Dexter: Truly Guilty Of Murder
Kyle Beavert
Period 2
Social Commentary Essay
It will never be acceptable to kill innocent people, yet it happens all too often. In the American television series Dexter, the main character of the same name lives to satisfy his father 's "code" by killing terrible criminals who deserve death for continuing to get away with murder. Dexter executes the guilty with precision and with assurance that they deserve it. Throughout the episodes, this piece of literature argues that only those truly guilty of malicious crimes towards society deserve a just death (Dexter). Our country claims that capital punishment is justifiable because they claim to only kill those truly guilty of crimes. Nothing is more extreme than taking a life, so it is important …show more content…
that our U.S. justice system is absolutely correct when deciding the fate of a citizen. However, the sentences are not always as accurate as they should be.
The argument that it is only acceptable to kill someone if they truly deserve death for their actions is prominent in the television series Dexter, however this does not hold true in our country today in regards to the death penalty due to lack of evidence, lack of fair trial, and unjust reasons for killing. If any criminal is sentenced to death in this country, it is first and foremost because of sufficient evidence of their actions, yet whether the accused truly deserves death each time remains to be seen in the U.S., as opposed to Dexter. The T.V. series Dexter constantly shows that you must have proper evidence to kill someone. In the Pilot episode of Dexter, the main character surveys a murderer who escaped imprisonment due to a faulty search warrant by police. He breaks into his home to find proof of his crime. Once Dexter confirms he is guilty by seeing videos of girls being raped by the murderer, Dexter captures him, and the man then admits that he killed a woman and has zero remorse for what he had done (Dexter). Here it is evident that the suspect deserved death: he continually abused women and even murdered one, and there was clear proof of his actions. The …show more content…
United States does not always have solid evidence. In regards to our own country killing criminals with substantial evidence, a speech by former senator Russ Feingold explains that "...Since the reinstatement of the modern death penalty, 87 people have been freed from death row because they were later proven innocent. That is a demonstrated error rate of 1 innocent person for every 7 persons executed... Let us pause to be certain we do not kill a single innocent person." (Feingold). Also, Deathpenaltyinfo.org reveals that since 1973 when the death penalty was reinstituted, at least one person has been removed from death row on findings of innocence every single year through 2012 (Innocence). Both senator Feingold and Deathpenaltyinfo.org have been heavily involved with capital punishment in our country for years and have full knowledge of its faulty history. These alarming facts show that unlike Dexter, our death penalty system is not historically accurate with evidence for capital punishment. According to prosecuting attorney Steven Stewart, "no system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof." (Stewart). Will mistakes continue to be made, even when they incorrectly determine if someone should lose their life? Those who were sentenced to death have been found innocent repeatedly, who 's to say some innocent people haven 't already been put to death? It is acceptable to kill a man if he has committed a crime, but not if they never committed that crime in the first place. Obviously, a convict put on the chopping block should be given fair and equal trial, no matter the race, wealth, or any other status. Dexter gives each of his victims a fair chance to live until they are proven guilty, which the U.S. does not. Discussed in the pilot episode, Dexter selects his victims according to his adoptive father 's code, killer of people who deserve it and kills them only after he has discovered enough evidence to prove their guilt, regardless of anything else (Dexter). This unbiased code shows that Dexter kills those who truly have done something that deserves death. The same cannot always be said for the United States, which does not always give a fair trial. This is evidenced by a court case of a woman put to death in Alabama fifteen years ago: "After years in which she and her children were physically abused by her adulterous husband, a woman in Talladega County, Alabama, arranged to have him killed. Tragically, murders of abusive spouses are not rare in our violent society, but seldom are they punished by the death penalty. Yet this woman was sentenced to death. It may have been in part because one of her court-appointed lawyers was so drunk that the trial had to be delayed for a day after he was held in contempt and sent to jail. The next morning, he and his client were both produced from jail, the trial resumed, and the death penalty was imposed a few days later... Poor people accused of capital crimes are often defended by lawyers who lack the skills, resources, and commitment to handle such serious matters." (Bright). This review of the court case from a prestigious Yale law journal shows how just because a woman was poor and couldn 't afford a good defense for herself, the United States court system did not even attempt to go into enough depth for a matter as serious as sentencing her to death. Even if this is a single rare occurrence, it is the unacceptable killing of an innocent person at the hands of our own country. U.S. death penalty laws are also unjust and different from Dexter in that the reasons for killings are not always just, and do not preventIn the television show, Dexter 's murders do in fact, prevent and deter crime. For instance, in the previously mentioned first episode, Dexter