Preview

The Death Penalty: An Unjustified "Punishment"

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
816 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Death Penalty: An Unjustified "Punishment"
The Death Penalty: An Unjustified “Punishment”

The death penalty is a capital punishment given to those who have committed the worst of worst crimes. Some individuals believe that the death penalty is like an eye for an eye; if one kills they should be killed. However, others look at the bigger picture, which is how we are supposed to decrease the amount of people who commit crimes like murder, if the only punishment we have to offer is to kill them.
Seems a bit hypocritical. There have also been cases in which innocent people have been put on death row. Lastly, our government is basing whether or not these individuals are put to death by the color of their skin not the severity of the crime they committed. It is evident that our government should not have this punishment in place if they are unaware how important it is to take the lives of these individuals seriously; which is why the death penalty should be illegal in all states.
Throughout the history of the death penalty, there have been more than a few occasions in which people have been killed, but have later been proven innocent. It is very apparent that the government can care less who is being put on death row. According to the Death Penalty Information
Center, “Since 1973, over 140 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.” This statistic shows an estimated amount of those individuals who almost got their life taken for a crime that they did not commit. This is clearly not a problem to our government because they are the ones who are committing the murder. How would you feel if it was one your family members killed or was about to be and later proven innocent? That same feeling should be felt whether or not you are directly affected. There are families that are on the verge of losing or have already lost one of their loved ones to the careless decisions of our government.
There have been many cases in which individuals who were put on death row and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chapter 5 describes how, within the last century, mounting scholarly evidence has exposed institutional flaws within our judicial and police systems, resulting in the convictions of innocent persons for capital crimes. In some cases, overzealous behavior by police and prosecutors, led to the imprisonment of “factually” innocent defendants. While police sometimes coerced confessions or failed to conduct full investigations, prosectors and judges failed to evidence which might exonerate the defendant. Other judicial violations found through study included failure to follow courtroom procedures related to rule of law. One of the first wrongful conviction initiatives was through a congressional investigation in 1912. Although a noble undertaking for its time, the reports was flawed in its evidentiary compilation. The data was poorly collected and its findings poorly deduced. According to the report, no innocent person had been executed by the Federal government.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    ACC/290 team paper

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As of April 2012, there are 724 inmates on death row. This is the largest population of inmates on death row in the nation. In 1974 when the death penalty was reenacted there was only 107 inmates on death row. Since 1974 there only has been 13 executions in 38 years. These inmates sit on death row for literally decades awaiting execution. Because of the lengthy appeal process…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rogerian and Toulmin

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There are multiple cases in which they are pulled off of death row because they were falsely accused…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Soc120 Week 3

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A number of people are claimed to have been innocent victims of the death penalty. Newly-available DNA evidence has allowed the exoneration and release of more than 15 death row inmates since 1992 in the United States, but DNA evidence is available in only a fraction of capital cases. Others have been released on the basis of weak cases against them, sometimes involving prosecutorial misconduct; resulting in acquittal at retrial, charges dropped, or innocence-based pardons. The Death Penalty Information Center (U.S.) has published a list of 10 inmates "executed but possibly innocent". At least 39 executions are claimed to have been carried out in the U.S. in the face of evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt. Statistics likely understate the actual problem of wrongful convictions because once an execution has occurred there is often insufficient motivation and finance to keep a case open, and it becomes unlikely at that point that the miscarriage of justice will ever be exposed.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    various classifications of persons would be subject to the death penalty or not but, here, we have…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    According to (Harrison & Beck 2006), there is irrefutable evidence that blacks comprise a disproportionate share of the U.S. prison population. At the end of 2005, there were 1,525,924 persons incarcerated in state and federal prisons; 40 percent of these inmates were black, 35 percent were white, and 20 percent were Hispanic. Blacks, in other words, comprise about 12 percent of the U.S. population but accounts for two-fifths of the prison population. The way in which the police apprehended and punished is one of the great pillars of our democracy. But as we all know that in order for this system to remain viable, the public must have unwavering confidence that at every single stage of the process from the initial investigation of a crime by the police, to the prosecution by the lawyers to the punishment by the Justice system. All individuals in all like circumstances are treated identically, and consistent with the Constitution’s, which guarantees of equal treatment to all under the law.…

    • 1799 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    But the death penalty is uncivil, particularly when the person is wrongfully accused. The death penalty has left many innocent people dead. It is not right to punish someone when they are innocent.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The death penalty has been an ongoing debate on whether it should be allowed or whether it violates our constitutional right. While most developed Western nations have stopped executing the United States continues to execute offenders (Zimring 2004). From 1977 through 2008 1,136 people have been executed, which consisted of people who committed murder (Procon 2010). Those who are in favor of the death penalty believe it is an important tool to help deter crime and it cost less than life imprisonment (Procon 2010). They believe retribution helps console the grieving family and it also ensures that the offender will never be able to commit another heinous crime (Procon 2010). According to Grant (2004) some people believe that some offenders should face the death penalty because of vengeance and retribution for violent crimes. During the…

    • 1847 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most of the people who are lucky enough to be found and retried have spent over a decade in prison or on death row.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The public is constantly debating the ethical dilemma surrounding the issue of taking another person's life and for what crimes such a punishment is acceptable for the common…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    of captial crime. The death penalty was established back in biblical times. Some prisoners have…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty Reform

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages

    the ones that were proven innocent a little too late. These facts alone say mistaken eye witness…

    • 704 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the death penalty affects both the individual and society at large, decisions imposing such punishments should take all factors into consideration. Some people say that, the possibility that innocent men and women may be put to death. “While there are many reasons to turn off the machinery of death, perhaps the most compelling is the ever-present possibility of executing innocent people.” (Thomson, 2006). In fact sometimes the court can pass the wrong judgment to the wrong person. In the case of a death penalty judgment, there is no going back once the sentence has been stated.…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pro Death Penalty

    • 294 Words
    • 1 Page

    Life in prison is not a punishment. Not for people guilty of violent murders. They have access to way to many comforts that they do not deserve. When criminals kill, they lose their own rights. They are subjected to whatever punishment that crime is worthy of.…

    • 294 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    buttts

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages

    They average citizen is misinformed on the topic of the death penalty. They have somehow come to believe that the cost of executing a prisoner is cheaper than keeping him or her alive. This is false. New researches have shown that imprisoning an imate for life is much cheaper than executing him or her. It’s irresponsible for government to charge the taxpayer to pay more of capital punishment when is costs less to keep them alive.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays