Mandatory Death Penalty Punishments For Murder example essay topic

The Death Penalty Capital punishment is not a new concept to society. Both the Greeks and the Romans used the death penalty for a variety of offenses, from murder all the way down to petty theft. Socrates and Jesus are probably the most famous people ever killed for a crime in the ancient period. Hammurabi, a king of ancient Babylonia, made a code of laws that dates back from the second or third millennium before Christ. This code claimed that "an eye for an eye and a life for a life" was justice.

Romans 13 in the Bible implies that it is the responsibility of those who God has appointed in charge to punish offenders for the sake of preserving social order for all of the people. In 1972 the case of Furman vs. Georgia declared that the death penalty was unconstitutional and that it violated the Eighth amendment, stating that it was cruel and unusual punishment, of course, the only methods of execution at the time were hanging, electrocution, and facing a firing squad. It was argued that these methods were too slow and painful. Thomas Edison, a historical genius and respected inventor, assisted in developing electric chair and promoted it heavily. As a result, the electric chair was a popular method of execution from the 1930's to the 1970's. Until 1972, Capital punishment was legal.

Then, in 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed this decision in the Gregg vs. Georgia case. A 'cleaner' way to bring about death was then found in lethal injection, this method is quick and painless if administered correctly. Though once again legalized, it did not allow for the death penalty to be mandatory for murder cases in those states that requested it. Mandatory death penalty punishments for murder would have ensured consistency in rulings; which was an argument at the time, however it did not leave room for juries to weigh in "mitigating factors" such as abuse, insanity or crimes of passion. Though legal throughout the United States at the federal level, not all states currently implement it; Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and District of Colombia are the 13 that do not.

The Morality Issue If an eighteen year old man or woman can be sent to war to their death for their country, and to defend our laws and rights, why then, can't a criminal of the same age who disobeys these same laws and impedes on other people's rights be punished with death? As it was once said "Justice entails receiving what we in fact deserve". (Charles Colston, "The Death Penalty is Morally Just, 1995), Supporters of the death penalty question opponents; - if the murderer's life is of such value that they should be kept alive, doesn't this show citizens that the State provides more rights to the murderer, than to the victim, as well as showing that it cannot provide the ordinary citizen basic safety? Numerous innocent people die after crimes are pre-planned in detail. People are raped, tortured and mutilated before finally being killed, and after all of this the killer is protected with a slap on the wrist and a guarantee to free ride the rest of his life in a cushy prison cell? It is too late at this point for the victim who was murdered in cold blood.

To look at corporal punishment as merely revenge would be saying that capital punishment is itself the injustice. "Wouldn't it be an injustice to let a cold-blooded killer escape the consequences of a crime though?" ("Capitol Punishment" Dwight A. Randall, web punishment. html) If the sovereign state says that taking a life is wrong, how can the state then do the same thing to punish the taking of a life? The flaw in this argument is that it implies that the criminal in question has the same power as the government does when it comes to deciding when it's okay to take a life. And what if an innocent person is executed? Only two people have been proven innocent after their execution in the United States.

These wrongful deaths occurred in 1918 and 1949. Since then the justice system has advanced scientifically with the discovery of DNA, as well as the development of more thorough investigation techniques. Deterrence Opponents of capital punishment say the death penalty is unnecessary. Countries such as Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, and Belgium have abolished the death penalty and have not experienced an increase in the number of murders. While this is true, deterrence in America can only work if the threat of punishment is combined with the belief that these acts are also immoral, which seems to be decreasing in today's society. Without fear of consequences, more deaths would occur as morality is questioned and people's consciousnesses are less sensitive.

Lack of fear and morals cannot be used as an excuse for the toleration of crime; standards still have to be set in order to protect the innocent. No direct correlation to murder rates can be applied with respect to the death penalty's deterrent value because actual statistics about the deterrent value of capital punishment are not available. It is impossible to know who may have been deterred from a committing a crime because it was illegal vice not having committed it just because it is immoral. Rehabilitation Leads to Repeat Offenders In a 1994 interview with John Wayne Gacy, Charles Colston noted that Gacy spoke open and freely of his murders, without any signs of remorse, and without any admittance of wrongdoing. It was said that Gacy had almost seemed proud of his accomplishments.

