Evaluation Arguments Against Capital Punishment
Evaluation Argument: Capital Punishment
Imagine you live in a small eight foot by eight foot cell, with only a bed and toilet. You are only allowed to leave this cell for maybe an hour per day. For the other twenty-three hours, you are stuck in that cell with nothing to occupy your time, and you know you are going to be there for the rest of your life. Now imagine that instead of spending the rest of your life in that cell, you were sentenced to death. You know the alternative. Which would seem more like a punishment: life in prison without the chance to ever leave, or the easy escape of a slow, painless death? Capital punishment is not justice. Capital punishment fails as an effective form of disciplinary action. Capital punishment is not practiced consistently, and in a 2011 report published by the Death Penalty Information …show more content…
Studies have found that white juries are more likely to seek the death penalty, and that black jurors are more likely to be struck from the jury because they are unlikely to seek the death penalty. This results in more death penalty cases in white communities with white victims across the nation (DPIC 22). This favoritism based on race is despicable in this day in age. Regarding politics, the chances being granted an appeal rely heavily on whether one has a liberal or conservative judge. Judges appointed by democratic presidents are much more likely to grant appeals than those appointed by republican presidents. For example, judges appointed by Democrat Jimmy Carter gave 89% of their votes in favor of defendants, while judges appointed by Republican George H. W. Bush gave 93% of their votes against defendants (DPIC 25). All of these facts prove that the decisions regarding capital punishment are anything but objective and are influenced by many factors, instead of the crime at hand, and are not consistently
Imagine you live in a small eight foot by eight foot cell, with only a bed and toilet. You are only allowed to leave this cell for maybe an hour per day. For the other twenty-three hours, you are stuck in that cell with nothing to occupy your time, and you know you are going to be there for the rest of your life. Now imagine that instead of spending the rest of your life in that cell, you were sentenced to death. You know the alternative. Which would seem more like a punishment: life in prison without the chance to ever leave, or the easy escape of a slow, painless death? Capital punishment is not justice. Capital punishment fails as an effective form of disciplinary action. Capital punishment is not practiced consistently, and in a 2011 report published by the Death Penalty Information …show more content…
Studies have found that white juries are more likely to seek the death penalty, and that black jurors are more likely to be struck from the jury because they are unlikely to seek the death penalty. This results in more death penalty cases in white communities with white victims across the nation (DPIC 22). This favoritism based on race is despicable in this day in age. Regarding politics, the chances being granted an appeal rely heavily on whether one has a liberal or conservative judge. Judges appointed by democratic presidents are much more likely to grant appeals than those appointed by republican presidents. For example, judges appointed by Democrat Jimmy Carter gave 89% of their votes in favor of defendants, while judges appointed by Republican George H. W. Bush gave 93% of their votes against defendants (DPIC 25). All of these facts prove that the decisions regarding capital punishment are anything but objective and are influenced by many factors, instead of the crime at hand, and are not consistently