Death Penalty?

Question

I need to write an essay, saying that the death penalty should be abolished and i need evidence. Does anyone know of any court cases that are relevant to the subject? Or any exonnerations I could use? Anything will help, and I'll be sure to give Best Answer quickly. Thank you

my teacher proposed the death penalty, i chose my standpoint.

I guess I'm he leftitst commie

sorry to the people who don't agree, but please don't share your opinions, not that they're not valid, but i made the question to find some evidence, not to create a moral/ethical debate

Answer 1

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=38&did=885
[Supreme Court case about minors being immune from death penalty convictions.]

http://library.thinkquest.org/2760/furman.htm
[Explanation of a Supreme Court case that restricted the use of the death penalty in many instances. It's not a very detailed explanation, but you can do some more research on other websites like Wikipedia if you want more information.]

http://library.thinkquest.org/2760/gregg.htm
[This case upholds the death penalty.]

http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/latzer98.html
[Here's a brief explanation of all 22 Supreme Court cases that have involved the use of the death penalty.]

http://ksdpfocus.blogspot.com/2007/05/press-release-may-11-2007-contact-eric.html
[Here's a man who was exonerated after being sentenced to death.]

I'm pro-death penalty, but you're just trying to write a paper. Sometimes we have to take stances we don't necessarily even care about or agree with for classes. It's no big deal, people.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Can't help you with the evidence because we're talking about my opinion. But although I think that some crimes are heinous enough to deserve the death penalty, I don't think our government is capable of administering it fairly. The death penalty is arbitrarily handed down in this country. If a woman kills her husband in Las Vegas she is eligible for the death penalty. But if she waits just a few hours until they're driving home to LA and offs him in Barstow the death penalty would not apply. The prosecutors in the OJ trial didn't even seek the death penalty when it was available in California. Seems they didn't think a jury would give the Juice the juice. The same prosecutor's office has sought many death penalties for less severe crimes in the past. How fair is that? (Schwarzenegger put a moratorium on the death penalty for those that are wondering).

Whether or not it's a deterrence is not the issue with me. I doubt that anybody can prove that one either way. The issue with me is that if you have enough money to hire a "dream team" of lawyers you will never sit on death row. If you require the services of a court appointed lawyer, you're likely toast. When they can clean that up, I'll reconsider the death penalty. Until then, there is no place for it in the US.

And for joby above. Nowhere does the constitution address the death penalty either way. Due process as outlined in the fifth amendment or anywhere else.

Answer 3

Here are answers to questions about the death penalty with sources listed below. I will also give you links to information about the 124 people (and the cases) who were wrongfully convicted, sentenced to death and exonerated.

What about the risk of executing innocent people?
124 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence.

Doesn't DNA keep new cases like these from happening?
DNA is available in less than 10% of all homicides. It is not a guarantee against the execution of innocent people.

Doesn't the death penalty prevent others from committing murder?
No reputable study shows the death penalty to be a deterrent. To be a deterrent a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither. Homicide rates are higher in states and regions that have it than in states that do not.

So, what are the alternatives?
Life without parole is now on the books in 48 states. It means what it says. It is sure and swift and rarely appealed. Life without parole is less expensive than the death penalty.

But isn't the death penalty cheaper than keeping criminals in prison?
The death penalty costs much more than life in prison, largely because of the legal process. Extra costs include those due to the complicated nature of both the pre trial investigation and of the trials (involving 2 separate stages, mandated by the Supreme Court) in death penalty cases and subsequent appeals. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

What about the very worst crimes?
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Is the death penalty system racist in any sense?
Not in the way many people think. It turns out that a defendent in a murder case is twice as likely to face the death penalty if the victim was white than if the victim was not white.

Doesn't the death penalty help families of murder victims?
Not necessarily. Murder victim family members across the country argue that the drawn-out death penalty process is painful for them and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.

So, why don't we speed up the process?
Over 50 of the innocent people released from death row had already served over a decade. If the process is speeded up we are sure to execute an innocent person.

For information on the exonerations, visit
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=109

Answer 4

I agree with Joby, but I will help you anyway.

The relevant court cases are these:

Roper v. Simmons (2005)
Death penalty abolished for those under 18
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Death penalty valid after special system put in place
Furman v. Georgia (?)
Death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. Person sentenced to death for rape was dispraportionate punishment for the crime. All death penalties outlawed until Gregg v. Georgia

Tropp v. Dulles (1958)
punishment of loss of US citizenship for desertion during WWII is cruel and unusual punishment.

The Supreme Court has held that a punishment is cruel and unsual when it is disproportionate to the crime (cruel), and when it conflicts with evolving standards of human dignity (unusual). Punishments that do not fit the three traditional forms, fines, imprisonment, and death, are given special scrutiny (Tropp v. Dulles). The death penalty is given a higher level of scrutiny than other punishments (Roper v. Simmons, Gregg v. Georgia).

If you like, you can type in the above case names in google and in oyez.org.

Oyez is a website that store the oral arguments in both recordings and in writing. You can listen to the arguments before the Supreme Court. You should first determine which side is against the death penalty first, it will help you to better follow the argument.

I have provided a link to the most important Supreme Court death penalty cases below

Answer 5

The Death Penalty is only as a last resort of those criminal unfit for rehabilitation and unable to exist on our streets...

And it should treated as such..
Don't deal out the death penalty like candy and don't ignore the death penalty when we get ahold of any of the world's terrorists...

I don't believe in giving excuses for those who take lives but I don't believe in using the death penalty as a fear tool for our justice system.

Answer 6

I'm a little rusty on my literature; but one of Jane Austen's works, probably "Pride and Prejudice" should give you a good start: a man being 'punished' for a crime never committed.

Expand on "irreversibility"

If we are not able to make the dead alive, have we the right to make the living, dead?

If your right hand got amputated would you cut off the left to restore symmetry?

to err is human, but to forgive...

better a hundred guilty escape punishment, than one innocent...

Answer 7

Sorry, but the recent study out on death penalty is that it is a LARGE deterrant, and I feel it should be use MUCH MORE with LESS APPEALS!

If you want reasons for that, let me know.


Lady Cosmo...you think giving the death penalty to someone who rapes, tortures, and kills someone is cruel and unusual? What about if they just murder in cold blood? You think putting a needle in their arm and putting them to sleep then stopping their heart with a drug is cruel and unusual? I would say that leaving the victim's loved ones without their family member is cruel and unsual. Picture some savage doing any of these things to your son, daughter, mother, father...you think a needle is too harsh? If so, you are one sick liberal.

Answer 8

Here in California, it's an average of 25 years from the time you are sentenced to death, until you are put to death.
More die of Old Age on death Row, than by the needle.

Answer 9

Until the murder victims can be brought back to life, the death penalty should be used and it should be swift (less appeals) and just as painful as the methods they used on their victims. Sorry - I don't think that it should be abolished.

Answer 10

Sorry, I think that the death penalty isn't used ENOUGH. Tell your leftist commie teacher/prof that.

EDIT: As for Lady Cosmos, it also says that a person may not be deprived of LIFE, liberty, or property without due process of law. Therefore, the Constitution of the United States specifically says you CAN execute someone as long as you follow the law.