Arguments on Death Penalty

8/4/2019 Arguments on Death Penalty

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Arguments Against Death Penalty

Arguments commonly made to abolish the death penalty are:

Death constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment," which is prohibited under the

Constitution. Also, the various means use to kill a criminal are cruel.

The death penalty is used disproportionately against the poor, who cannot afford

expensive legal counsel, as well as against racial, ethnic and religious minorities.

The death penalty is applied arbitrarily and inconsistently.

Wrongly convicted, innocent people have received death penalty sentences, and

tragically, were killed by the state.

A rehabilitated criminal can make a morally valuable contribution to society.

Killing human life is morally wrong under all circumstances. Some faith groups, such as

the Roman Catholic Church, oppose the death penalty as not being "pro-life."

Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the

burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent.

The death penalty is not a deterrent because most people who commit murders either

do not expect to be caught or do not carefully weigh the differences between a possible

execution and life in prison before they act.

There is no conclusive proof that the death penalty acts as a better deterrent than the

threat of life imprisonment.


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Retribution is another word for revenge. Although our first instinct may be to inflict

immediate pain on someone who wrongs us, the standards of a mature society demand

a more measured response.

The emotional impulse for revenge is not a sufficient justification for invoking a system

of capital punishment, with all its accompanying problems and risks. Our laws and

criminal justice system should lead us to higher principles that demonstrate a complete

respect for life, even the life of a murderer.

The death penalty alone imposes an irrevocable sentence. Once an inmate is executed,

nothing can be done to make amends if a mistake has been made.

Almost all defendants facing the death penalty cannot afford their own attorney. Hence,they are dependent on the quality of the lawyers assigned by the state, many of whom

lack experience in capital cases or are so underpaid that they fail to investigate the case

properly. A poorly represented defendant is much more likely to be convicted and given

a death sentence.

10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty

Innocence and the Death PenaltyThe wrongful execution of an innocent person is an injustice that cannever be rectified. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty, 139men and women have been released from death row nationally.

The High Cost of the Death PenaltyIt costs far more to execute a person than to keep him or her in prisonfor life.

Death Penalty Can Prolong Suffering for Victims' Families Many family members who have lost love ones to murder feel that thedeath penalty will not heal their wounds nor will it end their pain; the

extended legal process prior to executions can prolong the agonyexperienced by the victims' families.

International Views on the Death PenaltyThe vast majority of countries in Western Europe, North America andSouth America - more than 139 nations worldwide - have abandonedcapital punishment in law or in practice.
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Inadequate Legal RepresentationPerhaps the most important factor in determining whether a defendantwill receive the death penalty is the quality of the representation he orshe is provided.

DeterrenceScientific studies have consistently failed to demonstrate that executionsdeter people from committing crime anymore than long prisonsentences.

Arbitrariness in the Application of the Death PenaltyPolitics, quality of legal counsel and the jurisdiction where a crime iscommitted are more often the determining factors in a death penaltycase than the facts of the crime itself.

Religious Perspectives on the Death PenaltyAlthough isolated passages of religious scripture have been quoted insupport of the death penalty, almost all religious groups in the UnitedStates regard executions as immoral.

Racial DisparitiesThe race of the victim and the race of the defendant in capital cases aremajor factors in determining who is sentenced to die in this country. In1990 a report from the General Accounting Office concluded that "in 82percent of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found toinfluence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receivingthe death penalty, i.e. those who murdered whites were more likely to besentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."

Alternatives to the Death PenaltyIn every state that retains the death penalty, jurors have the option of

sentencing convicted capital murderers to life in prison without thepossibility of parole. The sentence is cheaper to tax-payers and keepsviolent offenders off the streets for good.
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Documents

Arguments on Death Penalty