Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Legal Issues The Debate over Capital Punishment The Debate over Capital Punishment South Carolina, January 15, 1993. After wounding an Orangeburg, S.C. police officer with a misfired bullet, Thomas Treshawn Ivey, an Alabama prison escapee, proceeded to fired five more shots into the police officer from a handgun at close range after the wounded police office had reached for his gun. Ivey fled the scene but was quickly apprehended. This scenario is not to different from the horrible acts of violence that lead an offender to death row where today some 3,500 people are awaiting the ultimate punishment. The topic of capital punishment is, and has been a sensitive issue. Debates over the capital punishment are centered on the morality of taking a human life. Questions on whether or not our justice system is capable of sentencing a person to death on accurate evidence. Civil rights groups are even involved claiming that races and financial backgrounds can either save or condemn the accused. While these are the arguments of those who stand opposed to the death penalty, there is also a great deal of people in support of capital punishment. These people see it as an effective means of punishment and deterrent to violent crime. An effective way of cutting the costs involved with housing an inmate for life. Supporters also believe that it is a way to help those associated with the victim of a violent crime to find closure to acts of such violence. Although the two sides of the argument over the death penalty should not be ignored, I believe that there is a more important issue that we can pay more attention. I think that the true argument that comes from the topic of the death penalty is not actually about the death penalty itself but about large problems that face America. The ultimate punishment otherwise know as the death penalty or capital punishment has been part of the U.S. Justice system during most of America’s history and continued on until 1972 when it was banned by the supreme court. The court supported its decision by claiming that the individual states had standards that were unsatisfactory, and that these states gave to much power to individual judges and juries, 1972 Furman vs. Georgia. In 1976, after a period of only four years, the Supreme Court reversed its early decision, 1976 Greg vs. Georgia, made in 1972 saying that because the states had made the necessary reforms, “ The punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution.” The Supreme Court’s decision, which stands on capital punishment, has not changed since 1976. However, in recent years there has been an increase in support for those who are opposed to capital punishment. The reasons for this increase range is from arguments made by groups like the ACLU which say that capital punishment is concentrated on the poor, on minorities, and even on where the accused lives, to the risk involved with executing an innocent man or woman. Although those who are in support of capital punishment may not voice their opinions as loudly as the activist like anti death penalty supporters, those who are for capital punishment are just as firm in their belief as those on the other side of the argument. Those who justify the death penalty do so by claiming that it saves the state money, acts as a deterrent from committing violent criminal acts, or that it satisfies the adage of an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth form of justice. Despite the fact that the two groups’ claims are so different, the source of their arguments is where I find my claim. Both groups draw from issues that lie at the center of our society. There are ideas that the federal government should be more involved in matters of the individual states, an idea that the ACLU supports due to the court decision made in 1976. There are religious beliefs that tell the biblical story of the execution and resurrection of Jesus. And there is the earlier example of the legal issue of how much power the people and the courts should be allowed to have, which also leads into another topic of the effects of new technology, like DNA testing, that can either overturn an early ruling of guilt or at the same time increase the effectiveness of a prosecutions case against the accused. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the true argument that comes from the topic of the death penalty is not actually about the death penalty but about large problems that face America. The existence of capital punishment is the result of a failure in the structure of America’s society. The arguments that come from it do not fix what the real problems are. An example of this is a claim made by the ACLU. They are claiming that because alcohol and drugs are oftentimes involved when a person has been found to commit a crime punishable by the death penalty that for some reason this person should not be responsible for their actions. My claim is that because America has problems of alcohol and drug abuse in this country, this is where we should focus more our attention. Not on whether the death penalty is appropriate or not, that is for a jury of 12 men and women to decide. We should not limit the power of the court in matters as serious as this. The problem is that so many people have come to believe that no one needs to be responsible for their actions and penalties. Cases that involve the death penalty are not the only area of crime where drugs and alcohol is involved. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, those who are involved with drugs, alcohol, or a combination of the two are much more likely to commit crimes of all types than those who do not us drugs or alcohol. If the activists want to fix something, then they should put more of their effort into helping people with problems such as alcohol and or drug addiction that increase the odds of all types of crime. Maybe their efforts won’t get them on the evening news, but I think that it will help reduce crimes, and maybe even help stop someone from committing a crime punishable by death. Besides stopping the problem, at the source we can also move our focus to strengthening the justice system instead of limiting it. Those opposed to the death penalty claim that America’s justice system is not equipped to sentence a person to death because they feel innocent people might be put to death. In itself this is a problem. No one wants to see an innocent person put to death much less an innocent person put in jail for any amount of time. However, is the solution an end to the death penalty? I think not. With the advent of DNA testing, the margin for error in many cases is almost nonexistent. In fact, there have been death row inmates that have been saved because of such a high technology. This is an example that the system does work, and that it can correct itself. So why waste resources and man power on trying to end the death penalty when these resources can be used to do something positive for society instead of being wasted on some of the worst human rights violators in our society. Because we live in a free society people can do and say what they believe in. For those people that feel capital punishment is not right they have all the opportunity they want to voice their opinions, but hopefully someday they will see the fault in their ideas. America is a place built on unity. A place where all ideas can be expressed, but also a place where the best ideas always can be found a way to find a home. Capital punishment is the right idea, and this is why it is in place now, and will continue on as long as people in this country resort to reckless behavior that leads to a life of crime, and eventually death. As citizens of this country, we should not be limited in how we as individuals believe a person should be punished for what they have done. We should not let special interest groups determine for us what they think is appropriate. We should not let them predetermine our system of justice. We are the source of what is great about this country and if a jury of us feels that someone is guilty and that their punishment should be death then let it be. This is a real justice. The people have spoken. Bibliography: Word Count: 1449
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