Arguments against capital punishment essay

Arguments against capital punishment essay

 · Arguments against Capital Punishment Debate Arguments against the death penalty: Human life is too valuable for us to be killing simply for the sake of vengeance or deterrent - Everybody has a right to live, be it the victim OR the murderer. A violation of that right should not result in another violation. Two wrongs don't make a right The second argument against capital punishment is that it is unfair in its administration. Statistics show that the poor and minorities are more likely to receive the death penalty. Once again, this is a separate issue. It can’t be disputed sadly, the rich are more likely to get off with a  · One of the leading arguments against capital punishment is based on the value of human life. Most people believe human life to be valuable and some abolitionists think it so valuable that even the most brutal murderers should not have their lives taken from them (BBC). They believe that no amount of bad conduct can devalue an individual’s blogger.comted Reading Time: 10 mins

Argumentative Essay About Against Capital Punishment | WOW Essays

We use cookies to enhance our website for you. Proceed if you agree to this policy or learn more about it. Type of paper: Argumentative Essay. Topic: FinanceLifeCrimeCapital PunishmentDeath PenaltyArguments against capital punishment essayCriminal JusticePunishment. However, in and in a leading civilised nation such as the U. it is arguable that there can be no circumstances in which sentencing a person arguments against capital punishment essay death is acceptable.

America is known around the world as being a well-respected, leading democracy. The act of punishing people by death is an ancient one; it is also one that no longer has place in society. One of the leading arguments against capital punishment is based on the value of human life. Most people believe human life to be valuable and some abolitionists think it so valuable that even the most brutal murderers should not have their lives taken from them BBC. Some abolitionists are less certain about this.

They believe that life should be preserved unless there is significant reason not to, and that the burden is on supporters of capital punishment to validate their arguments against capital punishment essay. People who strictly oppose capital punishment believe that everyone has a human right to life, regardless of crimes they may have committed and that sentencing them to death is an infringement of their basic human rights.

The opposing argument, therefore, is that an individual who commits murder is aware of their wrong doing and is forfeiting their right to life.

An extremely common case against capital punishment is that there will inevitably be errors within the justice system that result in innocent people being put to death. Jurors, prosecutors and witnesses can and do make mistakes, arguments against capital punishment essay. There are many cases of verdicts that have been appealed and the accused eventually released. If the death penalty has been implicated there is no chance of arguments against capital punishment essay the mistakes.

There is a significant body of evidence supporting the notion that mistakes such as these are likely. In America sinceone hundred and sixteen people on death row have been discovered as innocent and released Amnesty.

Many people consider the notion and the practice of retribution to be morally unsound. They take on the view that teaching that murder is wrong by murder is unethical. On the other hand, capital punishment supporters maintain that in order for justice to work, criminal individuals need to suffer in a way that is proportionate to their crime. Following this rule it makes sense that a murderer should be punished with death.

Many people who are unsure of their position on capital punishment do find that this idea corresponds with their inherent sense of justice. However, using this quote from the Old Testament actually demonstrates a misunderstanding of the text.

For example, convicts of rape are not chastised with rape and burglars do not have their possessions taken away from them. Other abolitionists argue that the death penalty is not, in fact, proportionate to the crime of murder.

They claim that this punishment delivers two punishments; both the execution and the wait leading up to it. They see this, therefore, as a mismatch. Many offenders spend a long time on death row before finally being put to death. In the U. the average is ten years. It is arguable that life in prison causes a much higher degree of suffering than a short prison sentence and then a pain free death. Another question when assessing the ethical appropriateness of the death sentence is whether it actually works as a crime deterrent.

In a survey was carried out to establish the connection between the death penalty and rates of murder. Irrespective of the moral and ethical position of capital punishment, it is arguable that to cause so much suffering to the individual is bordering on torture, and is wrong.

Some means of execution are clearly probable to cause suffering. Examples of this are execution by strangulation, lethal gas and electrocution, to name just a few. Other methods, such as firing squads and beheading have been banned because they were considered too brutal, arguments against capital punishment essay because the executioner had to be too closely involved. Many countries now opt for the lethal injection method of execution as it is thought to be less severe for both the offender and the executioner.

However, there are known flaws with this method, including the necessity for a medical professional to be involved in the actual killing; this is a contradiction to medical ethics. The Penry v, arguments against capital punishment essay. Lynaugh case provides a sound example of the issues surrounding this matter.

