie Williams forced public reflection on the purpose of the death penalty:

-- Is the purpose of the death penalty to remove from society someone who would cause more harm?

-- Is the purpose to remove from society someone who is incapable of rehabilitation?

-- Is the purpose of the death penalty to deter others from committing murder?

-- Is the purpose of the death penalty to punish the criminal?

-- Is the purpose of the death penalty to take retribution on behalf of the victim?

Background
The vast majority of democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished capital punishment over the last fifty years, but United States, most democracies in Asia, and almost all totalitarian governments retain it.
Crimes that carry the death penalty vary greatly worldwide from treason and murder to theft. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have sentenced capital punishments also for cowardice, desertion, insubordination and mutiny.

According to Amnesty International's annual report on official judicial executions, in 2004 there were 3,797 executions in 25 countries. More than 90 percent...about 3,400...took place in the People's Republic of China. The remainder of the top four were Iran at 230, Vietnam at 64, and the United States at 59, followed by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Singapore, Yemen and Egypt

Capital punishment in the US is now officially sanctioned by 36 states, as well as by the federal government. Each state with legalized capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits and crimes which qualify.

Since 1976, 1,004 felons have been executed in the US, distributed among the states as follows: Texas at 355 (35%), Virginia at 94, Oklahoma at 79, Missouri at 66, Florida at 60, Georgia at 39, North Carolina at 39, South Carolina at 35, Alabama at 34 , Arkansas at 27, Louisiana at 27 and 149 among 25 states.

States and US territories with no current death penalty statute are Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Answer 2

You've gotten two very good answers, lola the most comprehensive. "Both sides"(sometimes know as being the devil's advocate) is a great way to see the "concepts" of others. I had a similar assignment in college, & it was awesome what insight I got when I really put myself totally in both points of view. I doubt you'll get anything that will help better than Lola--(or was it Lola?)

Edit: I always wind up at the bottom of the list of answers! For michael s--appeals are far more expensive than life imprisonment, but I do agree it is NOT a deterrent! If we could be assured there was proper representation, that the person was truly guilty, that a life term then, wouldn't be changed somewhere down the road, I think the best would be to serve the life term, work for ALL their expenses, & live with what they'd done, (if not sociopaths who have no conscience)--but my "opinion" wasn't asked for. BOTH SIDES. Like, subjective but objective? Am I making any sense, or am I afraid my brisket is going to boil over???

Answer 3

Capital Punishment is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, treason crimes. I feel myself that if a person does a crime, from speeding to the 3 above then they know what the punishment is. I believe that no person should be put to death, that's Gods will, sometimes I don't talk that way. As for terrorist, I say let the CIA take them get what info they can any way they can and them make them disappear from the face of the earth, I don't need to know any of this.
Good luck with your class.

Answer 4

The worst thing about it is that innocent people sometimes get convicted and sentenced to death. You can't reverse an execution. Capital punishment has other flaws: It doesn't reduce violent crime. It costs a whole lot more than life in prison. It doesn't even apply to the worst crimes, but to defendants with the worst lawyers. Life without parole is available in 49 states (all except Alaska.) It means exactly what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, with no hope of ever being free, is no picnic. Advantages: lower cost than capital punishment. if someone serving LWOP turns out to be innocent, he can be released. Details.. For the worst crimes, life without parole is better, for many reasons. I’m against capital punishment not because of sympathy for criminals but because it doesn’t reduce crime, prolongs the anguish of families of murder victims, costs a whole lot more than life in prison, and, worst of all, risks executions of innocent people. The worst thing about it. Errors: The system can make tragic mistakes. As of now, 140 wrongly convicted people on death row have been exonerated. We’ll never know for sure how many people have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often irrelevant and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. Keeping killers off the streets for good: Life without parole, on the books in most states, also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free, is no picnic. Two big advantages: -an innocent person serving life can be released from prison -life without parole costs less than capital punishment Costs, a big surprise to many people: Study after study has found that capital punishment is much more expensive than life in prison. The process is much more complex than for any other kind of criminal case. The largest costs come at the pre-trial and trial stages. These apply whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death. Crime reduction (deterrence): Homicide rates for states that use capital punishment are consistently higher than for those that don’t. The most recent FBI data confirms this. For people without a conscience, fear of being caught is the best deterrent. Capital punishment is no more effective in deterring others than life sentences. Who gets it: Capital punishment isn't reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn't apply to people with money. Practically everyone sentenced to death had to rely on an overworked public defender. Victims: People assume that families of murder victims want capital punishment to beimposed. It isn't necessarily so. Some are against it on moral grounds. But even families who have supported it in principle have testified to the protracted and unavoidable damage that the capital punishment process does to families like theirs and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative. It comes down to whether we should keep capital punishment for retribution or revenge.

Answer 5

Pros: Families do not have to live with the idea that their loved one is dead while their murderer is alive, the prisoner does not have the chance to escape punishment

Cons: More expensive, morally questionable, prisoner does not have to live with their deed every day, prisoner might not be guilty

Answer 6

Pros: stops criminal from committing any more crimes; in theory, it's cheaper than life imprisonment; gives victims' families some closure.

Cons: doesn't work as a deterrent for crime; usually doesn't repair the damage the criminal has done.