His lawyers at the time had tried to plea insanity, saying he could not help himself in the heat of the moment, calling the instances "irresistible impulses". Though it was questioned that if Gacy had actually happened to have had experienced 33 'irresistible impulses,' why were some of the graves dug prior to the killings? And if his memory of what he did was scattered, as his defense argued in his insanity plea, how is it that he was able to draw such detailed maps of how and where each body was buried, and where he had scattered the others? Gacy had previously been charged in the spring of 1968. He was indicted by a grand jury in Black Hawk County for committing the act of sodomy with a teenage boy. Four months later he was charged with hiring an eighteen-year-old man to beat up his accuser.

Gacy offered the man ten dollars plus three hundred more to pay off his car loan if he carried out the beating. The young boy fought off the paid attacker and told the police. When they caught the man, he admitted to the scheme and led the police to Gacy. When the judge finally handed down the sentence, Gacy received ten years at the Iowa State Reformatory for men, the maximum time for such an offence. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was twenty-six years old at this time. Eighteen months after the conviction for sodomy, his parole was approved and he was set free to begin his sadistic murders.

Police believe that Gacy had actually murdered several people at this time. Kenneth Allen McDuff was first imprisoned in 1965 for burglary. Then later went to death row in 1968 for fatally shooting two teen-age boys in the face and raping and strangling their 16-year-old female companion in Fort Worth. But, as he was awaiting execution in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court proclaimed the death penalty as unconstitutional and his sentence was reduced to life in prison. Then, after 21 years in prison, McDuff was released on parole. Melissa Northrup and Colleen Reed were killed shortly thereafter.

The body of Melissa Northrup, a 22-year-old pregnant mother of two, was found in a gravel pit with her hands tied behind her back, she had been strangled with a rope. Authorities say he may have killed as many as a dozen other people, primarily in central Texas between Austin and Waco. Dollars and Sense According to state and federal records, the California death penalty system costs taxpayers more than 114 million dollars per year beyond the cost of keeping the convicts locked up for life. This is due to the private cells and extra guards for each individual. California has 640 people on death row, about 20% of the nation's total, but it accounts for only 1% of the nation's executions. Since California reinstated the death penalty in 1978, they have only executed 11 people.

Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, Ronald George, said that 115 of the 640 people on death row still have not been appointed lawyers for their first appeal, and 149 more do not have lawyers for additional appeals. The court system spends 20% of its resources and time on death penalty cases alone. (Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2005) A total of 575 inmates were executed between 1998 and 2004 in the United States. They had murdered at least 1199 people; this averages out to over two innocent people killed per inmate. (ProDeathPenalty. com) Additionally, if a murderer is sentenced to life imprisonment, not only does it cost the taxpayers money to support them, but their quality of life in the prison may be better than that which they are accustomed to. It may even be a better quality of life than many innocent people are accustomed.

Not to mention the quality of life for Sailors aboard ships and soldiers now sleeping in the desert on top of their tanks and in holes dug in the sand. People who commit murder deserve a punishment that fits the crime committed. Premeditated murder calls for a fitting punishment, even people diagnosed with personality disorders, or temporary insanity deserve punishment. A reformed or healed person still has the capacity to repeat their offenses. American citizens expect fairness in our justice system, and these citizens are dependent on the government to provide it. Some opponents to capital punishment claim that the race of the victim remains a factor in determining who will and will not receive the death penalty, however, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are actually more Caucasians on death row than any other minority group.

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), an opponent of the death penalty is quoted as saying that 'What families of murder victims really need is financial and emotional support to help them recover from their loss and resume their lives. ' It is this kind of attitude that I feel is letting criminals get away with murder. What the victim's family wants is for justice to be served, not cash compensation. Justice is what all of us want and deserve.

In conclusion, murder is a crime that involves one person taking the life of another person, the victim does not have a choice, that act needs to be punished justly, not with a sentence in an overly luxurious prison and the possibility of parole, but in an effective manner that gives people the message that they are living in a society with rules and properly fitting punishments. If capital punishment is taken away, we will not have an effective justice system and crimes against innocent citizens will continue. This is why capital punishment is necessary and needed in our United States of America.

Bibliography

ProDeathPenalty. com Rein, Mei Ling. Capital Punishment, Cruel and Unusual? Gale Group, 2002 Day, Nancy.
The Death Penalty For Teens, a Pro / Con Issue. Ens low Publishers, Inc. 2000 Winters, Paul A.
The Death Penalty, Opposing Viewpoints. Green haven Press 1997 Hii k, Donald D.
and Kahn, Lothar. Death in the Balance. D.C. Heath and Company, 1989.