When people hear the word punishment, it is an instant reaction to think that something wrong has occurred. Punishment has always been a way that societies and governments found to discourage and alarm the population from committing unlawful actions. By law, capital punishment is the legal killing of a person for committing a crime. Consequently, capital punishment was created to reduce a number of committed murders. Every year, several people are sentenced to life. In most cases, the society forgets who these people were.
On December 24, 2012, Harlem Lewis faced an accusation for fatally shooting a Bellaire police Corporal Jimmie Norman and Terry Taylor, an owner of a local store who came to Norman’s assistance. Lewis’ family members, stated that what happened was both a shocking and unforgettable moment for them. Some relatives said that the family life changed forever. Niesha Williams, the defendant’s aunt, a woman who helped to raise Harlem, in tears said, “When he was in school, he made straight A’s. My sister had no problem with him. Always in school, she had not problems. He graduated top 10 of his class, very smart.” Lewis got accepted at the University of Houston Downtown. According to the family’s members, Lewis’ desire was to become a mechanical engineer in order to financially support his family. Even though there were strong evidence, such camera footages, and others, the family could not digest the fact that their son was being accused of double murder. His grandmother testified that during his childhood, he had developmental challenges, and she believed that he carried it through his adult life. The grandmother sadly said, “He was the caregiver, the caretaker, but he had problems verbalizing and socializing.” Dr. Matthew Mendel, a forensic Psychologist, testified that Lewis’s IQ test results were 71 and 76, which led Dr. Mendel to the conclusion that 95 percent of people in any given room with Lewis are smarter than him. Harlem Lewis’ action had left two families in a state of an indescribable sorrow. One of the victims was Jimmie Norman. Norman was a father of two adult daughters, one of which works at the Bellaire Police Department, and a husband. Norman was 24-year law enforcement veteran. FBI recognized him in 2009 for his role in …show more content…
However, in a civic view, it does not rely on anybody the right to take other people’s lives. Several countries and states throughout the United Sates, which have abolished capital punishment, noticed a subsequent decrease on what is called murder. In other words, the intention of capital punishment is to lower the murder rates, however, what it truly does is increasing it, leading capital punishment laws to a failure law enforcement. For example, in 1976, before capital punishment was abolished, three homicides were committed per 100,000 people in Canada. After the death penalty was abolished, 1.85 murders per 100,000 people in 2003. To keep one prisoner on the death row costs $90,000 for the United States taxpayers. Cases without capital punishment involved cost up to $740,000, while $1.26 million is spent in cases where the death penalty is present. It not only for a moral cause, but also for the costs it takes to go through the death penalty process. It is understandable that governments find this sort of punishments a way to maintain the safety of their population, it has not been as effective as it should
On December 24, 2012, Harlem Lewis faced an accusation for fatally shooting a Bellaire police Corporal Jimmie Norman and Terry Taylor, an owner of a local store who came to Norman’s assistance. Lewis’ family members, stated that what happened was both a shocking and unforgettable moment for them. Some relatives said that the family life changed forever. Niesha Williams, the defendant’s aunt, a woman who helped to raise Harlem, in tears said, “When he was in school, he made straight A’s. My sister had no problem with him. Always in school, she had not problems. He graduated top 10 of his class, very smart.” Lewis got accepted at the University of Houston Downtown. According to the family’s members, Lewis’ desire was to become a mechanical engineer in order to financially support his family. Even though there were strong evidence, such camera footages, and others, the family could not digest the fact that their son was being accused of double murder. His grandmother testified that during his childhood, he had developmental challenges, and she believed that he carried it through his adult life. The grandmother sadly said, “He was the caregiver, the caretaker, but he had problems verbalizing and socializing.” Dr. Matthew Mendel, a forensic Psychologist, testified that Lewis’s IQ test results were 71 and 76, which led Dr. Mendel to the conclusion that 95 percent of people in any given room with Lewis are smarter than him. Harlem Lewis’ action had left two families in a state of an indescribable sorrow. One of the victims was Jimmie Norman. Norman was a father of two adult daughters, one of which works at the Bellaire Police Department, and a husband. Norman was 24-year law enforcement veteran. FBI recognized him in 2009 for his role in …show more content…
However, in a civic view, it does not rely on anybody the right to take other people’s lives. Several countries and states throughout the United Sates, which have abolished capital punishment, noticed a subsequent decrease on what is called murder. In other words, the intention of capital punishment is to lower the murder rates, however, what it truly does is increasing it, leading capital punishment laws to a failure law enforcement. For example, in 1976, before capital punishment was abolished, three homicides were committed per 100,000 people in Canada. After the death penalty was abolished, 1.85 murders per 100,000 people in 2003. To keep one prisoner on the death row costs $90,000 for the United States taxpayers. Cases without capital punishment involved cost up to $740,000, while $1.26 million is spent in cases where the death penalty is present. It not only for a moral cause, but also for the costs it takes to go through the death penalty process. It is understandable that governments find this sort of punishments a way to maintain the safety of their population, it has not been as effective as it should