Are you in favor of capital punishment?

Question

I have to write a paper on if I am in favor of capital punishment. We need to write from the "yes" and "no" side, and if you are undecided you can put that down too, I just need some ideas! I am in 6th grade by the way and even if you say 6th graders shouldn't be learning this kind of thing, that won't change the fact I need to write a paper on it. All ideas are appreciated!

Answer 1

I am not in favor of the death penalty for any crime, no matter how heinous and awfuMF My reasons?

It's state sanctioned murder. Let the convicted murderer's maker (God) make the decision on where they will spend eternity. I don't think the public, with the government acting as its agent, should be in the killing business.

Then of course there are cases in which innocent men have been put on Death Row. In the early part of the 20th century, a dozen men were put to death, only later found to have been innocent. The Innocence Project, founded by OJ Simpson attorney Barry Schneck, has freed too many from either long prison sentences or Death Row after finding that they didn't do it (usually through DNA evidence or recanted or faulty witness testimony) for there not to be great evidence that the death penalty is fundamentally unfair.

Those who say that the Bible says "an eye for an eye" type of justice should also be honest that the Bible also says a lot of other things (for example: slavery is okay) that we as a society do not accept.

A final argument against is the notion that the victim's family is looking for closure and just wants justice. Vengenance is more like it.

Answer 2

Yes, I am in favor of it. Some people say let God deal with it, but how do we know there is a God to take care of it. The problem is with the stats, meaning: Death row takes too long and the method of death is inadequate. Think about a nice lady who is friendly and helpful to many people is suddenly shot, stabbed or beaten with a blunt object to DEATH by some crazy psycho for any reason it may be. Should he deseve to life and she just become another victim. The problem in this country or time is that most people have more compassion for the killers and the murdered victim is often forgotten. Why should our tax dollars go to support a worthless life that is contributing nothing to improve society. We must take out the trash to have a clean place. Also, I believe executions should be public and not employee lethal injections, that is to easy. To make the death penalty effective we must execute the murderer within a month of his/her conviction (with DNA eviedence). This death should take a couple days so max pain is experienced, and no last dinner, let's not spoil our precious killers. Puttinig his/her painful death (maybe some fire ants under their skin while their eyes are stabled open or have them tied to a pole with white hot fire burning at the feet and inching up to the rest of their body inch by inch for hours at a time) at a public gathering for all to witness. When people see this, then they will think three times before they decide to kill anyone. (Capital Punishment don't have to be expensive). Those who kill once have a much higher chance to kill again!!

Answer 3

Hi I'm an Aussie and we don't have capital punishment. The last man hanged was 40 years ago. I basically feel that the death penalty serves no purpose but society's revenge. Certainly if someone I loved was murdered or raped I'd want the perp hanged (I'd want to do it myself), but this is an emotional rerponse. In a 'civilised" society we should be above such reactions. The death penalty has not reduced crime in America (we have lower rates here) and I feel that "life in prisonment" is far worse as a punishment as it is ongoing imprisonmnet. I'm sure many others will cogently argue "for" capital punishment. Good luck with the assignemnt!

Answer 4

No I am not, Unless the DNA testing is available and fool proofed! To say the least beyond a shadow of a doubt. Then if it is a capital crime and they know that it is a murderer of innocent people? Yes! LIke Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, etc., serial killers!
When they have hit men in jail for the mob? Then we need to stay their execution to find all the people that hired them? eh?
Those are the real criminals with intent, And we never seem to get them do we?
The whole reason for hit men is that people hire them to do their dirty work?
So there is a fine line there and no I do not agree because our system is too corrupt to push buttons on people till we really sort it out! Driveby shooters in gangs, absolutely if they are witnessed, confessed, and DNA tested yes. Rapist murderers, and especially the child killers? But we must have concrete evidence. Many people were hung and executed in other ways for eons and we got the wrong ones! Money and power kept many out of jail, and they framed others to take the blame. So we must be very careful of that death penalty or we will be the tool of this government that seems to have no other solution to keep control than to kill people. They are like Sharks on a feeding Frenzy and I think some of these politicians are guilty of many things and they are one foot short of being jailed themselves! So No Way not now till we clean up our own government from Criminals within!

Answer 5

Heh heh. I used to be in favor of it, until I saw the real side of the justice system, all the innocent people who were either framed, or the DA just wanted to convict someone, then they put innocents to death. So, if you dont' mind the govt killing innocent people, then sure, it's a great idea. Although I think the guilty ones should have life in prison, no parole instead of killing them.

Just read in our local paper about a detective being in trouble for framing people (planting drugs), beating up handcuffed suspects, etc. And, the only reason that he even ever got caught was that someone turned him into the FBI and they investigated. Think of all the stuff he GOT AWAY with. Also think of how easy it is for people to abuse their authority.

Or, think about what if YOU were wrongly accused, say some judge had it in for you, evidence was planted on you (like the murder weapon) and they sentenced you to die. What would YOU do? Would you still be FOR the death penalty?

Answer 6

NO. It's wrong in principle and wrong in practice. Taking life is wrong. Thats the message that the Law is supposed to be sending out to people. If mistakes are made then taking a life from someone who maybe innocent is completely wrong.

Then there'e the money aspect. In the USA it costs about $2million to kill an inmate, which is far less than the cost of keep that inmate inturned for life - so economically it doesn't make sense either.

Executing people is a political expedience - it makes the politicians look tough. Tough on crime and able to make tough decisions. Showmanship, in other words. The Romans were good at that - it's not fitting for our modern society.