kidnaps Mike Donovan, a pastor who rapes and murders young boys, and kills him so that no children will be harmed again (Dexter). Although a television show, Dexter continues to be a model for how the United States should conduct themselves. He kills those who have murdered intentionally. A murderer should be killed because it is just, but someone guilty of a less heinous crime like robbery should not be killed to prevent future crime when imprisoning them could accomplish the same thing. If the punishment doesn 't match the crime, why is it considered acceptable to kill a person? Our country 's claim is that the U.S. death penalty law is used as a "deterrent": it is used to prevent future crime and murder. However, since the death penalty was instituted in the United States in the 1600 's, over 1600 people have been sentenced to death for crimes other than murder, according to an official government file (Espy). I believe it is only fitting that the punishment should match the crime, and if someone is to commit a robbery, they should be imprisoned rather than put to death. Putting a citizen to death for crimes other than murder is not at all justifiable in reason. Also, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, "[T]here is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws" (ACLU). The American Civil Liberties Union (an organization dedicated to defending American citizens rights with staffed offices in all 50 states) offers a wise suggestion that if the death penalty will not effectively deter crime, or even consistently get rid of actual criminals, then it should not even be in use. This holds no comparison to the show Dexter which does, in fact, justify its killings by deterring crime. Critics of the show argue that the character Dexter is a deranged psychopath that murders for pleasure and his actions are not at all socially justifiable because "the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer" (Independent). Throughout the show, he kills people to feed his addiction and says he is "not human" (Dexter). Because he was mentally scarred as a child, he has an obsession with killing. Even though he ultimately uses his obsessions for justice, critics believe that in the end, murder is murder. However, a "justifiable homicide" is, according to a current legal dictionary, "a killing without evil or criminal intent... such as self-defense to protect oneself, or to protect another..." (Bouvier). Dexter 's killings prevent future crime and in most cases protect other people from murder, which can make the case that they are justifiable. Regardless of his sanity, he 's doing nothing but benefiting society when he kills people, and that is why the argument stands that the only ones who should be put to death are those who have killed. If our country continues to implement the death penalty without proficiency, who knows how many innocent people may have their lives at stake.
Such mistakes that have been made must be prevented for the future, so that the innocent don 't continue to suffer. In fact, the Innocence Project, an organization that emphasizes the faults in our death penalty system, states that the inmates falsely accused of their crimes "...were convicted in 11 states and served a combined 209 years in prison – including 187 years on death row – for crimes they didn’t commit." (Innocence Project). To be exonerated after years and years must leave unfathomable mental trauma. If that many innocent people have been forced to wait on the edge of death for this long, it wouldn 't be hard to believe that some won 't be lucky enough to be saved from the mistakes of our unacceptably inefficient court system. Killing a person, even sentencing them to death, is only just if they truly deserve it. That is what Dexter argues, yet our country continues to ineffectively implicate capital punishment by making the innocent suffer through unnecessary torture. We must end capital punishment, or at least make it more efficient. There are lives at
stake.
MLA Citations
"ACLU: The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers" American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Foundation, 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. .
Bouvier, John. "Law Dictionary: Justifiable Homicide." TheFreeDictionary.com. Farlex, n.d. Web. 2012. .
Bright, Stephen B. "COUNSEL FOR THE POOR: THE DEATH SENTENCE NOT FOR THE WORST CRIME BUT FOR THE WORST LAWYER." Yale Law Journal(1994): n. pag. Soc.umn.edu. University of Minnesota, May 1994. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. .
"Dexter: The serial killer loses his mojo". The Independent (London). Web. December 31, 2008. < http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/dexter-the-serial-killer- loses-his-mojo-1217792.html>
Espy, M. W., and John O. Smykla. "Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY ` File." Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY File. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2005. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. .
Feingold, Russ, JD. "Introducing the "National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2000"" ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 13 Apr. 2009. Web. .
"Innocence and the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. DPIC, 2012. Web. .
"Innocence Project - The Innocent and the Death Penalty." The Innocence Project - The Innocent and the Death Penalty. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, n.d. Web. 2012. .
Reynolds, S. & Rosenberg, M. (Writers), & Shill, S. (Director). (2009). Dexter [Television series episode]. In S. Colleton, J. Goldwyn & J. Manos (Executive producers), Dexter. New York, NY: Showtime Networks.
Stewart, Steven D., JD. "Message from the Prosecuting Attorney." Message from the Prosecuting Attorney. Clark County, Indiana, 16 Aug. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. .
