Essay Examples on Capital Punishment

To write a good essay on Capital Punishment, first, you need to get an idea of what to write about. To get inspiration, please go through our essay examples on this topic.

Arguments for and against Capital Punishment Essay

The most severe sentence used in our nation is capital punishment, or execution.

Most of the executions were for murder or rape. However, federal, and military laws have conferred the death penalty for other crimes, including robbery, kidnapping, treason, espionage, and desertion from military service. Because capital punishment can lead to an unequal use of justice, arguments from its supporters should not prevent it from being abolished. One of the most common arguments for retaining the death penalty in the United States is that death is the ultimate incapacitation “and the only one that can ensure that convicted killers can never be pardoned, paroled or escape.

Most states that do not have capitol punishment provide the sentence of “life in prison without the chance of parole”.However, forty-eight states grant their chief executive the right to grant clemency and commute a life sentence and may give “lifers” the ability for various release programs. (Stephan Markman-Stanford Law Review page 41).Supporters of capital punishment justify its use on the grounds that it is morally correct because it is mentioned in the Bible and other religious works.

Get quality help now

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified

Proficient in: Capital Punishment

4.7 (235)

“ Amazing writer! I am really satisfied with her work. An excellent price as well. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Those who favor capital punishment charge that a majority of the public believes that criminals who kill innocent victims should forfeit their own life. (Kimberly Cook “Public Support” page 38.) Those that support its abolition match arguments for the death penalty.Critics of the death penalty believe capital punishment has no place in a mature democratic society. (Keith Otterbein page 39).They point to the finality of the act and the real possibility that innocent persons can be executed.According to research by Michael Radelet and Hugo Bedeau, there have been 350 wrongful murder convictions this century, of which 23 led to executions.

Is Capital Punishment a Right Way of Punishment Essay

The death penalty is the harshest sentence used by our government to punish criminals. As such, it is the most controversial punishment in force in the United States today. Ernest Van Den Haag examines the morality of the death penalty in his essay, “The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense.” He argues that there are moral grounds to support the death penalty and that a lesser punishment is, in fact, immoral. To better understand the grounds on which Van Den Haag basis his arguments, let’sfirst look at the issue itself. The death penalty has been used in almost all civilizations in human history.

In the United States today it is reserved for the those irrevocable and most heinous offenses (e.g. murder, treason). The arguments for and against the death penalty stem from its too main functions, deterrence and retribution. For the death penalty to act as deterrence, it must deter people from committing crimes that warrant its use. The reward amassed by committing the crime must be outweighed by the consequences of that crime.

For most people, the death penalty fits this description. Although, there are some who would rather sacrifice their lives to commit a crime they feel is justified or worth the consequence of death. For these people, capital punishment is not a deterrence and may, in some cases, be a motivating force. The death penalty’s other function is as retribution for crimes committed. There are two kinds of retribution, egalitarian and proportional.

Egalitarian requires that the punishment be identical, or as close to identical as possible, to the crime. While this seems fitting, is would be almost impossible to conduct this type of punishment in our society. The murderer who kills and rapes five people cannot be killed and raped five times. It would also be difficult to punish a Benedict Arnold with high treason. These are extreme examples, however they make proportional retribution seem more reasonable.

Gillepsy’s Opinion on Capital Punishment Essay

Capital Punishment has been an issue of arguments for centuries. This topic was even of more importance during the 1700’s than the present, because the quantities of punished people were significantly larger than now. In that time it was easy for an individual to loose his life for a small crime. In this research paper we will examine the views of two different types of people on this subject. Thefirst person is a reverend from 18th century London, and the other is an American doctor from the same period.

In the arguments of both gentlemen we can find similarities that lead us to understand the sentiment toward the issue during the 17th century. Revered E. Gillepsy begins his sermon with the definition of the meaning of being virtuous. He states that some one with good virtue will wish for world happiness. That person is to apply that wish through actions.

