Death_Penalty

Death penalty is a highest type of punishment which is given to convicted felon by the government, through death. It is also knows as capital punishment. Death penalty has been an issue that continuously creating tension in today's society. The death penalty usually applied to cases such as murder, rape, and drug dealing as well as prostitution. According to the research made in Badinter's essay, 90 percent of the countries have abolished the death penalty but it is still widely used in major countries in world, including China, India and United States. Different countries uses different ways in sentencing death penalty, some countries perform death penalty in a very immoral ways while others try to make it as simple and quick as they could. Extremists from both sides will starts debating, whenever the word "death penalty" comes up. "One side says deterrence, the other side says there's a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says execution is murder.  Crime is an evident part of society, and everyone is aware that something must be done about it. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action in which it should be dealt with."( Scobell 1990, 317) . There are pros as well as cons in punishing criminals by putting them to death. One of the most common reason why citizens supports with the idea of punishing criminals by putting them to death is simply because of the statistic reading of crime rates in a country. Many researchers say that death penalty should be mandatory to those who kill others. From an essay, "Crime of almost every variety has increased enormously over the past 80 years in England" (Wolpin, 815). England has already abolished the death penalty but the result of it is still the same which is an increase in crime rate. It shows that by banning the highest type of punishment that is the death penalty, criminals are getting even brave to proceed with their crimes. A country’s reputation usually comes from the wealth of the country, law system and criminal rates too. In a country with a high rate of crimes will usually means that its law system is not constructed well, if the law system is not functioning properly then the commerce of its country will be affected. Therefore, most people supports death penalty because it is capable of reducing the crime rate and can deter criminal actions. Other than that, death penalty is chosen as a punishment to criminals so to have a safer environment and a peaceful life without any violence. In another word, it is to be said as to stay away from cold-blooded scoundrels. There are plenty of news in news papers and in national television about criminals who were captured walks away from death freely, just because they planned the whole murder plot in a state where death penalty do not exist. Many murderers plan their plots earlier, because they know that they will not be put to death even if they get caught by the policeman. The criminals which are captured in a state without death penalty, the highest type of punishment that can be sentenced are a life in prison. It is not certified that the criminal who are captured will be sentenced as the judge’s order. We cannot trust the murderers to a judicial system that might let the culprit ones out in ten years whereby they should be kept for twenty years, for example. The criminals are not afraid of the punishment anymore as they are very sure that they will not be death. “One who is a killer will always be a killer and even if they are in prison their next target could be the inmates or the guards.” (answer.com,….). There are many records of police officers being murdered while in duty and the cases that were solved showed that seven percent of the convicts had a history of homicide. From another essay by Koch in 1981, “There are no perfect men in this world but in order to protect the others we need to eliminate those who are recidivate to kill, we need to look at the bigger picture for the greater good”. Most of the men who are rational are afraid of death but there are some heartless criminals who are not fear of it. In fact, they enjoy taking away innocents life. This have made a reason for society to implore the death penalty as an option so that they will not break the law, and to control those who do not fear of death but love to break the law. According to Koch's essay in 1981, there are 91 police officers killed while in duty and the cases that were solved showed that seven percent of the convicts had a history of homicide. Also in Koch's essay in between 1976 and 1977 in the Big Apple, 85 persons arrested for homicide had a previous arrest for murder, six had two previous arrests for murder and one had four previous murder arrests. So how long do we hold these convicts in prison' Based on twentieth century fund survey the average time the prisoner served in the United States for a first degree murder is only ten years, and the lower degree murder charge means an even shorter sentence time in many case and states. What happens to those who get out after such short times of imprisonment' As stated before the killers are most likely to kill again. What should we do' We should enforce capital punishment in our country and in every state. There are no perfect men in this world but in order to protect the others we need to eliminate those who are recidivate to kill, we need to look at the bigger picture for the greater good. My last reason to sustain the death penalty is it will make us realize the value of life. From a biology course, we have learned that our bodies are all make up of small cells, and inside the cell it carries the true identity of each of us, the DNA. DNA is what make out of the all the chromosomes. In our genes we have 46 pairs of normal chromosomes and 23 pairs of sex chromosomes. How are we given to birth' We are magically formed when the 23 pairs of sex chromosomes from our male parent interact with the 23 pairs of sex chromosome of our female parents. Since we all have different parents, so we are all made up of different DNA, it is safe to say we are all different. Just like my biology professor said we are all made up of different components, each one of us is unique, special and equal. Since we are all equal, why should the murderer not pay with his own life when he takes away his victims' Some people say that life in prison harder on the prisoner than the death penalty. According to Koch's essay it is not true; most convicted killers try to appeal the death penalty up to the last minute. Many of them make every effort to stay away from death. Why is that' It is because what else is more important than being alive. Also in Koch's essay the convict sometimes even try to bring us down to their level by begging for their life. The convict said: "if you kill me you are no better than I am." Regardless of what they try to say, it is certainly that all they want is to have another chance to be able to breathe the air we breathe in and walk the same ground we are standing on. To those who think that capital punishment cheapens the value of human life, they are wrong; instead it has the opposite effect. Before