Ever since the outset of the American Constitution, capital punishment has existed as a crime sentence in the United States. However, in recent decades, this topic has become highly controversial, as many states have dictated against the death penalty. Although states with this position on capital punishment are increasing, some states, such as Texas, have continued to edict this practice in their provinces. In the State of Texas, the sentence to death upon a person should not be permitted due to the fact it can wrongly convict a person, its court trial is highly expensive, and it brings forth an unjust treatment.
The death penalty is a controversial issue that has been debated in the United States for a long period of time. In our own state of Texas, executing convicted criminals has become second nature. This is due to the fact that Texas has executed more people than any other state in the United States since 1976. So why does Texas lead the United States in executions? There are many reasons and factors that has led to this point. It is important to know the reasons to have a better understanding of capital punishment in Texas. Three of the reasons include a weak public defender system, desires of district attorneys and judges, and the governors limited power to grant clemency.
Some see the death penalty as the only means to extract justice for victims. Others see it as a morally reprehensible act where a second wrong is committed in order to make something right. With recent issues surrounding the death penalty in which execution hasn 't gone as planned sparking a nationwide debate, this is my outlook on why I 'm for the death penalty not only being abolished in the state of Texas but in addition to the entirety of the US..
The death penalty should continue to be legal because it is inexpensive. The death penalty makes for a good way for people to get the justice they deserve. In Texas the death penalty being legal makes sure that the people that commit heinous crimes pay. Texas does not suffer from political doubt, and certain cases are a no other answer that the death penalty. It cost the Texas Department of Criminal Justice $83 to execute a prisoner by lethal injection alone. The Attorney General alone donates 15% of his budget, to death penalty cases. Maintaining each death row prisoner costs taxpayers $90,000 per year. It cost more than $31,000 to keep someone in prison for a year. The most recent report is that only fifteen states have gotten rid of it all together. These states being Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
The death penalty is a precedent set centuries ago as a method of punishment for severe crimes. In 1923, the state of Texas declared that those sentenced to death were to suffer through the electric chair by the hands of the state, instead of being hanged by the hands of the counties (TX Executions). Later on, Texas would adopt the lethal injection method. Many see the death penalty as an inhumane violation of the basic rights defined in the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, others may argue that it is unpractical to abolish the death penalty due to the voidance of justice. These arguments can be supported and solidified by the cases of Andre Thomas and Anthony Graves.
Rough Draft Is the death penalty an effective and justified punishment? This is a topic many Americans have discussed for a long time, and has caused much controversy. Both sides have their pros and cons, and they will be discussed. The first point that many people have about capital punishment is that it’s unconstitutional.
In the efforts of convincing state legislatures to abolish the death penalty, the Anti-Death Penalty Movement focused “ on the problem of wrongful convictions” (McLaughlin 690). These arguments along with the many other issues exposed by the Anti-Death Penalty Movement, have succeeded in applying pressure to state legislatures on the topic of abolishing the death penalty. Another major factor that has contributed to the decline of the death penalty is the public 's moral view on the cruelty of the executions. As one of the most popular and widely accepted methods for carrying out the death penalty, death by lethal injection is considered the safest and most human method of execution. However, similar to many other methods of execution, miscalculations and unforeseen errors during the process of lethal injection can lead to an unintentionally prolonged and painful demise for those subjected to it 's wrath.
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, and the debate about its abolition is the largest point of the essay written by Steve Earle, titled "A Death in Texas”. This form of punishment should be abolished for 3 reasons; First, It does not seem to have a direct effect on deterring murder rates, It has negative effects on society, and is inconsistent with American ideals. To begin, the death penalty is unnecessary since it is ineffective at deterring rates of murder. In fact, 88% of the country's top criminologists do not believe the death penalty acts as a deterrent to homicide, according to the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. In opposition, supporters may argue that it may indeed help to deter murder rates as they have
Research Paper: Capital Punishment Capital punishment is one of the most controversial and talked-about topics in the United States today. It is an issue that is not explicitly mentioned in our constitution, so states have been left to interpret the law. As of April 2017, 32 states in the US legally allow the death penalty. Of the 18 states that have banned it, the most recent was Maryland in 2013. The topic is so controversial that the Supreme Court has gotten involved many times, deciding on more cases that have to do with capital punishment than most other subjects.
Backlogged Courts. And Three More Reasons the Modern Death Penalty Is a Failed Experiment. (Cover Story). " Time, vol. 185, no. 21, 08 June 2015, p. 26.
RUNNING HEAD: Executions pg. 1 Inmate Executions COR 120_191 Mia Lombardi Tiffin University RUNNING HEAD: Executions pg. 2 The question of the constitutionality of the sentencing of an inmate on Death Row in Texas is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court and found in favor of defendant Duane Buck.
There were almost whole the chiefs take stock of ranked the death penalty last among their priorities for crime fighting, that they did not accept based on murder rates that it deterred against homicides. Most rated it as the least efficient use of limited taxpayer dollars. In the article by Delcour, she states “New York abolished its death penalty in 2007. In the many years the law was on books, no death sentences were upheld by its court nor was any offender executed.” She states on that other hand, “New Mexico get rid of its death penalty in 2009.”
It seems as though the state of California has been on a continuum with the death penalty. Historically, executions were carried out by firing squads, hangings, gas chambers and lethal injection. In 1972, the Supreme Court of California ruled in People v. Anderson that the current death penalty laws were unconstitutional and called for a suspension of capital punishment. Then was reinstated in 1978 with executions carried out in the gas chambers at San Quentin State Prison. With the introduction of the standard lethal injection in 1993, it has been modified to support the new chamber specifically for lethal injection. As of 2014, the state of California has barred capital punishment, having been declared unconstitutional by U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney. He stated that the decades-long delays caused by California failure to provide lawyers for nearly 350 of its death-row prisoners made its death penalty system unconstitutionally cruel and unusual and the random few whom California eventually executes to date, just 13 out of more than 900 individuals sentenced to death will have languished for so long on death row that their execution will serve no retributive or deterrent purpose and will be arbitrary (“Ninth Circuit,” 2015). However, California’s death penalty is back on the clock moving slowly toward resuming executions. In the works, is the revision of lethal injection protocol from the three-drug cocktail that some have argued as flawed and inhumane to a new single drug procedure,
“‘Death sentences represent less than one-tenth of 1% of prison sentences in the United States…,’” (Von Drehle, 9). Furthermore, death row is just a small fraction of the criminal justice system and can not be based on that alone. For instance, what many don't take into account is the justice systems allows for many states, such as the populous state of New York, to ban the death penalty. (state laws, p1)
In conclusion the idea that the death penalty should be abolished can be supported by many reasons that include extensive evidence. With the death penalty still established we are putting innocent people's lives at risk, spending millions, and continue with racial segregation. The idea that someone's opinion in court can decide the fate of another person is