I Want Constantine’s Murderer to Die
Olga Polites
Newsweek
In the article “I Want Constantine’s Murderer to Die”, Olga Polites received a call from her sister-in-law informing Olga that her husbands 22-year-old cousin had been murdered, which, in turn, made her question her formerly unwavering stance on capital punishment.
Summary
The lives of Olga Polites, and her family, were rattled to their very foundation when a beloved family member was savagely murdered. Prior to this tragedy, Olga had stood, adamantly, on the side against capital punishment. Throughout the course of her article, she explains how her stance has been shaken. Such a heinous act, occurring to her so personally, had changed her views. She states that, instead of viewing the shooter as a person, she was “indifferent… to his personal plight.
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Colson
Capital Punishment: A Personal Statement Charles W. Colson was imprisoned for his role in the Watergate scandal and uses his faith to justify capital punishment in the most extreme cases, such that is proportional to the crime committed.
Summary
Charles W. Colson makes many fine points about the support of the use of capital punishment. He quotes many bible passages including (Acts 25:11) when he states “If… I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die,” (Paul). Essentially, Colson believes that one must accept the proper punishment for their wrongdoings, even if that is death, and that “by not punishing moral evil the authorities are not performing their God-appointed responsibility in society,”(Colson). He also calls attention to “...the fundamental truth of biblical anthropology: the soul that sins must die; sin incurs a debt that must be paid.” Colson has also argued the sacredness of human life. He argues that the sacredness of a human life applies to those who are still rooted in ethics, and that the death sentence is distinguishing between the criminal and the punitive
Capital punishment has long been a heavily debated issue. In his article, “The Rescue Defence of Capital Punishment,” author Steve Aspenson make a moral argument in favor of capital punishment on the grounds that that is the only way to bring about justice and “rescue” murder victims. Aspenson argues as follows: 1. We have a general, prima facie duty to rescue victims from increasing harm. 2.
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
The first reason Colson should not have participated in smuggling dye into the prison is that his actions effected his peers. Everyone around him was affected. His Christian friends were dismayed to hear that Colson had made the deliberate delinquent decision to smuggle the dye. And politicians and people who were not believers were thrilled to find more fault in Colson and be able to accuse him for
Truman Capote’s nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood, effectively explores the effects of the Clutter family’s unexpected murder on the small community of Holcomb, Kansas. This unexpected murder had lasting and detrimental effects on the people of the town. Having been in Kansas during the time the trials and court cases had been executed, Capote observed that the murder had destroyed the community’s sense of trust, shattered their image of the American Dream, and prompted them to reevaluate their stance on the death penalty. The sudden murder of the Clutter family played a huge role in shaking the foundation of trust that had been built up throughout the years in the small town of Holcomb.
Márquez’s novella ‘Chronicle of a Death Foretold’ tells the story of Santiago Nasar’s murder. It is based on the real-life incident that occurred in the 1950s in a small Colombian town, Sucre. Cayetano Gentile was murdered by the brothers of Margarita Chica for having allegedly stolen her virginity. This was revealed when she was returned to her family after her newlywed husband had discovered that she wasn’t a Virgin. In his novella, Márquez displays the influence of the social mores and shows how these supersede the law of the statute books and the authority of Catholicism, which was otherwise so important and therefore how these social mores affect the characters and their actions.
Because of the arguments hinted at by Truman Capote in In Cold Blood, there will always be debate on whether capital punishment should be used for certain crimes. One can never be sure if a punishment, whether as mild as jail time or as severe as the death penalty, is justified for the crime
In In Cold Blood, the issue over the death penalty is prominent. Did Perry and Dick deserve to die? Should the severity of one’s crime determine one’s fate? Although Truman Capote writes the novel in a straightforward, “from a distance” way, he conveys, through his characters, theme, and plot development, that the death penalty is an issue that should be looked at from all sides and that the legal system itself is the real issue at hand, and that the death penalty is used as a means to suppress the distress and indignation of the citizens surrounding the case, instead of suppressing the victim himself.
All I managed to do was kill (III. IV).” Raskolnikov cannot suppress the force of guilt weighing upon his conscience, and ultimately confesses his complicity in the crime to the police. Seeking to operate outside the confines of his conscience and societal law, Raskolnikov is driven to madness by the impossibility of his quest—cruelty simply cannot be countenanced so long as it remains in opposition to social
Death penalty or capital punishment is a legal procedure carried out by the government of a state which sentences a convicted person to death. Capital punishment has been a matter of controversy in various countries for decades now. In this essay, Coretta Scott King talks about why she is against the death penalty. The main purpose of this critique is to focus on King’s arguments and evaluate their authenticity and credibility.
Andre Dubus, short stories contain a common theme of revenge, morality, and justice. In “Killings” published in 1979, Andre displays the theme of revenge and justice through the development of characters, the title of the story, and the thrill of the suspense. Dubus neglects to take sides with the characters in the “Killings”, which leaves it upon the readers to make assumption whether the killings were justifiable. Dubus has a very unique style of writing, the main characters in “Killings” were given a choice that could’ve led them to a completely different outcome. Dubus keeps the readers on their toes because the opposite usually ends up happening.
Ronald Carlson wanted nothing more but justice for his sister who had been murdered. Ronald talks about how he would have killed the man with his own hands if he would have gotten the chance but his mind quickly changed after he seen his sister's murder being executed, he has a new view on the situation now. He talks about how watching the execution left him full of horror and emptiness. Ronald asks a question that should be addressed he said, “Our justice system should not be dictated by vengeance.” He asked, “As a society, shouldn’t we be more civilized than the murderers we condemn?”
In the village of Holcomb, Kansas a wealthy family, the Clutters, was murdered on November 14, 1959. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted of these murders and received the death penalty. In Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood, the audience receives different viewpoints on why Dick and Perry either deserved the death penalty or not. Though the decision to sentence someone to death should be based on the truth, the truth is not always easy to define; Capote shows this through his depiction of the controversial executions of Dick Hickock and Perry Smith. Criminal punishment is an immensely ongoing controversial and societal issue in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.
Vengeance has been an ongoing problem for many centuries. In the long run, with the new generation, they have been following the same pattern to get revenge, without knowing the reasons why. If no one is willing to stop and think it over, to evaluate if it’s worth the risk, then the act of vengeance will be ongoing at the cost of many lives. Many people do not realize that having to avenge the death of a loved one will take so much time and patience in their lives. In the short story, “An Act of Vengeance,” by Isabel Allende, the issue involves a young girl who gets raped by Tadeo Cespedes, whom also killed her father on the same day.
Death Penalty is a very ominous punishment to discuss. It is probably the most controversial and feared form of punishment in the United States. Many are unaware, but 31 of the 52 states have the Death penalty passes as an acceptable punishment. In the following essay, I will agree and support Stephen Nathanson's statement that "Equality retributivism cannot justify the death penalty. " In the reading, "An Eye for an Eye?", Nathanson gives objections to why equality retributivism is morally acceptable for the death penalty to be legal.
Published in 1981, Chronicle of a Death Foretold is one of the most famous works created by prominent Columbian novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez. This novella depicts the murder of Santiago Nasar, an honor killing as a revenge for Nasar’s deprival of Angela Vicario’s virginity. As opposed to the novella’s traditional society, the murder of Santiago would implicate more severe consequences for the murderers and the community in today’s society because of the changed attitude towards female sexuality and family honor or would not be possible at all due to the improved level of crime prevention. Conservative Social Values in Chronicle of a Death Foretold