The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia, from this ancient code we get the popular phrase “"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth." People have often used this phrase in order to justify their actions against a person who has wronged them or their loved ones. However, have you stopped to consider that an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind?
Today I will be discussing the death penalty and why I believe it is time to get rid of it in the United States. This topic is important because it really the image our country projects. Currently, 32 states have the death-penalty. The US is one of the only nine countries that regularly practice the death-penalty
This is a topic I have thought long …show more content…
Each prosecutor decides whether or not to seek the death penalty. Local politics, the location of the crime, plea bargaining, and pure chance affect the process and make it a lottery of who lives and who dies.Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 82% of all executions have taken place in the South. The Northeast accounts for less than 1% of executions.
In my research I came across a quote by Senator Russ Feingold addressing the 109th Congress, We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment."I share this sentiment, and I believe that America has a moral duty to do away with this deeply flawed practice. This brings me to my second point, we should get rid of the death penalty because we can not eliminate the risk of executing an innocent …show more content…
However, False informant testimony is the top cause of wrongful convictions in capital cases according to the National Registry of Exonerations. In Texas Anthony Graves was convicted in 1994 of assisting Robert Carter in multiple murders in 1992. There was,s no physical evidence linking Graves to the crimes, and his conviction relied on Carter's testimony that Graves was his accomplice, a claim Carter later recanted. In 2006 it was found that prosecutors elicited false statements and withheld testimony that could have influenced the jurors. A special prosecutor hired to re-examine the case found him to be innocent. The death penalty puts innocents lives at risk and should be
Today I will be discussing the death penalty and why I believe it is time to get rid of it in the United States. This topic is important because it really the image our country projects. Currently, 32 states have the death-penalty. The US is one of the only nine countries that regularly practice the death-penalty
This is a topic I have thought long …show more content…
Each prosecutor decides whether or not to seek the death penalty. Local politics, the location of the crime, plea bargaining, and pure chance affect the process and make it a lottery of who lives and who dies.Since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, 82% of all executions have taken place in the South. The Northeast accounts for less than 1% of executions.
In my research I came across a quote by Senator Russ Feingold addressing the 109th Congress, We simply cannot say we live in a country that offers equal justice to all Americans when racial disparities plague the system by which our society imposes the ultimate punishment."I share this sentiment, and I believe that America has a moral duty to do away with this deeply flawed practice. This brings me to my second point, we should get rid of the death penalty because we can not eliminate the risk of executing an innocent …show more content…
However, False informant testimony is the top cause of wrongful convictions in capital cases according to the National Registry of Exonerations. In Texas Anthony Graves was convicted in 1994 of assisting Robert Carter in multiple murders in 1992. There was,s no physical evidence linking Graves to the crimes, and his conviction relied on Carter's testimony that Graves was his accomplice, a claim Carter later recanted. In 2006 it was found that prosecutors elicited false statements and withheld testimony that could have influenced the jurors. A special prosecutor hired to re-examine the case found him to be innocent. The death penalty puts innocents lives at risk and should be