American society has always wrestled with the concept and ethics of capital punishment. Despite the meticulous process involved when convicting someone, there are many questions and exceptions about who qualifies and the process in and of itself, as to be expected when dealing with something so profound and permanent. What if the accused is mentally ill? What if the perpetrator committed the crime when defending someone else? What if the convicted is innocent, but still put to death? While we more or less have an answer to these questions today, a mere decade ago, we did not. The process of finding these answers was a challenging one, being argued and discovered through court of law and trial and error. One such question was incredibly difficult …show more content…
He was victim to an abusive homelife. His stepfather would often shout and intimidate him. He also was seen physically hitting and ignoring Simmons, with his mother being too scared to act in his defense, leading Simmons to question if he had anyone who would advocate for him. This abuse is what many believe started his history of drug abuse/dependency and potential mental illness, as well as what caused him to commit numerous crimes throughout his life (Blanco). Simmons and his friends Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer planned to rob and murder their victim by breaking and entering, tying them up, and throwing them off a bridge. That victim would become Shirley Crook, a loving 46 year old mother, sister, and soon to be grandmother (Blanco). The three met up late at night on September 9, 1993, where Tessmer would leave the plan. However, Simmons and Benjamin would follow through, leaving Shirley Crook to drown and be found the next day by fishermen. The following day, Simmons was quickly arrested and was soon found guilty with overwhelming evidence, including a taped recreation and a confession from Simmons himself (Blanco). The jury recommended the death sentence and the court imposed. Simmons first moved for the courts to remove the both the conviction and sentence, believing he had ineffective counseling due to his troubled past and underdeveloped brain not being mentioned …show more content…
Director of Justice Reform and the MacArthur Foundation, as well as Christopher Simmons advocate Laurie Garduque reminiscences on the disregard for criminal juveniles during that time: “As concern about increasing juvenile crime peaked, we were alarmed at the wave of harsh juvenile justice reform sweeping the country that blurred lines between adults and juveniles… Existing research did not address the legal implications of adolescent developmental immaturity with respect to competency, culpability, and capacity for change” (“Roper v. Simmons Ten Years Later”). A similar sentiment was shared with Columbia Law School professor Elizabeth Scott, who recalled the conditions for criminal youth in the early 1990’s, asserting that “...attitudes about juvenile crime became more punitive, and it was clear that lawmakers weren’t focusing on developmental differences between teens and adults or how immaturity might contribute to juvenile offending” (“Roper v. Simmons Ten Years Later”). There are a myriad of scary commonalities between these anecdotes, such as the legal disregard for youths despite their underdeveloped brains. There are many factors that make adolescent minds susceptible to committing crimes. Juvenile brains are much more likely to submit to peer-pressure and to engage in rash decision making (“Juvenile Justice & the Adolescent Brain”). The Massachusetts General
Ronald Gene Simmons was born July 15, 1940 in Chicago IL. His parents were Loretta and William Simmons, Loretta later remarried again, this time to William D. Griffin, a civil engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. His father, William later died of a stroke. On September 15,1957 Ronald dropped out of school and join the Navy and was the first stationed at Naval Station Bremerton were he met his lovey l wife Rebecca they got married in New Mexico on July 9,1960 and later they had seven kids and after that he left the navy and joined the Air Force. After Ronald Gene Simmons retired from the military he was searched by the Department of Human Services because he sexualy abused his daughter Sheila and had a baby with her.
Investigators believe that his first victim was his wife, killed on December 22, 1987. He both beat and shot the woman who had born him seven children. His twenty-nine-year old son, Ronald Gene Simmons Jr., was visiting the family at the time. Ronald Jr. was bludgeoned and shot in a fashion similar his mother’s murder. Ronald Sr. then decided to take the life of his three-year-old granddaughter, as well.
Afterwards his life just jumped off the wagon, He took 9 nurses and raped and silt their throat and left other wounds on the nurses. Luckily one of the nurses got out and gave the police a description of Richard so they could arrest
Christopher Simmons, 17 at the time, was condemned to death in 1993 for murder. He exhausted all of his state and federal appeals up until 2002, meaning they were all rejected. In 2002, the Missouri Supreme Court granted Simmons a stay of execution while the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Atkins v. Virginia, a case that was held on the execution of the mentally disabled. “When the Supreme Court decided Atkins v. Virginia in 2002 (barring executions for the mentally disabled), Simmons filed a new petition. He argued that the Eighth Amendment rationale of Atkins should also bar the execution of juveniles” (Legal Dictionary, n.d.).
