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 • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Miscellaneous The Rage to Kill Those who Kill The Rage to Kill Those who Kill Few issues in the United Stated today are as emotionally charged and controversial as the death penalty. More formally known as capital punishment, the death penalty has been hotly debated not only as a legal issue, but as a religious, ethical, and political one, historically as well as in the present day. Parts of the criminal justice system are straightforward, requiring little interpretation or subjective thinking to understand their meaning. For example, law enforcement officials must properly collect and introduce evidence to determine whether a subject did in fact commit a crime. And once a suspect is apprehended, very clear rules are followed on the process of his or her arrest. Crimes themselves are clearly defined, as well: murder, arson, robbery. The constitution is specifying that the death penalty may be used, but warns that there are certain stipulations that must first be met. Does the death penalty really deter crime? The death lobby wants you to believe the answer to that question is “yes.” But, in fact, it is a resounding “NO.” Consider this…the US is the only Western nation that still allows the death penalty, and we also have on the highest crime rates. During the 1980’s, death penalty states averaged an annual rate of 7.5 criminal homicides per 100,000, while abolition states averaged a rate of 7.4 per 1000,000. That means murder was actually MORE common in states that use the death penalty. Also consider this…. in a nationwide survey of police chiefs and sheriffs, capital punishment was ranked LAST as a way of reducing violent crime. Only twenty-six percent thought that the death penalty significantly reduces the number of homicides. The theory behind the deterrence doctrine is flawed itself. Murders do not examine risk/reward charts before they kill someone. Being a criminal is inherently irrational…life imprisonment ought to deter a rational person itself. Besides, no criminal commits a crime if he believes he will be caught. The eighth Amendment to the Constitution protects us form the use of excessive bail and fines. It also protects us from cruel and unusual punishment. In 1972 the courts ruled in favor of Furman, in Furman vs. Georgia, on the grounds that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the decision was revoked in 1976, a mere four years later. There was no time taken to see if the change would affect the rate of violent crimes committed in the United States today. “The death penalty is not now, nor has it ever been a more economical alternative to life imprisonment.” said Spangenberg and Walsh. A study by the NY State Defenders Association showed that the cost of capital trial ALONE is more than double the cost of life imprisonment. In Maryland, a comparison of capital trial costs with and without the death penalty for the years 1979- 1984 concluded that a death penalty case costs “approximately 42 percent more than a case resulting in a non-death sentence,” according to the US Government Accounting Office. In 1988 and 1989 the Kansas legislature voted against reinstating the death penalty after it was informed that reintroduction would involve a first-year cost of more than $11 million. And the Miami Herald reported that Florida, with on of the nation’s largest death rows, has estimated that the true cost of each execution is approximately $3.2 million, or approximately six times the cost of a life-imprisonment sentence. In Texas alone, criminals only serve about twenty percent of their sentences due to overcrowding in prisons. In capital punishment cases money is a huge issue. Over worked and underpaid, public defense attorney with little experience in cases involving capital punishment try to defend their clients. Some public defense attorneys just don’t care any more. Because of budget cut backs in many states a public defender will be paid as little as two dollars an hour for the pretrial work that they do. If it takes more than 500 hours to prepare for trial, and the average time is in an excess of 2000 hours, this minuscule sum will be lowered even farther. Perhaps that is the reason that sixty-nine people who were falsely imprisoned have been released off of death row since 1973. Twenty-ones of those people were released after new evidence emerged since 1993 alone. Ricardo Guerra was released off of death row in Texas after 15 years of false imprisonment. Sadly, his isn’t the only horror story out there. The morality of capital punishment, at least twenty-three people have been executed who did not commit the crime they were accused of. And that’s only those that we know of. And herein lies an inherent danger of capital punishment…When we execute an innocent person; the real killer is still on the streets, ready to victimize someone else. But when an innocent person is arrested, he is often the driving impetus behind further investigation, and if he is executed, than the case remains closed forever. Or, at least, until someone else gets killed by the real perpetrator. Does the government have a right to kill? Perhaps in