Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Lester Bower's Death Penalty

Obviously, the death penalty always ends in the loss of life, but these lives are sometimes innocent and sometimes have the potential for rehabilitation. The jury system rarely convicts people wrongly, so it is said. But, it happens often that criminals claim innocence; how many are telling the truth? The number of discovered false executions does not necessarily mean those are the only ones. Supporters may argue it is worth it, but isn't the loss of innocent life what we are all against?

The topic of capital punishment presents a test of values. The arguments in support of and opposition to the death penalty are complex. In the end, this is a question of an individual’s values and morals. The topic requires careful thought to reach a reasoned position. Both sides of the argument are defensible.

Being on death row often prolongs the pain for the inmate. They spend their time in prison fearing the inevitable which for them is death. Today, we live in a society that is very divided on this issue. There are many in support of the death penalty, suggesting that it acts as a positive deterrent against future crime. There are also many

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

“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

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,

Davidson (2015), states crimes committed do not always receive the same punishment (p. 1). He states, the death penalty is a state’s way of enforcing power over society and administering the most harsh punishment available (p. 1). The author states, wrongful convictions and executions of innocent people is an example of a justice system that does not work for the good of society (p. 13). He explains the justice system is structured on the ideas of racism and therefore not equal equality to all people (p. 1). He offers a solution to the problem of wrongful convictions and obtaining what he feels is a 100% guarantee that the right person will be punished for the crimes committed.

There are numerous ways to punish people who are a threat to society without executing them. No matter which way the death penalty is carried out, be it lethal injection, lethal gas, electrocution, hanging, or firing squad, the executioner is always implicated. Bryan Stevenson, a social justice activist, questions, “If it’s not right to torture someone for torture, abuse someone for abuse, rape someone for rape, then how can we think we can kill someone for killing?” (“Delaney” 1). Although executioners are permitted to kill, they are still killing another human being.

" When capital punishment claims another life,

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