The controversial topic of the death penalty has been present in the United States for many years and with each year more moral evidence emerges to support these varying opinions. People have different views and with each view, the truth becomes harder to find. In the search for the facts, a few particular points from various articles stand out. Although some of the arguments for the death penalty are valid, the ones against are much stronger. Through several experienced and knowledgeable authors the arguments of maldistribution, arbitrariness of capital punishment, and inhumane violence provide strong evidence against the death penalty to prove the need for disbanding it.
The death penalty was first introduced to America in the early 1600s …show more content…
Many people do not really understand what goes on throughout the stages of death row and it is often not publicized. In the words of Helen Prejean she believes and many would agree “ that if executions were made public, the torture and violence would be unmasked, and we would be shamed into abolishing executions”(627). It should not be necessary to prove to people the cruelness of the death penalty in order for it to be abolished, but it might just be the only way. One justification for the death penalty still being practiced today is “Perhaps we want retribution on the flesh and bone of a handful of convicted murderers so badly that were willing to close our eyes to all of the demoralization and danger that come with it.”(Bruck 584). People will numb themselves to the cruelness of capital punishment just to get the satisfaction of the death of a criminal. We need to change the world we live in and change the way we treat others. Koch so appropriately points out that, “The death of anyone--even a convicted killer--diminishes us all… It is an illusion to let ourselves believe that doing away with capital punishment removes the murderer’s deed from our conscience”(579). Just because the criminal is gone does not mean everything he did is no longer a problem. Just because the criminal is dead does not mean the crime went
The death penalty was first introduced to America in the early 1600s …show more content…
Many people do not really understand what goes on throughout the stages of death row and it is often not publicized. In the words of Helen Prejean she believes and many would agree “ that if executions were made public, the torture and violence would be unmasked, and we would be shamed into abolishing executions”(627). It should not be necessary to prove to people the cruelness of the death penalty in order for it to be abolished, but it might just be the only way. One justification for the death penalty still being practiced today is “Perhaps we want retribution on the flesh and bone of a handful of convicted murderers so badly that were willing to close our eyes to all of the demoralization and danger that come with it.”(Bruck 584). People will numb themselves to the cruelness of capital punishment just to get the satisfaction of the death of a criminal. We need to change the world we live in and change the way we treat others. Koch so appropriately points out that, “The death of anyone--even a convicted killer--diminishes us all… It is an illusion to let ourselves believe that doing away with capital punishment removes the murderer’s deed from our conscience”(579). Just because the criminal is gone does not mean everything he did is no longer a problem. Just because the criminal is dead does not mean the crime went