Griffin Thomason
Dr. Carpenter
ENG 101Z
10/17/2014
The “Eighth” Debate
Capital punishment or otherwise known as the death penalty is the legal execution of criminals based on crime and judicial rulings. The judicial decree of this punishment is death, while execution is the actual enforcement. Offenses and crimes that can result in capital punishment are known as capital crimes or offenses. The death penalty has been instituted in the United States for over four-hundred years. The first recorded execution (America) was Captain George Kendall, a spy for Spain, in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Leading into the nineteenth century many states reduced capital punishment due to the construction of penitentiaries. Some states quickly abolished …show more content…
The death penalty is the ultimate warning against criminals. Violent people will be less likely to enact aggression on others if there is a possibility of being sent to death over murder. It provides closure for victims and their families. Even if the murderer is not executed, the family still finds closure that the criminal is unable to harm anyone else. The execution is not always cruel. With the modern execution being a lethal injection, the victim merely goes unconscious until the brain and heart stop working. Without capital punishment it could be argued that the justice system makes no attempt to respond to murder, and does not provides justice for the victim and his/her family. If an adolescent grows up without being taught from what is real and what is fiction; he/she could murder someone and be sent to death without learning that that crime is unjust. Rehabilitation cannot work with death. Capital punishment does not dissuade from murder. Even with a system for stopping murder, people still continue to kill. The penalty does not seem to be very effective in this day and time. The concept itself is hypocritical. Why battle murder with more murder? It seems unjust to punish a person for murder by murdering them. (Listverse …show more content…
Both sides of the argument have been fighting to prove what the best decision for our country is; to abolish or continue the practice of capital punishment. There have been numerous great points stated through the years such as the religious morality of executions to the positive effects on families and judicial justice. Not to forget the effects the penalty has on the inmates’ lives and mentality. Although the United States justice system is flawed when it comes to the punishment of the incompetent and mentally ill, it still provides an effective means of dealing with homicidal and violent individuals. Who knows what will become of capital punishment in twenty years, but right now it’s here to
Dr. Carpenter
ENG 101Z
10/17/2014
The “Eighth” Debate
Capital punishment or otherwise known as the death penalty is the legal execution of criminals based on crime and judicial rulings. The judicial decree of this punishment is death, while execution is the actual enforcement. Offenses and crimes that can result in capital punishment are known as capital crimes or offenses. The death penalty has been instituted in the United States for over four-hundred years. The first recorded execution (America) was Captain George Kendall, a spy for Spain, in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Leading into the nineteenth century many states reduced capital punishment due to the construction of penitentiaries. Some states quickly abolished …show more content…
The death penalty is the ultimate warning against criminals. Violent people will be less likely to enact aggression on others if there is a possibility of being sent to death over murder. It provides closure for victims and their families. Even if the murderer is not executed, the family still finds closure that the criminal is unable to harm anyone else. The execution is not always cruel. With the modern execution being a lethal injection, the victim merely goes unconscious until the brain and heart stop working. Without capital punishment it could be argued that the justice system makes no attempt to respond to murder, and does not provides justice for the victim and his/her family. If an adolescent grows up without being taught from what is real and what is fiction; he/she could murder someone and be sent to death without learning that that crime is unjust. Rehabilitation cannot work with death. Capital punishment does not dissuade from murder. Even with a system for stopping murder, people still continue to kill. The penalty does not seem to be very effective in this day and time. The concept itself is hypocritical. Why battle murder with more murder? It seems unjust to punish a person for murder by murdering them. (Listverse …show more content…
Both sides of the argument have been fighting to prove what the best decision for our country is; to abolish or continue the practice of capital punishment. There have been numerous great points stated through the years such as the religious morality of executions to the positive effects on families and judicial justice. Not to forget the effects the penalty has on the inmates’ lives and mentality. Although the United States justice system is flawed when it comes to the punishment of the incompetent and mentally ill, it still provides an effective means of dealing with homicidal and violent individuals. Who knows what will become of capital punishment in twenty years, but right now it’s here to