The death penalty has raised a major question, abolish or keep condemning? The death penalty in America has been around since 1608, when Captain George Kendall was executed in Jamestown. He was executed since he was actually a spy for Spain. Since then states have gone back and forth between having it legal and abolishing it. As of April of 2016 thirty-one states have made capital punishment legal. (Death Penalty Information Center) In my opinion, the death penalty should not be abolished; but used only for the worst of crimes.
Since 1964 there have been one thousand four hundred and forty-two executions. The majority being in 1999 with ninety-eight executions that year. However, since then the number of executions has decreased. More so …show more content…
According to an article written by Philip Holloway, cases that seek the death penalty cost an average of three point five million dollars. Whereas, if the case did not seek the death penalty it would only cost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Then there are statistics showing death row consists of about forty percent of blacks. Which is almost three times the proportion of the general population. However, forty percent of black on death row is not bad considering there is an estimated forty-two percent of whites on death row as well. (Death Penalty Information Center) But do the cons out weigh the …show more content…
(Death Penalty Information Center) The U.S. mostly uses the death penalty in cases regarding murder, espionage, and treason. (Criminal Justice) The U.S. government has only executed three people themselves since 1976. These three being Timothy McVeigh, Juan Raul Garza, and Louis Jones. McVeigh murdered federal officers and had multiple counts of conspiracy of mass destruction. Garza was a part of a continuing criminal enterprise and killed three people internationally. Jones was sentenced for kidnapping in special maritime/ territorial jurisdiction. (Federal Bureau of Prisons)
The definition of retribution is the punishment inflicted on one as payback for a wrong or criminal act. Some see it as an eye for an eye. The punishment must fit the crime. If the person in question brutally murdered nine children and countless adults, do they deserve just life in prison or do they deserve the death penalty? For others, the death penalty is closure. Closure for loved one(s) they lost. The pain and lost they feel is indescribable.
Since 1964 there have been one thousand four hundred and forty-two executions. The majority being in 1999 with ninety-eight executions that year. However, since then the number of executions has decreased. More so …show more content…
According to an article written by Philip Holloway, cases that seek the death penalty cost an average of three point five million dollars. Whereas, if the case did not seek the death penalty it would only cost one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Then there are statistics showing death row consists of about forty percent of blacks. Which is almost three times the proportion of the general population. However, forty percent of black on death row is not bad considering there is an estimated forty-two percent of whites on death row as well. (Death Penalty Information Center) But do the cons out weigh the …show more content…
(Death Penalty Information Center) The U.S. mostly uses the death penalty in cases regarding murder, espionage, and treason. (Criminal Justice) The U.S. government has only executed three people themselves since 1976. These three being Timothy McVeigh, Juan Raul Garza, and Louis Jones. McVeigh murdered federal officers and had multiple counts of conspiracy of mass destruction. Garza was a part of a continuing criminal enterprise and killed three people internationally. Jones was sentenced for kidnapping in special maritime/ territorial jurisdiction. (Federal Bureau of Prisons)
The definition of retribution is the punishment inflicted on one as payback for a wrong or criminal act. Some see it as an eye for an eye. The punishment must fit the crime. If the person in question brutally murdered nine children and countless adults, do they deserve just life in prison or do they deserve the death penalty? For others, the death penalty is closure. Closure for loved one(s) they lost. The pain and lost they feel is indescribable.