Inin the state of Texas, Pamela Carpenter was raped and stabbed to death in her home Chan. Before Carpenter died in hospital she was able to give the police a description of her attacker. The description led the police to Johnny Paul Penry. Penry confessed to the crime and he was charged with capital murder. However, the conviction was the most simple part of what was to be a very long and complicated case. Penry was assessed by a clinical psychologist who testified that Penry had an IQ of fifty-four and, although he was twenty-two at the time of the trial, arguments against capital punishment essay, he was reported to have the learning age of a six-year-old and the social maturity level of a nine or ten-year old.

What proceeded was a long trial in which there was a distinct lack of consensus among the Justices. Eventually the court ruled that it is not cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a mentally retarded person to death under the eighth amendment. This position could be argued as wrong as, by definition, every mentally retarded individual is handicapped in his mental arguments against capital punishment essay and, therefore, his culpability.

The death penalty for mentally retarded individuals is not banned by common law or by national consensus. However, it almost definitely violates the matter of proportionality; mentally retarded criminals do not possess the levels of culpability worthy of the death sentence.

Another example levels of culpability coming into question is when sentencing juveniles. A study investigated the eighth amendment of societal consensus and proportionality with reference to juvenile death penalties Crosby. A selection of individuals who had previously worked as jurors were asked to vote on whether to execute a defendant in an hypothetical case.

The majority of the participants chose to execute the defendant in all of the situations. A high rate of death sentences for the 15, 16, and year-old defendants may not be quite so startling; the finding that a majority of our sample of former jurors, specifically Supreme Court sustained the structure of the death penalty.

Sixteen years later the Court finally addressed this structure regarding juvenile offenders. Inin the Thomson v. Oklahoma case, a majority of the Court decided that giving the death penalty to a fifteen-year-old defendant constituted cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth amendment.

Nevertheless, just two years later in the Stanford v. Kentucky case, arguments against capital punishment essay, a ruling percentage of the Court ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional when sentencing a sixteen or seventeen-year-old defendant Crosby.

This seems an unethical decision. seventeen-year-olds are not yet even legally allowed to drink alcohol. Imposing the death sentence onto a defendant of such a young age could be argued to be barbaric.

Further to implementing capital punishment, the nation goes one step further and decides that it is appropriate to arguments against capital punishment essay the executions.

Robert Bryan Bedau speaks about his time defending individuals facing the death penalty. Bryan views the U. He claims that executions bring out the worst in people, and have done throughout history. Most people have seen movies featuring scenes of capital punishment; the on screen audience are shouting and throwing objects at the person about to be killed, arguments against capital punishment essay, and then at the moment of death arguments against capital punishment essay crowd erupts into excitement and cheering.

As Bryan rightly points out, these scenes are historically accurate. William Bailey investigated the validly of the argument for murder and capital punishment as being a deterrent Bailey.

In order to do this he examined the monthly homicidal rates alongside the amount of television exposure of executions from through to Bailey found no evidence that the amount of television exposure of executions had a significant effect of deterrent on the homicides during the period studied. He claims that as television has become the most depended on news medium then any deterrent to murder would be displaying the punishment via this means.

He concludes that the current numbers of executions or broadcasts of such neither dissuade nor encourage murder Bailey. Capital punishment provokes debate in the U. and all over the world. However, a government who would allow and promote the implementation of the death penalty cannot really arguments against capital punishment essay upholding either principle. The ethical arguments against capital punishment are vast, ranging from philosophies on the value of life to basic human rights.

Furthermore, the degree of disagreement within the Courts is a concern. The case of John Penry illustrates the point that a courtroom is made up of many people who will not always unanimously agree. If a decision cannot be made unanimously over an issue as fundamental as this one, then there should be no opportunity for someone to be sentenced to death despite it.

It is an embarrassment that America, one of the leading and most respected nations in the world, can still be using this out-dated tradition. Bailey, W. American Sociological Association. American Sociological Review, Vol. May Bedau, H, arguments against capital punishment essay.

OUP USA. Chan, P. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Northwestern University. Crosby, Catherine, Preston Britner, Kathleen Jodi and Sharon Porwtood. Law and Human Behavior, Vol.

Death Penalty Ethics

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The second argument against capital punishment is that it is unfair in its administration. Statistics show that the poor and minorities are more likely to receive the death penalty. Once again, this is a separate issue. It can’t be disputed sadly, the rich are more likely to get off with a  · Arguments against Capital Punishment Debate Arguments against the death penalty: Human life is too valuable for us to be killing simply for the sake of vengeance or deterrent - Everybody has a right to live, be it the victim OR the murderer. A violation of that right should not result in another violation. Two wrongs don't make a right Reiman opposes capital punishment for several reasons. Reiman rejects the retribution rationale because retribution dehumanizes the person doing the punishing. As an alternative, Reiman advocates for humane punishment that is equal in severity, and that does not reduce deterrence