Innocent until proven guilty; this is America's renowned criminal justice principle. It states that a suspect is to be considered innocent until proven guilty with solid evidence; however, this was not the case in Lester Bower's death row sentence. After enduring thirty arduous years on death row upon reasonable doubt and being executed on June 3, 2015, Bower's innocence was confirmed (Executed But Possibly Innocent). Not only does this wrongful conviction contradict what America stands for, but a life that could have been justifiably spared has unpardonably perished. The world wide debate over capital punishment has been a heated topic over the years and is not going to appease any time soon. Capital punishment is not only immoral, but contradicting …show more content…
Whether a criminal is guilty of committing murder or any other capital offense, they should all be given the same sentence - life in prison. How is it fair to allow them to voluntarily choose the death penalty over prison? Criminals willingly sought to break the law and should endure the lifelong debt they owe not only to society but to the family of the innocent victims whose lives have been taken. As asserted by Robert Johnson, a professor of justice and law, and Sandra Smith, a professor of legal studies, death by incarceration is a more effective and suitable form of punishment than the death penalty (Cromie and Zott 174). Although some might argue that it is unfair to keep a criminal alive, they fail to understand that the freedom they once had is permanently lost. When forced to live in a contained area for the rest of your life, there is nothing you can do but ponder about what mistake led you there; if nothing can bring back the life of an innocent human being, at least the person responsible is rightfully sentenced as opposed to ending his life quickly and easily. After enduring life in prison, some inmates are miserable and opt to choose the death penalty as a last resort to end their suffering. In Joseph Parson's case, he was desperate to escape his life as a prisoner that he volunteered to endure capital punishment instead. He bluntly stated, "dying is easy... it takes guts to keep plodding on"(qtd. in Cromie and Zott 176). What a privilege to be given the opportunity to choose how your life will end after committing a capital offense; the man Parsons stabbed to death did not have that
Joshua Marquis is neither a scholar, a jurist, or a crusader for the wrongly accused. Instead he has spent most of his time as a prosecutor. His essay is written from a personal point of view where he supports the death penalty; however, his essay is unlike the average supporter. Joshua Marquis believes capital punishment should be decided based on the following: each case on its own, within its own context, using the specific facts of the case, considering the community where the crime occurred and the background of the defendants. With that being said, Marquis believes that for certain cases the death penalty is appropriate.
Some criminals deserve to die because they should not have the privilege to live 30 years after, from being sentenced to death for committing first degree murder. For example, there has been a case, in 1984, where Kermit Alexander’s family was murdered. As a matter of fact, the criminals have not been executed since they have received the death sentence.
Edward Koch make it clear that he believes that capital punishment can prevent homicides: “Had the death penalty been a real possibility in the minds of these murderers, they might well have stayed their hands” (484). Koch tries to convince his reader that a strict punishment like the death penalty will definitely force people to think twice before they murder another human being. Koch uses evidence like the murder rate and cases where criminals committed multiple murders to support his defense for capital punishment, and uses the statistics to show how necessary capital punishment is necessary in the United States (485-86). This essay is directed at U.S. citizens how can be persuaded to support or have not yet formed an opinion on capital punishment, so the death penalty can gain supporters and be fully incorporated into the law. He also states that by making murderers pay with their lives, capital punishment makes the value of human life at a higher level (487).
David Oshinksy’s most recent book, Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America, focuses on the extremely controversial yet important issue of capital punishment in the United States. Oshinsky’s text covers the debated topic in a scholarly yet concise way. With the text being a mere 125 pages, he covers the prolonged, contentious history of the death penalty. At the beginning of the book, Oshinsky describes what occurred in the early hours of August 11, 1967. William Micke was suddenly murdered in the hallway of his house by William Henry Furman, a disabled, illiterate 24 year old who had a troubled past with law enforcement.
He went through the same fair trial that every other individual goes through, and based on that, the death penalty is not
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.
Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb stand guilty of the motiveless and random murder of fourteen year-old Bobby Franks in August of 1924. Intellectual and wealthy, the criminals stand to gain nothing from the senseless slaughter, yet commit the act nonetheless. Neither boy denies the killing, as their defense attorney Clarence Darrow pleads guilty on their behalf. Yet despite guilt, the trial continues, as Darrow fights the proposal of capital punishment for the two boys. Throughout his entire career, not one of Darrow’s clients ever receives the death penalty (Safire 370).
An Ethical Critique of the Texas Death Row Appeals Process Rachel St. Pe’ CJ412-Criminal Justice Ethics Texas A&M University-Central Texas Abstract Although the methods of execution in Texas have evolved throughout time to more humane techniques, an increase in the cost of living of prisoners and the time between conviction and execution has resulted. By shortening the appeals the process, the overall funding and labor to house death row inmates will be decreased and a the possibility of an 8th Amendment violation by keeping prisoners on death row for years and years will be diminished. Introduction
“The penalty of death differs from all other forms of criminal punishment, not in degree but in kind. It is unique in its rejection of rehabilitation of the convict as a basic purpose of criminal justice. And it is unique, finally, in its absolute renunciation of all that is embodied in our concept of humanity.” (Potter
We have all heard of the saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Patrick Hannon was ordered to be executed on November 8th by a lethal injection after Governor Scott signed his death warrant for a murder scene in 1991. On Patrick’s day of execution, I attended his vigil at the Florida State Prison in Starke with the Gainesville Citizens for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. At the Vigil, I met two of Patrick’s Pen Pals and heard great things about him. From that moment, I realized that our past does not define who we are.
Eliot Spitzer once said, “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.” Many people in America are in favor of capital punishment because some crimes violate the moral codes of our society.
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.
Some see the death penalty as the correct punishment for severe crimes such as dealing drugs or murder, but others believe that the death penalty would let these criminals off to easy as they wouldn't have to live the rest of their sentence, or even life, in prison. Listener relevance: this punishment is currently being considered in the united states, included in the White House Opioid Crisis Plan. One of the reasons people want to keep the death penalty is that it’s “the ultimate warning”.
Also, if society does not sentence an offender to death, they are an accomplice to that crime (Avaliani, 2004). Criminals that kill should suffer the same fate as their victims. The punishment should,
Fellow people of this great nation, I encourage each of you to listen to me, and to do so carefully. Today I stand before you to let you know, that Capital Punishment, MUST, be Abolished! Over the course of time, there has been numerous evidence that have been brought to the forefront, and these evidence have suggested, that the death penalty has lost its power, in the deterrence of making mankind losing their willingness in the committing of heinous crimes. These very crimes are the ones that has been spoken against, with the assurance of what punishment is to be expected. Nonetheless, it is a barbaric and callous form of punishment, which at times have been unleashed upon the innocent, whereby, giving them a sentence of death, with it later