DEATH PENALTYKemah HutchinsonCAS 100 Section 1

November 13, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtB5W4rfQZ0

Positon: The Death Penalty should be abolished.

• Definition and History of the Death Penalty

• Arguments against the Death Penalty

• Opposing Views

Definition & History of the Death Penalty

Also known as “CAPITAL PUNISHMENT”

It was legal until 1972, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia.

In 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia.

(U.S. SENATE, 2007)

Illegal in:AlaskaD.C.Hawaii Iowa MainMassachusetts MichiganMinnesota North Dakota Rhode Island Vermont West VirginiaWisconsin

(U.S. SENATE, 2007)

Argument: the death penalty fails to rehabilitate offenders.

Opposing Views: The death penalty gives closure to the victim’s families who have suffered so much.

Counter Argument: the death penalty is that it doesn’t change the fact that the victim is gone and will never come back. Hate, revenge, and anger will never cure the emptiness of a lost loved one. Forgiveness is the only way to start the healing process. (BEDAU, 2005)

Argument: Conviction of the innocent occurs.

Opposing Views: The trail and appeal process is so thorough it’s next to impossible to convict an innocent person. A jury of 12 members must unanimously decide there’s not even a reasonable doubt the person is guilty.

Counter Argument: We have an imperfect justice system where poor defendants are given minimal legal attention by often lesser qualified individuals.

(BEDAU, 2005)

Argument: It is more expensive for capital punishment than it is to keep someone in prison

for life.Opposing Views: The cost of a victims life is priceless.

Counter Argument: A victims life is priceless however taxpayers are suffering paying for death penalty proceedings that take an average of 15 years per case. That is too much of a bearing for taxpayers when they aren’t the criminals. (BEDAU, 2005)

Argument: “Thou Shall not kill”Opposing Views: “Eye for an eye.”

Counter Argument: This mentality will never solve anything. A revenge philosophy inevitably leads to an endless cycle of violence. Why do you think that Palestine conflict has been going on for over 50years? Why do you think gang violence in this country never seems to end? It is important to send a message to society that striking back at your enemy purely for revenge will always make matters worse. (BEDAU, 2005)

Argument: Death Penalty violates the Bill of Rights.

We condemn people like Saddam Hussein whey they murder their own people while we continue to do the same. The 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prevents the use of “cruel and unusual punishment”. Many politicians interpret the death penalty as violating this restriction. President Obama wrote in his recent memoir that he thinks the death penalty "does little to deter crime."

(BEDAU, 2005)

OVERVEIW• The death penalty fails to rehabilitate the criminal.

• The possibility of executing the innocent.

• It is more expensive to institute the death penalty.

• The death penalty violates the Bill of Rights.

• The death penalty goes against the beliefs of our society.

SOURCES• Dudley, William. The Death Penalty. Greenhaven

Press/Thomson-Gale, 2006.• Allen, Howard W. and Jerome M. Cubb. Race, Class,

and the death penalty: capital punishment in American. State University of New York Press, 2008.

• Kukathas, Uma. The Death Penalty. Greenhaven Press, 2007.

• Bedau, Hugo Adam. The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies. Oxford University Press, 2005.

• www.ussenate.com (October, 2009)