"In the case Furman v. Georgia the court said that the arbitrary manner of applying the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual forms of punishment" (Rosenbaum, 123). These were just some of the opposing viewpoints. Now for the pro-death penalty argument.
Pro-Death Penalty View Points.
"We kill people to show people that killing people is wrong." This is a slogan from a popular bumper sticker. This bumper sticker slogan is misleading. "The death penalty does not punish people for killing, but for murder. Killing is justified when it is done in self-defense. Killing means to cause death. Murder on the other hand, is defined as, the unlawful and malicious or premeditated killing of one human being by another" (Carmical, 2). Many pro-death penalty advocates believe in lex talionis, or an eye for an eye. This was a practice by the ancient Jews. People against the death penalty argue that if we as a society believe in lex talionis why don't we rape the rapists? Well raping the rapists would according to Carmical degrade another human being, and it has no redeeming value. It cannot stop them from raping again, but executing a murderer will stop them from murdering again. Carmical believes that sentencing a murderer to life in an air-conditioned, cable-equipped prison where inmates get three meals a day, and recreation time is a slap in the face of morality. In Carmical's argument he argues that "the campaign to end the death penalty" reasons to abolish capital punishment. Reason one the death penalty is racist, and reason two the death penalty punishes the poor. He argues that these are the same arguments. Carmical states these cannot be arguments against the death penalty, if it was it would be an argument against all punishments. To argue that the penalty should be abolished because it is unfair to admit that if it were fair it would be okay. Reason three the penalty condemns the innocent to die.
