Abolishing the Death Penalty Essay

Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, has been a part of the United State’s justice system for the majority of the country’s existence. Today, 31 out of the 50 states still recognize the death penalty as a viable option when dealing with high profile crimes, most notably murder and sexual assault. While many people argue that the death penalty should be made illegal, there is also widespread support in favor of keeping the death penalty, leaving the nation divided on the issue. Both sides of the argument possess valid evidence that supports their claims, but in the end, the arguments in favor of the death penalty are noticeably stronger. The death penalty is an appropriate sentence that should continue to be allowed in the

Why is the death penalty used as a means of punishment for crime? Is this just a way to solve the nations growing problem of overcrowded prisons, or is justice really being served? Why do some view the taking of a life morally correct? These questions are discussed and debated upon in every state and national legislature throughout the country. Advantages and disadvantages for the death penalty exist, and many members of the United States, and individual State governments, have differing opinions. Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen to the opposition of Capital Punishment.

The federal government has an obligation to make just laws. Currently, US laws allow for the death penalty for certain heinous crimes. The supporters argue that the 5th Amendment, which guarantees that no one shall be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” implies that depriving someone of his or her life is permissible under the constitution as long as there is due process. However, there are several reasons why the federal government must abolish the death penalty - it weakens US moral authority over other nations; there have been too many wrongful convictions for death penalty in the US; the death penalty is in conflict with the 8th amendment of the US constitution; and finally, the cost of death penalty

Since 2012, the use of lethal injection has been legal in 31 states, to contaminate a convict. 1,423 people innocent and guilty have died from the death penalty since 1972. I strongly believe that the death penalty is unconstitutional being that it violates the Eighth Amendment, irreversible, and executes a large amount of hypocrisy.

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

In the United States, the use of the death penalty continues to be a controversial issue. Every election year, politicians, wishing to appeal to the moral sentiments of voters, routinely compete with each other as to who will be toughest in extending the death penalty to those persons who have been convicted of first-degree murder. Both proponents and opponents of capital punishment present compelling arguments to support their claims. Often their arguments are made on different interpretations of what is moral in a just society. In this essay, I intend to present major arguments of those who support the death penalty and those who are opposed to state sanctioned executions application . However, I do intend to fairly and accurately

Death penalty violates the eighth constitutional amendment. Death is both unusually severe punishments, unusual in pain, in its enormity and its finality. It does not serve as a penal purpose effectively but a less severe punishment. The constitutional infirmity in the death punishment is that it treats human race members as nonhumans and as objects that need to be toyed with and discarded. It is thus not in consistent with the fundamental premise of the Clause that even the criminal who is the vilest still remain a human being possessed of common human dignity. Death penalty, therefore, subjects human beings to a fate that is forbidden by the principle of civilized treatment that is guaranteed by the clause. It is, therefore, clear that according to this clause, death today is cruel and unusual

“And despite scientific efforts to implement capital punishment in a "humane" fashion, time and again executions have resulted in degrading spectacles, including the botched lethal injection in April 2014 that took more than 40 minutes to kill Oklahoma inmate Clayton Derrell Lockett and prompted Glossip v. Gross” (Heyns and Mendez). Capital punishment is an inhumane and outdated way for punishing criminals. The use of capital punishment is hundreds of years old in America. It is used as a punishment for criminals who have committed a violent crime in which they physically harm others. The point of the death penalty is to show that these kinds of crimes are not tolerated, and to deter criminals from committing these kinds of crimes. Unfortunately

Prison holds Millions of Americans everyday. Whether it be for theft, murder, or drugs, the morals of these people imprisoned have been corrupted and they have chosen to break the law. American citizens have always been faced with these questions: Is the death penalty morally right to execute? Is death penalty breaking the eighth Amendment? Depending on the person, they may agree with these questions or disagree. Even though times in America have changed tremendously, The death penalty should still be used as form of punishment and the crimes for life sentences should be reduced.

A question that has been asked since the foundation of our country was made is, “Can the death penalty be considered Constitutional?” Thomas Jefferson was known to have written letters with the same topic. Now only thirty-one states, along with the federal government, still believe that the death penalty is within the boundaries of the Constitution. Twenty executions of the death penalty occurred last year, 2016, and approximately 1500 have since the 1970s (Pennekamp).

In this essay I will argue that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States. Capital punishment is a legal process where the state sends individuals, convicted of treason, murder, and terrorism just to name a few, to death row to be punished to their deaths by execution. Also known as the death penalty, these convicted prisoners are then put to death by such methods as a firing squad, gas chamber, electrocution, hanging, or lethal injection. All of which are lethal social injustices.

The death penalty being inhumane is something that we as a society should not associate with each other. The victims in these cases usually are brutally murdered with no emotion and thought for the torture they endure, this in itself is inhumane. Any normal functioning human could not cause harm to their fellow man without the thought of

Slaughtering a person in cold blood is punishable by law, but what are we teaching society if a judge orders that individual to be sentenced to death as well? Organizations against the death penalty consider capital punishment to be strictly a warning, but do not prevent murders, which “lack the deterrent effort which is commonly referred to by its advocates” (“Why the Death Penalty”). Killing an offender for a fatal crime is contradicting to the lesson we are trying to teach the people of America and violates the right to human life. Although murder is a dreadful act and unlawful, it appears that it is legal for government officials to put criminals to death. This form of punishment is cruel, cold-hearted and inappropriate to all offenders. It is time for government to review the laws on capital punishment to understand that a life taken should not constitute another life be shortened by death.

Why Capital Punishment should be illegal The Constitution that governs our laws in America is there to protect all of its people and that include the criminals that are on death row. The death penalty materially violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment, the guarantees of due process of law, and of equal protection under the law. This is the reason why capital punishment should be illegal in all fifty states. We believe that the states should not give itself the right to kill any human beings. Capital punishment is an inexcusable denial of civil rights and is inconsistent with the basic values of our democratic system. The death penalty is uncivilized in theory and unfair in practice. The death penalty system in the US is applied in an unfair and unjust manner against people, largely dependent on how much money they have, the skills of their attorneys, race of the victim and where the crime took place. Through litigations, legislation, and encouragement against this vicious and brutal way, we strive to prevent executions and seek to abolishment of capital punishment. We would like to think that the death penalty is more cost effective. It seems like the accused is seen in court for their horrendous crime, sentenced for Capital Punishment, and the next day they face execution. Easy, cheap for us taxpayers. That is far from the truth. The death penalty is a waste of taxpayers’ funds. It boggles the time and energy of courts, prosecuting attorneys,

In 1879, the United States Supreme Court ruled, by a vote of 9-0, that execution by firing squad was not cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. This began a long debate on whether or not a government reserves the right to punish those who have taken a life by taking their lives. There are many reasons as to why someone would be against capital punishment: it is not our right as humans to play God, it is against the constitution, the threat of capital punishment is not a valid deterrent, it is morally corrupt to take a life. All of these points are valid, and they represent the mindset of millions of Americans; however, capital punishment is a valuable asset to be reserved for only “the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers” (Alice).