Period 2
Social Commentary Essay
It will never be acceptable to kill innocent people, yet it happens all too often. In the American television series Dexter, the main character of the same name lives to satisfy his father 's "code" by killing terrible criminals who deserve death for continuing to get away with murder. Dexter executes the guilty with precision and with assurance that they deserve it. Throughout the episodes, this piece of literature argues that only those truly guilty of malicious crimes towards society deserve a just death (Dexter). Our country claims that capital punishment is justifiable because they claim to only kill those truly guilty of crimes. Nothing is more extreme than taking a life, so it is important …show more content…
that our U.S. justice system is absolutely correct when deciding the fate of a citizen. However, the sentences are not always as accurate as they should be.
The argument that it is only acceptable to kill someone if they truly deserve death for their actions is prominent in the television series Dexter, however this does not hold true in our country today in regards to the death penalty due to lack of evidence, lack of fair trial, and unjust reasons for killing. If any criminal is sentenced to death in this country, it is first and foremost because of sufficient evidence of their actions, yet whether the accused truly deserves death each time remains to be seen in the U.S., as opposed to Dexter. The T.V. series Dexter constantly shows that you must have proper evidence to kill someone. In the Pilot episode of Dexter, the main character surveys a murderer who escaped imprisonment due to a faulty search warrant by police. He breaks into his home to find proof of his crime. Once Dexter confirms he is guilty by seeing videos of girls being raped by the murderer, Dexter captures him, and the man then admits that he killed a woman and has zero remorse for what he had done (Dexter). Here it is evident that the suspect deserved death: he continually abused women and even murdered one, and there was clear proof of his actions. The …show more content…
United States does not always have solid evidence. In regards to our own country killing criminals with substantial evidence, a speech by former senator Russ Feingold explains that "...Since the reinstatement of the modern death penalty, 87 people have been freed from death row because they were later proven innocent. That is a demonstrated error rate of 1 innocent person for every 7 persons executed... Let us pause to be certain we do not kill a single innocent person." (Feingold). Also, Deathpenaltyinfo.org reveals that since 1973 when the death penalty was reinstituted, at least one person has been removed from death row on findings of innocence every single year through 2012 (Innocence). Both senator Feingold and Deathpenaltyinfo.org have been heavily involved with capital punishment in our country for years and have full knowledge of its faulty history. These alarming facts show that unlike Dexter, our death penalty system is not historically accurate with evidence for capital punishment. According to prosecuting attorney Steven Stewart, "no system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof." (Stewart). Will mistakes continue to be made, even when they incorrectly determine if someone should lose their life? Those who were sentenced to death have been found innocent repeatedly, who 's to say some innocent people haven 't already been put to death? It is acceptable to kill a man if he has committed a crime, but not if they never committed that crime in the first place. Obviously, a convict put on the chopping block should be given fair and equal trial, no matter the race, wealth, or any other status. Dexter gives each of his victims a fair chance to live until they are proven guilty, which the U.S. does not. Discussed in the pilot episode, Dexter selects his victims according to his adoptive father 's code, killer of people who deserve it and kills them only after he has discovered enough evidence to prove their guilt, regardless of anything else (Dexter). This unbiased code shows that Dexter kills those who truly have done something that deserves death. The same cannot always be said for the United States, which does not always give a fair trial. This is evidenced by a court case of a woman put to death in Alabama fifteen years ago: "After years in which she and her children were physically abused by her adulterous husband, a woman in Talladega County, Alabama, arranged to have him killed. Tragically, murders of abusive spouses are not rare in our violent society, but seldom are they punished by the death penalty. Yet this woman was sentenced to death. It may have been in part because one of her court-appointed lawyers was so drunk that the trial had to be delayed for a day after he was held in contempt and sent to jail. The next morning, he and his client were both produced from jail, the trial resumed, and the death penalty was imposed a few days later... Poor people accused of capital crimes are often defended by lawyers who lack the skills, resources, and commitment to handle such serious matters." (Bright). This review of the court case from a prestigious Yale law journal shows how just because a woman was poor and couldn 't afford a good defense for herself, the United States court system did not even attempt to go into enough depth for a matter as serious as sentencing her to death. Even if this is a single rare occurrence, it is the unacceptable killing of an innocent person at the hands of our own country. U.S. death penalty laws are also unjust and different from Dexter in that the reasons for killings are not always just, and do not preventIn the television show, Dexter 's murders do in fact, prevent and deter crime. For instance, in the previously mentioned first episode, Dexter kidnaps Mike