we were civilized, in our history it was not uncommon to see capital punishment act as a law to penalize the convicted. Capital punishment exists because many of us believed that the justice for murder is one life for another one. The misconception many opponents have used to argue the opposing force regarding capital punishment is the execution of innocent people. According to a man called Adam Bedau this is a myth. He had proved it wrong with his research studies. He reviewed 7000 cases and none of them had shown a sign of innocence. Capital punishment is not an act we wish to act upon to a single soul but it is the best way to keep the killer out of society and prevent any further more murderers. Does the death penalty deter crime' From Hagg's essay "Thought we have no proof of the positive deterrence of the death penalty, we also have no proof of zero or negative effectiveness" (286). If we have no proof of showing a negative effect of capital punishment on crime rate it does not mean it would not help to lowering it at all. We need to understand that the best way to prevent any possible murders happen in the future is to not let killers walk free. Death penalty makes us notice the seriousness of a crime and the valuable of life. According to Scobell's essay, capital punishment seems to have a mere impacted in China, where the main advantage of its usage is to counter the illegal activities. When we executed a death penalty, we are making an example out of one prisoner. The message that the government officials wished to send out to the other criminals and civilians is that there will be penalty for a crime and those we don't value others life will be punished. There are many reasons for supports who agree with the method of punishing culprits which is death penalty. One of the most common reason is because as a means of retribution. Criminals should die because they deserve to die, for example. There is debate over the morals and effectiveness of such a harsh sentence. Most commonly, the death penalty is challenged as a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which says that the U.S. cannot use "cruel and unusual" punishment. Due to the fact that "punishment" is a legal infliction of suffering, it must be somewhat "cruel.” As for being unusual, it is anything but, due to the long history of its usage. People will plunder, take advantage of others, and commit crimes as long as it is in their best interest to do so. The purpose of our entire criminal justice system is to protect the rights of life, liberty, and property for all its citizens. To do this, the punishment for crime must be harsh enough to deter potential criminals. Under this mindset, the death penalty makes perfect sense. Here is a punishment that truly makes a criminal pay for his crime, stops the criminal from committing it again, and deters other criminals from committing the same crime. The punishment for murder is getting to be shorter and shorter. A judge could sentence a man to life in prison. That same man could be out of jail with 15 years. How has life in jail become known as ten to fifteen years' If the judge says life with no parole, then the criminal could stay in jail a bit longer, but that would mean the state and it's voters would have to take care of the prisoner for twenty to twenty five years. How can we trust the murderers and thieves of our country to a judicial system that will either let them out in ten years or have we take care of them for twenty years, and then let them go' The criminals do not fear the punishment anymore, because they know they will not die. Punishment is meant to give justice to the wrongdoer and to keep him from doing it again. I am not saying we execute all of the criminals in the world, but it has to remain an option for the courts to use and to scare the criminals of the country. Many criminals don't fear the judicial system. They know that they will get out in ten years if they murder someone. They are not afraid of jail or their punishment. How can we force them to stop killing or stealing if they are not afraid of the punishment we give them. Most rational men are afraid of death. They don't want to die. There are also men that don't fear death, but enjoy killing. They must be controlled, but if they are sentenced to life, they are soon free to kill again. Again, I am not saying we should kill all the men in jail and any other criminal in the world. That is not the answer either, but we must have the death penalty as an option so that they will be afraid to break the law, and to control those who don't fear death but love to break the law. While attorneys are protecting the rights of the accused, the family of the victim often gets lost in the legal proceedings. While the accused is protected by laws and is the center of the scuffle between various lawyers, the mourning family receives little more than the media circus for their grief. They receive inadequate compensation for their loss, but with a death penalty, they can at least be assured that that person who murdered their loved one will never kill again. Capital punishment should remain in use and delivered more frequently. Only too often are death penalties reduced to life sentences or less and more condemned inmates die in death row than by execution. The effectiveness of capital punishment rests largely on the willingness of officials to use it liberally and thus exerting the power of the government. This penalty would serve as a deterrent of violent crimes and restore justice. Increased use would prod people to stay away from violent crimes. Would-be criminals would think twice before committing an offense punishable by death, and because of this, societies would gain a sense of "moral security.” As we can see from previous civilizations such as the Babylonian and Roman Empires, death penalty is effective and much more efficient than spending millions of society’s tax dollars to upkeep their prison stay. Killers who have showed themselves capable of savage brutality need to be prevented from repeating their crimes and act as a lesson to others. Capital punishment is the most effective way. Death penalty should not be mandatory for people who killed others. A life is like a candle. Life is short and designs as well as decides for whom one is. Every individual are brought to this world without having to carve their character on them. We grow up to be vulnerable and at this point of time we are pieces of white sheet. We are very much easily corrupted and no longer a white piece of sheet. This is when we humans indulge ourselves in social problems takes on our life. In this case, we often hear of people killing one another and this issue has wide spread all around the world. This bunch of people are said to be perilous and are brought to face the court of justice. Some are charged with death penalty, while others are not. I believe that death penalty should not be mandatory for people who killed others simply because of some undeniable facts, which involves the individual, family and society.          