self-defense, as in a policeman firing on an armed and dangerous criminal. Suppose we apply the same standards to the government that we have for civilians. True, a civilian has the right to shoot at an intruder as he is entering his home. But if the civilian catches the intruder, incapacitates him, and has him under his control, then shooting the intruder would be considered simple murder. That’s what capital punishment is…simple murder. Which brings me to the next point. What is the difference between the state killing and an individual killing? The end result is the same…one more dead body, one more set of grieving parents, and one more cemetery slot. Every time we execute someone, we are sending the profound message of cynicism about the value of human life. Every time we execute someone, we as a society sink to the same level as the common killer. The American people have blood on their hands, and it will stay there until we finally remove this barbaric practice from our nation. Many moral concerns are brought up by the death penalty used as punishment. The bile says, “Whosoever sheds man’s blood, may man shed his blood.” This classic argument in favor of the death penalty has usually been interceded as a proper and moral reason for putting a murder to death. “Let the punishment fit the crime” is its secondary counterpart. Both quotes imply that the murderer deserved to die, and it was his own fault for putting himself on death row. Supporters of capital punishment say that society has the right to kill in defense of its members, just as an individual has the right to kill in self defense for his or her own personal safety. This analogy is somewhat doubtful, however, as long as the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent to violent crimes has yet to be proven. about capital punishment? Many people point to the passage in Leviticus, which states that an eye for an eye is God’s decree. However, Jesus Christ overturns the decrees along with many other Old Testament laws “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right check, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your clock as well; and if anyone forces you to to one mile, go also the second mile.” Remember that when Jesus came upon the crowd stoning a prostitute, He told them, “Let he who is without sin cast the fist stone.” Christ taught a doctrine of peace, love, and forgiveness, not revenge, retribution, and death. I feel strongly toward using the death penalty as punishment for unspeakable crimes. I feel that is a deterrent for criminal activity because of its severity and it will never allow the murder to murder again and tear apart another family. I do, however, feel that restrictions should be put on its uses. Not all crimes deserve the death penalty. Let the punishment fit the crime. If a criminal performs a premeditated heinous murder he should be put to death. It is that simple. If the convicted offender shows no remorse for his actions, then the decision should be even easier. I feel that it is important to send a message to all future “thrill-killers” that taking the life of an other human is wrong and if they decide to try it, they must case the consequences: Death. A real world example of a case that involved killers who showed no remorse for killing and performed a heinous felony murder was the homicide that occurred in Mandville Louisiana in 1979. Robert L. Willie and Joseph Vaccaro kidnapped Faith Hathaway, beat here, raped her and slit here throat. They continued to rape her long after she was dead. This type of murder disturbed the entire town and devastated the victim’s family. When the detective of the case, Mike Varnado, was asked about the death penalty he said, “What they did to this girl (Faith), they tortured her, beat her, raped her, they did not want her money, they just wanted to degrade her, and just dehumanize her and just see how if feels to do this to someone. It was a senseless crime that in my opinion deserved the death penalty.” Repeat offenders and people who enjoy killing do not deserve to walk our street. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and no one has the right to take that away from another person. As I said above, I feel very strongly toward the use of the death penalty. The death penalty has changed greatly over the years. It has gone from torture as punishment to death as punishment. Capital punishment today is not meant to torture or be used as a means for revenge. The death penalty is a severe penalty for a sever crime. I feel that it does work as a deterrent for crime because of its severity over any prison term. Capital punishment is necessary for a stable society and should not be abolished. Bibliography: Work Cited: McGraw, Dan. “Convert Convict Put to Death.” U.S. News & World Report February 16, 1998:42 “Death Penalty Law Materials.” Legal information Institute http/www.law.cornell.edu/topics/death_penatly.html (November 10, 1999) Loyola of Las Angeles Law Revies Matthew 5:38-41 (Oxford Annotated Bible, NSRV) 1990 report released by the Federal Government’s General Accounting Office Genesis 9:6 (Oxford Annotated Bible, NSRV) Word Count: 1722
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