Donovan, a pastor who rapes and murders young boys, and kills him so that no children will be harmed again (Dexter). Although a television show, Dexter continues to be a model for how the United States should conduct themselves. He kills those who have murdered intentionally. A murderer should be killed because it is just, but someone guilty of a less heinous crime like robbery should not be killed to prevent future crime when imprisoning them could accomplish the same thing. If the punishment doesn 't match the crime, why is it considered acceptable to kill a person? Our country 's claim is that the U.S. death penalty law is used as a "deterrent": it is used to prevent future crime and murder. However, since the death penalty was instituted in the United States in the 1600 's, over 1600 people have been sentenced to death for crimes other than murder, according to an official government file (Espy). I believe it is only fitting that the punishment should match the crime, and if someone is to commit a robbery, they should be imprisoned rather than put to death. Putting a citizen to death for crimes other than murder is not at all justifiable in reason. Also, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, "[T]here is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws" (ACLU). The American Civil Liberties Union (an organization dedicated to defending American citizens rights with staffed offices in all 50 states) offers a wise suggestion that if the death penalty will not effectively deter crime, or even consistently get rid of actual criminals, then it should not even be in use. This holds no comparison to the show Dexter which does, in fact, justify its killings by deterring crime. Critics of the show argue that the character Dexter is a deranged psychopath that murders for pleasure and his actions are not at all socially justifiable because "the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer" (Independent). Throughout the show, he kills people to feed his addiction and says he is "not human" (Dexter). Because he was mentally scarred as a child, he has an obsession with killing. Even though he ultimately uses his obsessions for justice, critics believe that in the end, murder is murder. However, a "justifiable homicide" is, according to a current legal dictionary, "a killing without evil or criminal intent... such as self-defense to protect oneself, or to protect another..." (Bouvier). Dexter 's killings prevent future crime and in most cases protect other people from murder, which can make the case that they are justifiable. Regardless of his sanity, he 's doing nothing but benefiting society when he kills people, and that is why the argument stands that the only ones who should be put to death are those who have killed. If our country continues to implement the death penalty without proficiency, who knows how many innocent people may have their lives at stake.
Such mistakes that have been made must be prevented for the future, so that the innocent don 't continue to suffer. In fact, the Innocence Project, an organization that emphasizes the faults in our death penalty system, states that the inmates falsely accused of their crimes "...were convicted in 11 states and served a combined 209 years in prison – including 187 years on death row – for crimes they didn’t commit." (Innocence Project). To be exonerated after years and years must leave unfathomable mental trauma. If that many innocent people have been forced to wait on the edge of death for this long, it wouldn 't be hard to believe that some won 't be lucky enough to be saved from the mistakes of our unacceptably inefficient court system. Killing a person, even sentencing them to death, is only just if they truly deserve it. That is what Dexter argues, yet our country continues to ineffectively implicate capital punishment by making the innocent suffer through unnecessary torture. We must end capital punishment, or at least make it more efficient. There are lives at
stake.
MLA Citations
"ACLU: The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers" American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU Foundation, 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. .
Bouvier, John. "Law Dictionary: Justifiable Homicide." TheFreeDictionary.com. Farlex, n.d. Web. 2012. .
Bright, Stephen B. "COUNSEL FOR THE POOR: THE DEATH SENTENCE NOT FOR THE WORST CRIME BUT FOR THE WORST LAWYER." Yale Law Journal(1994): n. pag. Soc.umn.edu. University of Minnesota, May 1994. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. .
"Dexter: The serial killer loses his mojo". The Independent (London). Web. December 31, 2008. < http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/dexter-the-serial-killer- loses-his-mojo-1217792.html>
Espy, M. W., and John O. Smykla. "Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY ` File." Executions in the United States, 1608-2002: The ESPY File. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2005. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. .
Feingold, Russ, JD. "Introducing the "National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2000"" ProCon.org. ProCon.org, 13 Apr. 2009. Web. .
"Innocence and the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. DPIC, 2012. Web. .
"Innocence Project - The Innocent and the Death Penalty." The Innocence Project - The Innocent and the Death Penalty. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University, n.d. Web. 2012. .
Reynolds, S. & Rosenberg, M. (Writers), & Shill, S. (Director). (2009). Dexter [Television series episode]. In S. Colleton, J. Goldwyn & J. Manos (Executive producers), Dexter. New York, NY: Showtime Networks.
Stewart, Steven D., JD. "Message from the Prosecuting Attorney." Message from the Prosecuting Attorney. Clark County, Indiana, 16 Aug. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. .