The Death Penalty Debate Essay -- Papers Capital Punishment Essays Pap

The Death Penalty Debate The issue of the death penalty is widely disputed. So disputed that maybe I shouldn’t have picked this topic. But nevertheless, the death penalty is an issue that needs to be addressed. Should the death penalty be abolished from our criminal justice system? Well, that depends on whom you ask. If you ask me†¦ no. I personally don’t see anything wrong with the death penalty because there are a lot of criminals that are just too dangerous to society and death is the only punishment they deserve. I know that it is in the eighth amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, and I can’t think of a greater punishment for a crime than death, but I believe that exceptions should be made. Despite U.S. Supreme Court rulings to the contrary, many death penalty opponents consider capital punishment in and of itself to be cruel and unusual. They believe the death penalty to be a barbarous practice that should be discarded. Specific methods of execution also frequently come under attack as violating the Eighth Amendment. Death penalty advocates counter that the framers of the Constitution took capital punishment for granted, and did not consider it cruel and unusual. Some proponents of the death penalty believe some methods of execution, such as lethal injection, are more humane than others. (http://ethics.acusd.edu/death_penalty.html) From 1930, the first year for which statistics are readily available from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, to 1967, 3,859 persons were executed. During this period, over half (54%) of those executed were black, 45 % were white, and the remaining 1% were members of other racial groups -- American Indians (19), Filipino (13), Chinese (8), and Japanese (2). The vast ... ...ht make all the violent offenders think twice before they commit the crime. Works Cited: Death Penalty Debate. (http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/just/ death/), Online, March 2000. -Gives information on the states that have reinstated capital punishment into their justice system and gives a list of the 12 states that still do not have the death penalty. Pollitt, Katha: The Nation, New York; Mar 6, 2000; Vol. 270, Iss. 9; pg. 10, 1 pgs, EBSCOhost March 2000 -Gives a detailed two sided argument on the death penalty and argues how it costs more to house an immate for life in prison. Punishment And The Death Penalty. (http://www.ethics. acused.edu/death_penalty.html), Online, March 2000. - Gives statistical facts on the history of the death penalty. Sullum, Jacob: Reason, Los Angeles; Mar 2000; Vol. 31, iss. 10, pg. 14, 1 pgs, EBSCOhost March 2000