Introduction: The death penalty is a hot topic on many people's minds these days. From John Lee Malvo to innocent citizens on death row, everybody seems to have an opinion on this touchy subject. Having just returned from a semester studying abroad in Spain, my conversations with people from other cultures has altered my view on this controversial issue. Before these conversations, I would not consider myself an advocate of the death penalty, but I was definitely not against it. In fact, when confronted (unconfrontationally) by foreigners, I would support the federal death penalty, arguing that our streets were safer with these murderers and rapists getting what they deserved. I would argue that children and elderly women were being taken advantage of by these coward criminals and I would point to the instances when a paroled convict would be let free only to commit these inhumane crimes again. But when all was said and done, these people convinced me that maybe our legal system wasn't as fool proof as I had thought. Within this paper, I hope to show some of the factors that influenced my change of opinion.
Background: The United States federal death penalty was first used on June 25, 1790, when Thomas Bird was hanged for murder in Maine. Since then, according to studies by the Capital Punishment Research Project, 336 men and 4 women have been executed under federal backing. Of these inmates, 134 (39%) were white; 118 (35%) black; 63 (19%) Native American; and 25 (7%) were Hispanic or unknown. .
The federal government has utilized hanging, electrocution, and the gas chamber to execute these 340 prisoners. The majority of inmates were executed for murder or crimes resulting in murder, but convictions for piracy, rape, rioting, kidnapping, and spying and espionage also yielded federal executions.
The Questions: As presented in class, sociologists generally use two definitions in the identification of social problems:.
It stands for the total abolition of the death penalty but allows states parties to retain the death penalty in time of war. ... Some states have already abolished the death penalty. ... Some people think the death penalty is fair. ... The death penalty is a global issue. ... The death penalty isn't a way to prevent crime. ...
Currently, there have been over 1,000 deaths due to the death penalty since 1976 (Death Penalty Information Center). ... There are many different forms of execution used in the death penalty. ... Three years later in 2009, New Mexico repealed the death penalty. ... The death penalty gives most people a sense of security in many states. ... The Catholic religion is the religion most against the death penalty. ...
I am against the death penalty. ... "A new survey by the New York Times found that states without the death penalty have lower homicide rates than states with the death penalty" ("Facts" 6). ... My last reason for my opposition to the death penalty is its constitutionality, whether or not the death penalty should be legal. ... "The Death Penalty on Trial." ... "Debating the Death Penalty." ...
The Old Testament clearly calls for the death penalty on many occasions. ... In the case of the death penalty, an individual kills another human being and he is punished for it by death. ... Statistics from the Death Penalty Information Center (1997) show that the death penalty does not really deter crime. When comparisons are made between states with the death penalty and states without it, the majority of the death penalty states show murder rates higher than non-death penalty states. ... In 1996, death penalty states averaged a rate of 7.1 criminal homicides per 100,000, while non-death pen...
(Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty Website) The main argument that advocates for the death penalty have is that the death penalty deters crime, that the threat of execution is enough to make criminals think twice about committing a capital crime. ... Clearly, by the time he has decided to commit his crime, he has already disregarded other forms of punishment besides the death penalty, such as lengthy imprisonment. ... Also, states that do not have a death penalty experience lower number of murders each year than that of the states who do. ... (Death Penalty Information Ce...
After the Supreme Court made this ruling, states reviewed their death penalty laws. ... The death penalty contradicts the whole idea of human rights. ... Supporters of the death penalty believe that the death penalty helps keep the crime and murder rate down, but that is not so. States with death penalty laws do not have lower crime or rates than states that with death penalty laws. ... If the death penalty is not "cruel and unusual punishment" then what is? ...
-Contact Death Penalty Focus. ... -Start a Death Penalty Focus chapter at your school. ... -Attend national conferences on death penalty organizing. ... What Teachers Can Do -Use the Death Penalty Information Center's curriculum for educators in your classroom! ... Death Penalty Focus can help you find many excellent speakers. ...
One way people are being deprived of their rights is the use of the death penalty. The death penalty is often used to kill people who have committed murder. ... The death penalty is not a surefire way to punish criminals. ... Jury members may avoid the death penalty for this very reason. ... If the death penalty does not deter crime, why should there have a death penalty? ...
DEATH PENALTY The death penalty has existed as long as humans have existed. ... There have been many comparisons of crime rates of death penalty states to non-death penalty states. ... Michigan, Ohio and Illinois all have the death penalty. ... In 1994, the average murder rate in death penalty states of a population of 100,00 was 8.0, for a non-death penalty state, 4.4. ... In 1976 Canada got rid of the death penalty. ...
The death penalty protects society because if the murderers are executed, they are no longer on the streets (The Death Penalty). ... Studies show that by increasing the death penalty by one percent, it would prevent one hundred and five murders (The Death Penalty). ... Why the society defends the death penalty. ... Arguments of those who oppose the death penalty. ... Concluding thoughts of reinstating the death penalty....