Answer 7

James Marquart wrote a book entitled "The Rope. The chair, and the Needle Capital punishment in Texas between 1972 ands 2001. It has some good discussions on the Death Penalty.

You job is to write a paper on the subject. This is not the forum to form you opinion for a paper.

Answer 8

I live in Texas, and I supported capital punishment for a long time, but the more I learned about it, the more I came to oppose it. In the end, several factors changed my mind: 1. By far the most compelling is this: Sometimes the legal system gets it wrong. In the last 35 years in the U.S., 130 people have been released from death row because they were exonerated by DNA evidence. These are ALL people who were found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Unfortunately, DNA evidence is not available in most cases. So, as long as the death penalty is in place, you are pretty much GUARANTEED to occasionally execute an innocent person. Really, that should be reason enough for most people to oppose it. If you need more, read on: 2. Cost: Because of higher pre-trial expenses, longer trials, jury sequestration, extra expenses associated with prosecuting & defending a DP case, and the appeals process (which is necessary - see reason #1), it costs taxpayers MUCH more to execute prisoners than to imprison them for life. This disparity becomes even greater when you consider the time value of money – most of the costs of capital punishment are up-front, occurring before and during the trial itself, whereas most of the costs of life imprisonment are spread over the term of incarceration (usually 30-40 years). 3. The deterrent effect is questionable at best. Violent crime rates are actually HIGHER in death penalty jurisdictions. This may seem counterintuitive, and there are many theories about why this is (Ted Bundy saw it as a challenge, so he chose Florida – the most active execution state at the time – to carry out his final murder spree). It is probably due, at least in part, to the high cost (see #2), which drains resources from police departments, drug treatment programs, education, and other government services that help prevent crime. Personally, I think it also has to do with the hypocrisy of taking a stand against murder…by killing people. The government fosters a culture of violence by saying, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ 4. It is inconsistently and arbitrarily applied. Factors that should be irrelevant (geography, race of the victim, poor representation, etc.) are all too often the determining factors in whether someone gets death versus life in prison. 5. There’s also an argument to be made that death is too good for the worst criminals. Let them wake up and go to bed every day of their lives in a prison cell, and think about the freedom they DON’T have, until they rot of old age. When Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1978, he told the police officer, “I wish you had killed me.” Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (the architect of the 9/11 attacks) would love nothing better than to be put to death. In his words, "I have been looking to be a martyr [for a] long time." 6. Most governments are supposed to be secular, but for those who invoke Christian law in this debate, you can find arguments both for AND against the death penalty in the Bible. The New Testament (starring Jesus) is primarily ANTI-death penalty. For example, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus praises mercy (Matthew 5:7) and rejects “an eye for an eye” (Matthew 5:38-39). James 4:12 says that GOD is the only one who can take a life in the name of justice. In John 8:7, Jesus himself says, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Answer 9

I am neither for nor against the death penalty but, I too had to do a report on it for my criminal justice class a few years ago so here are some of the things I found in my research...


Suprisingly Florida is the leading state for wrongful convictions on the death penalty.
Not so suprising is that the Governor of Florida is none other than President Bush's younger brother Jeb. Are we starting to see a connection here....innocent people dying???
Anyways, Last year, 75 percent of the death-penalty cases brought before the appeals court were overturned due to new DNA testing or new evidence.

Capital punishment was legal until 1972, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia stating that it violated the Eight and Fourteen Amendments citing cruel and unusual punishment. However, in 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia and reinstated the death penalty but not all states have the death penalty.

Currently, 34 states favor the death penalty and the many of the states that do not have the death penalty are trying to have bills passed to re-instate it.

Some people are of the opinion that it is "cheaper" to just take someone's life than to let them sit in prison. Not true...

The average time that people spend on Death Row is 7½ years
and it cost as much to execute one person as it does to let them sit in jail for 40 years. Unbelievable I know, but true.

We are actually doubling the price keeping men on death row.

People who are for the death penalty would say "The death penalty prevents future murders"

However, States in the United States that do not employ the death penalty generally have lower murder rates than states that do. The same is true when the U.S. is compared to countries similar to it. The U.S., with the death penalty, has a higher murder rate than the countries of Europe or Canada, which do not use the death penalty.

Those against the death penalty will say the fear of executing the innocent precludes the use of the death penalty and they are right

Since 1973, at least 121 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged. During the same period of time, over 982 people have been executed. Thus, for every eight people executed atleast one person on death row who never should have been convicted.

Some believe execution is murder...

Well, if execution is murder, than killing someone in war is murder. Our country should stop fighting wars.

On the contrary, is it necessary to protect the rights of a group of people? The death penalty is vital to protect a person’s right to live! Is arresting someone same as kidnapping someone? In the same, executing someone is not murder, it is punishment by society for a deserving criminal.


Well, I'm tired of typing but, I hope this helps you!!!

Answer 10

Where it can be proved beyond any doubt that someone has repeatedly commited a serious crime which holds a life sentence that would outlast the criminal's expected lifespan, then I think it is only reasonable to end this person's life and free up the burden on the taxpayers and law enforcement agencies that keeping the person alive would entail.

In other cases, a person might change their ways and arguably should be given the chance to do so.

What really gets me angry is that the law has a problem with the death penalty for mentally ill people who repeatedly commit crimes. I see no reason why just because a mentally ill criminal MIGHT not know they have done wrong, that the rest of society has to be subjected to them again, and surely in this case it might even be considered social euthanasia instead of a death sentence ?