Death_Penalty

The Death Penalty 1 The Death Penalty: Should it be banned as a form of punishment' Deborah Golden English Composition 2 Dr. Marsha Beckwith-Howard May 9th, 2010 The Death Penalty 2 The death penalty does not seem to work from keeping other people from murdering other people. There are many questions to be asked when it comes to the death penalty. One of the big questions is should it be banned as a form of punishment. There are many different views on this issue and I believe that if you are willing to kill then you should be willing to be killed if that is the sentence you are given by the courts. The death penalty is still used in the united states for certain crimes committed. Most people are either all for it or against it. I believe that if a person was killed intentionally by another human being then absolutely go for the death penalty when convicting that person, but if there is any doubt at all then the court system should sentence them with life in prison without parole. There are many cases out there where a person is convicted of a wrongful crime and has to stay in prison for the sentence they were given. People have lost many years in prison due to false imprisonment because the jury found them guilty. In many cases people try to blame someone else such as their lawyers as to why they feel that they were not give a fair trial because the lawyer left something out that could have changed their outcome. In an article it was stated that “Ineffective assistance of counsel” is an exceptionally difficult claim on which to succeed. The Supreme Court has found ineffective assistance only a handful of times since it raised the bar in a 1984 case, Strickland v. Washington. That decision requires defendants to prove two elements: that the lawyer’s performance “fell below an objective standard of reasonableness” The Death Penalty 3 and that there was a “reasonable probability” that the outcome would have been different if not for the bad layering” (Greenhouse, 2009). I do not feel that any one should get away with killing someone because a lawyer left something out such as they are a veteran. I do not feel that anyone should get special treatment because of what they are or where they have been. Everyone is equal and if you commit a crime then you should be ready to serve the time when you are convicted. I am a person who is all for the death penalty if a person has killed someone. I do not feel that capital punishment or the death penalty should be banned as a form of punishment. I feel that no matter how mental or sane someone is they know what they are doing to a point and should be punished for it whether its life in prison or death row. I don’t think that by sentencing someone to death row it will not stop others from killing but it will defiantly put a criminal away. There are many people out there that feel that by someone going to death row it makes it all better but in my eyes I don’t think it makes it any better. Someone could be sentenced to death row and still be in prison for majority of their life until they go. There are many different crimes that someone could be on trial for but I feel that the only crime someone should go to death row for is murdering another human being. I also feel that a minor should be tried as an adult because they know what they are doing when they kill another person. I also feel that if a minor is 12 or younger they should not be tried as an adult but should be punished for the crime that they have committed. There are kids out there that know if they are minors when they commit a crime they will not go to prison but I feel they should if they know what the consequences are for committing a crime and they should be the ones The Death Penalty- 4 paying for it instead of their parents. There are many troubled kids out there that the parents have done the best they could with raising them but the kid just didn’t care and those are the ones that should be punished. I think that everyone has choices in life and whether or not to commit a crime is up to them. There are people out there that just make bad choices and end up in prison or on death row but that was up to them. I am a person who does not like crimes and feels that people should always pay for the things that they have done. If you are willing to take someone else’s life then you should be willing to give yours up when convicted and sentenced to death row. The Death Penalty- 5 References http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/articles-selective-empathy-issue-recent-supreme-court-opinion. Linda Greenhouse- December 3, 2009