Reaction of emotion is the first fact that states why death penalty should not be mandatory for people who killed others. We humans are people with feelings and emotions running all over our body. It is only natural for us to be emotional and react to a situation without even having to think for awhile. In this case, every individual walks in and out of problems day in day out. It may be the simplest incident of quarrelling, jealousy, hatred or even frustration. However, some people are able to handle and control themselves for the better man, while others are not able to do so. These people become too emotional and take it to a higher peak of having to commit an unenviable act, which is to kill others. Thus, it is wrong to misconceive these people and judge them for a death penalty. Every action has a reason behind it. In this case, it is only fare for us to consider the reason behind killing the other party and understanding that the emotions of these people have just gone out of control. Therefore, killing other people is a reaction due to the inability to control emotions, thus it is wrong to accuse them of being a cruel, mean person and death penalty should not be mandatory.          Besides that, killing others does not necessarily occur due to the intention of an individual. Some of us may have encounter desperate times when we do not know what to do and end up attempting unwanted acts, while some just relinquish. We have heard many issues of innocent people being attacked, raped, and kidnapped and so on. In cases such as these, killing others as a defensive reason is most definitely not a crime. In order to protect one's self, this particular person had to make a choice to kill. In this case, there is no two ways about what should be done. It is either we kill and survive or relinquish and forgo our life’s. Therefore, for the reason of self-defence, the law has to excuse these people and death penalty should not be mandatory. Not just that, killing is also termed into planned and unplanned killing. Unplanned killing, involves cases in which occurs at that instant and without a conscious mind. Therefore, it is not fare to label these people as killers knowing that they have committed it without having to plan it and that it just happened due to the situation they were placed in. Juvenile cases that involves killing by people between ages of 13 to 21, should also be excused from death penalty. This is because they are still young, immature, vulnerable and it is not fare to sacrifice a life at such young age when there is still hope to educate them.          Every individual deserves a second chance and this is also why death penalty should not be mandatory for people who killed others. By charging these people with death penalty will not bring cure to the atmosphere created. Some may say that giving the accused the deserving punishment will bring justice to the family of the victim, but what we do not understand is that, it is not going to bring back the lives of those who are dead. Thus, death penalty should not be mandatory as it does not serve any purpose. Charging these people behind bars for the rest of their life will teach them a good lesson. As said earlier everyone deserves a second chance. This may be the first mistake committed unknowingly and therefore it is wrong to in turn kill these people. Putting them behind bars for the rest of their life could be the biggest punishment for them. Death penalty is not going to give them any grief. It is just at that short period of time that they fear and then they are gone. There is no room for them to feel pain, devastation and misery in life by being in prison. There is no room for them to realise their mistakes. Thus there is no space at all for them to change. Unlike having them to face the four walls every day, staying away from family and being drowned in loneliness for the rest of their life, will most definitely be a pinch to them to realise how the hardship of life is in a prison. This may change the person they were before and turn on a new leaf, thus deserving a second chance. We should realize the value of life. From a biology course, we have learned that our bodies are all make up of small cells, and inside the cell it carries the true identity of each of us, the DNA. DNA is what make out of the all the chromosomes. In our genes we have 46 pairs of normal chromosomes and 23 pairs of sex chromosomes. How are we given to birth' We are magically formed when the 23 pairs of sex chromosomes from our male parent interact with the 23 pairs of sex chromosome of our female parents. Since we all have different parents, so we are all made up of different DNA, it is safe to say we are all different. Just like my biology professor said we are all made up of different components, each one of us is unique, special and equal. it is certainly that all they want is to have another chance to be able to breathe the air we breathe in and walk the same ground we are standing on.          Not forgetting, death penalty should not be mandatory to people who killed others as it may greatly affect the immediate family members. Having to lose a family member despite how they may be is an insurmountable thing to do. Those people who are charged with death penalty may be fathers, mothers, sons or even daughters. Having to lose some of these important people who are pieces of puzzle in one’s life is infelicitous. Losing a family member can resort to deadtrimental effects on the rest of the remaining family members. The extreme depression they undergo may be the driving factor of committing suicide or even resorting to self-inflicted injuries. In cases of losing parents due to the death penalty, causes the rest of the family members to lose hope and direction in life. They feel as if their life are shattered and have no one to support them. The situation worsens when there is no choice but to be taken care of by other people. In short, the family of the accused has to go through a series of agony. Sparing these people from death penalty will give much hope and light in the life of other people. Though their loved ones may have to serve the prison for the rest of their life, being able to see them and knowing that they are still alive gives great strength to the rest of the family members. *cheap * immoral and barbaric * always the possibility that innocent men and women are put to death without ever having committed a crime           In a nutshell, death penalty should not be mandatory for people who killed others as killing has many reasons that come along it that should be considered. We should believe that sparing these people from death penalty will give us a chance to educate, mould and cultivate good values in them. It is most definitely only right to punish them for the damage that they have caused. However, charging them with death penalty is not mandatory. Everyone is only given a single chance to live their life, thus we should stop being censorious, be more understanding and providing people with second chances only if it is necessary. Though several years of being imprisoned is necessary to correct and realise that every action has its own fall and it is impossible to just flee away from it.