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Against the Death Penalty

Only the most extreme of all manslaughter crimes should be tried under the death sentence and each person has the right to appeal to a higher court or to be able to petition for pardon of the sentence. The death penalty is the pre-meditated and cold-blooded killing of prisoners in state custody. It is the same as if a murderer was to call up his victim and tell that person that on a certain date he/she was going to kill them? What anguish and emotional trauma do you think that person would go through waiting to die? This is exactly what the state judicial system does to death penalty victims. .
             The thought that the execution process is painless has yet to be proven. If administering 100 volts to a man's sensitive areas evokes moral condemnation, how does a state condone the administration of 2,000 volts to a human body in order to cause death? The physical pain caused by electrocution, gassing, hanging, poisoning, or shooting - the five methods of execution used in the United States - cannot be justified. Paralysis of organs, burning of flesh, asphyxiation, tearing of the spinal cord, or the explosive destruction of organs, are all the end results of each type of execution. Does this sound like a humane way to treat a person? These methods are not infallible either! In a 1990 Florida execution, a malfunctioning electric chair caused flames to shoot up six inches into the air from the condemned persons head. In 1992, in an Oklahoma execution by lethal injection, the condemned had a violent reaction to the drugs used. The poor prisoner gasped and gagged violently, the muscles in his neck, jaw, and abdomen went into violent spasms, and he endured this torture for eleven minuets before he finally died. In 1994 it took five minuets for David Lawson to die in a gas chamber in North Carolina. During that time he screamed, "I"m human! I"m human!"(Web page Amnesty International).


Essays Related to Against the Death Penalty

1. Leadership in the Criminal Justice System

... he or she functions as the administrator of the proceedings and gives the decision at the end of the case objectively. His decision will be based on the weight of the evidences presented. Moreover, the prosecutor is the lawyer whose function is to bring charges against an individual or a party while the defense attorney challenges the evidences presented by the plaintiff's side or the complainant. It is the function of the court to serve justice to ... , probation, house arrest, and community service among others and the most serious is the capital punishment which may employ lifetime im...

  • Word Count: 1620
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

2. America and the Death Penalty

... inmate that was executed, seven lives were spared because others were deterred from committing murder (Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty, 1). The death penalty can save thousands of potential victims who are at stake. It saves lives. Many of the criminals of the death penalty deserve what they are getting because of the terrible crimes they commit. Many families have to suffer because a criminal murdered their relatives and/or friends. With ... a human life, it should do so (USCCB)." In Islam, the Muslims believe in the death penalty because it is in the Quran. In Judaism, the...

  • Word Count: 1504
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Death Penalty - Moral and Constitutional

... to the magnitude of the crime committed, the death penalty is the right way to go (Arguments for and Against the Death Penalty). If the crime fits, then the eye-for-an-eye adage from bible times applies. Moreover, the U.S justice system is used to the trend of escalating punishments which then qualifies that the most heinous crimes should receive the most severe punishment. Some opponents of the death penalty have argued that death penalty is cruel and denies the person the right ... to life. However, many forget the ... ...

  • Word Count: 2386
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Why The Death Penalty Should Be Upheld

... a powerful deterrent that it can be. Arguments Against Capital Punishment Ok, so now that we have addressed all of the voluminous reasons why the death penalty should be upheld, we can now take a moment to discuss some few (but weak) arguments against the death penalty. Religious zealots who believe that capital punishment is against God voice the first argument against the death penalty. They argue that one should "turn the other cheek", practice forgiveness, or follow ... the principle that "One Should Not Kill" as evidenced by ... ...

  • Word Count: 2024
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography

5. Capital Punishment: The Abolit

... . McClary et al. Race and the death penalty. Souls, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 62-69, Winter 2000 Deats, Richard. On ending the death penalty. Fellowship, vol. 66, no. 5, p. 3, May 2000 Hitchens, Christopher. Bush's death trip. The Nation, vol. 270, no. 9, p. 9, March 6, 2000 Pollitt, Katha. The death penalty in theory and practice. The Nation, vol. 270, no. 9, p. 10, March 6, 2000 Ryan's quake: blows against the death penalty. Counterpunch, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 4-5, February 1, 2000 The case against the death penalty. The Progressive, vol. 64, no ... . 2, pp. 8-10, February 2000 Death by discrimin...

  • Word Count: 3235
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Utilitarian View of the Death Penalty

... . In order to decide if the death penalty is just or unjust; utilitarianism has to question whether the death penalty is effective in preventing future crimes compared to life imprisonment. If killers fear the death penalty an equal amount to life imprisonment, then the death penalty would not prevent murders, so utilitarianism would view the death penalty as unjustifiable. I think the death penalty influences people against murder and, therefore, I think utilitarianism would support the death penalty. Moreover, the death penalty sets an example toward preventing ... murders and allows t...

  • Word Count: 926
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. Victims and the Death Penalty

... culture, executions are not acceptable. None of these viewpoints give any substantial backing either for or against the death penalty. The debate could go on forever. Most of the information in this paper gives little support for either side. First, the religious population is split three ways, very evenly. One third cites The Bible that says "Thou shalt not kill." Any form of killing another human ... again. Obviously, capital punishment cases are very expensive, and cost more than life sentence cases. This is probably the best argument against the death penalty, but maybe financial co...

  • Word Count: 2380
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Ethical Theories of the Death Penalty

... culture, executions are not acceptable. None of these viewpoints give any substantial backing either for or against the death penalty. The debate could go on forever. Most of the information in this paper gives little support for either side. First, the religious population is split three ways, very evenly. One third cites The Bible that says "Thou shalt not kill. " Any form of killing another human being is ... again. Obviously, capital punishment cases are very expensive, and cost more than life sentence cases. This is probably the best argument against the death penalty, but maybe fi...

  • Word Count: 2149
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Death Penalty For Juveniles

... prove that capital punishment is a Boynton 8 deterrent cease to exist. This article brings a new characteristic class to the list of discriminations against juveniles facing the death penalty. 9. McLaughlin, A. (1999). Across The US, New Doubts Surface On Death Penalty. Christian Science Monitor, 91 (61), 1-4. B. McLaughlin analyzes the debate in the United States concerning the death penalty. McLaughlin attacks the penalty on many separate levels such as moral, legal and diplomatic grounds. Current controversial cases related to ... the death penalty are addressed by Sam Jordan of Amne...

  • Word Count: 4558
  • Approx Pages: 18
  • Has Bibliography

10. Capital Punishment: The Abolitionist View

... it undertakes to punish an individual who has transgressed laws, recognize the intrinsic worth of the individual as a human being this is why the sentence of death is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment, forbidden by the Constitution." (Mello, "Against the Death Penalty" 31) Another major augment against the death penalty is that it violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. This is the case in that it is randomly and discriminatorily applied. "It ... 's visit, Massachusetts bishops fiercely denounced legislation that would have restores the death penalty in...

  • Word Count: 2739
  • Approx Pages: 11
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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