Over the past last two decades the support of the death penalty has been declining dramatically in America. In the op-ed article “Most Americans Support the death penalty” published in the Washington Post News on the 17th of April, reporter Mark Berman composes an overview on the feelings most Americans have towards the death penalty. This was accomplished through the division of various sizeable groups between gender, race, and political views. On this specific subject the reporter of this article, Mark Berman, demands that “there is still some risk that an innocent person will be put to death” (Berman, p. 1). Throughout Berman’s op-ed article he portrays his demand through two out of the three appeals, pathos, logos as well as the feedback
The United States remains in the minority of nations in the world that still uses death as penalty for certain crimes. Capital punishment is seen by many as barbaric and against American values, while others see it as a very important tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. One of the supporters of the Death penalty was a man named Walter Berns (a professor of American constitutional law and political philosophy.) He wrote clearly about his view on the death penalty in his Crime and Delinquency article, “Defending the Death Penalty.” He argued that the “Opposition to capital punishment is a modern phenomenon, a product of modern sentiment and modern thought” (p. 504) and with the help of historical references and logical reasoning throughout
The US court has always strived to practice moral standards, while imparting a fair punishment upon its victims, but when it comes to the death penalty, it’s difficult to know where to draw the line. The first execution in America happened in 1608 in Virginia. In 1612 laws such as the Divine Moral and Martial Laws, were created. These laws used the death penalty for even minor offenses. In the 1930’s executions reached the highest levels in American history at 167 per year.
Have you ever wonder a few decades ago how people lives were punished for being a part of a crime? Many of these individuals are rather influenced by the crimes or were affected by their devastated childhood. As you can see a writer name Truman Capote have demonstrated us how an investigation has reflected us on law, discipline, and the important factors of using capital punishment. Capital punishment is defined as the death penalty, in which you penalized people who has done wrong in the world or violated an act/law. If has been used today and in ancient times for various accusation or offenses.
In Paul Thompson’s article “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” the author talks about how that teenagers who committed crimes should not be treated as adults in the legal system. Thompson also talked about how statistically teenage brains are still developing throughout their teenage years. The author Paul Thompson is more credible because not only he provided heavy words and having an expansive vocabulary he also provided examples from facts and his own research as well. Specifically, in the article and on paragraph 6 the author uses examples from his research and resides it with the current topic and to his own opinions, in the paragraph he mixed both ethos and logos to try in luring readers. The technique that Thompson uses is very unique,
Why have Capital punishment be a controversial issue? Capital punishment has been a controversial issue in the American judicial system for many years. Electrocution, injection, hanging, and gassing are different forms the death penalty has been used. Many people argue that fighting violence with violence achieves a useful purpose in society. Additionally, people argue that a reasonable punishment for a person that has taken the life of another is “an eye for an eye.”
These three ethical issues that are rising in the juvenile justice system will be further examined. Should adolescents be held to the same level of accountability for their actions as adults? LaBelle
The texts exposes how death penalty work in the United States. According to some research, in America, around 120 of 3000 inmates on death row may not be guilty, while others wrongfully convicted inmates serve life in prison because their death sentences were reduced over technical legal errors. Also, it’s extremely difficult to determine the exact and real information about the innocent and guilty people put to death although a lot of effort and resources are given to death penalty cases. It is sad how many innocent people go to prison and die because they have been blamed on crimes they have not committed. This article made me remember a book I read a few years ago, “How to kill a mocking bird” by Harper Lee, sad but real.
Within the urban communities, negative perceptions are magnified. Adolescents are more prone to be a product of their environment, especially those whose parents are incarcerated. Because of this trend adolescents are being incarcerated at an alarming rate and sentenced to adult facilities. Lambie & Randall (2013) states, the United States have imposed harsher penalties on serious young offenders, and have consequently increased rates of incarcerated youth and made it easier for youth to be treated and incarcerated as adults within the justice
“Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.” (Spitzer, 2013).
The death penalty is a very controversial subject as far as Americans are concerned. This article examines how the death penalty is wrong. The main ideas expressed are the fact that the death penalty is permanent, how executions turn innocents into killers, the fact that it is ridiculously expensive, and the simple fact that it just doesn’t work. CUADP provides a strong argument on each of these topics. By using these topics in my debate, I can further argue my view of being against the death