These actions will be rewarded in both the present life as in the future one. Another strong point that Rev. Gillepsy presents is that the laws of nations should be made according to religion. They should obey God instead of man. Even if the rules of man justify taking away lives, this does not mean that God agrees with such laws.

He means that the feelings taught by religion should overrule feelings extracted from political affairs. Rev. Gillepsy also talks about the sentiment of the people. He claims that is mankind was influenced entirely by the spirit of Christianity, they would never seek the death of another human being. People should see themselves in the shoes of other people, “Do on to others as you would like done upon you.” Man should never have to fall under a human executioner.

Instead he should care for the criminal and give mercy. Rev. Gillepsy has many thoughts on the punishments that follow criminal apprehension. He says that the system does a poor job in the prevention of crimes.

My Reflection on Capital Punishment Essay

The death penalty or capital punishment is a very sensitive subject.To take a stand on such a subject is a difficult job. As it stands thirty-eight of the fifty states have taken a stand that says they will enforce the death penalty.When I first started to research this topic I thought the death penalty to be morally wrong and an injustice to the persons rights. However, now I agree with those thirty-eight states and think that all fifty states should have the death penalty.I believe the death penalty should only be used in the most extreme and brutal cases. The killing of one person as punishment for killing another seems so unjust when written on paper.However, when looked at from a victim’s point of view this is the only fair punishment.I had to put myself into the victim’s shoes in order to come to my belief on the death penalty.I had to imagine that someone very close to me, a family member, was murdered.The only just punishment was to have the killer put to death. As of today in Pennsylvania the only crime punishable with the death penalty isfirst-degree murder with eighteen aggravating circumstances.This means that in the state that we live the only way for someone to be sentenced to death is to commit and be convicted offirst-degree murder with eighteen aggravating circumstances. This means that someone can live after raping someone, committing treason, or even abusing kids.I believe that the death penalty criteria should be revised to include these crimes.These are crimes that are too horrible to take the chance of letting someone out to commit again. In a survey I polled ten people on their views and beliefs of the death penalty.All of the people I surveyed agreed with the death penalty.When asked if they thought that all fifty states should have the death penalty, eight replied yes.

Should capital punishment be brought back in the U.K Essay

When turning on the television, radio, or simply opening the local newspaper, we are bombarded with news of arrests, murders, homicides, serial killers, and other such tragedies. It is a rare occasion to go throughout a day in this world and not hear of these, this could all be stopped if we reintroduce capital punishment into the U.K. First of all, what is capital punishment; it is the most severe of all sentences: that of death. Also known as the death penalty, capital punishment has been banned in many countries. In the United States, an earlier move to eliminate capital punishment has now been reversed and more and more states are resorting to capital punishment for serious offences such as murder.There are many methods of capital punishment including lethal injection and the electric chair, hanging and hundreds of years ago there was crucifixion. It was abolished in the UK in 1965 for all crimes except treason and piracy, and in 1998 it was entirely abolished in the UK. The last people to be hanged in the U.K were hanged at the same time but at different prisons: Peter Anthony Allen at Liverpool and Gwynne Owen Evans at Manchester Prisons. Both were hanged on 13 August 1964. Subsequent people were sentenced to death, but they were all reprieved. It is still an issue because there are many murderers who getting out of prison early for being good and then they are killing again, also if they bring it back some people think that in some cases the wrong person is executed. In this essay, I will be arguing for capital punishment to be brought back and in the next section I will explain why using four different reasons.

Firstly I think that it is the only punishment for terrorists who kill indiscriminately, for example Timothy McVeigh who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma on April 19th 1995. The Oklahoma bomb killed 168 people including 19 children, and injured more than 500 others.It took rescuers almost six weeks to recover the bodies of all the victims from the rubble.Timothy McVeigh, a 33-year old Gulf War veteran, was convicted of the attack and sentenced to death by lethal injection after a two-month trial. He was executed at Terre Haute federal prison in Indiana on 11 June 2001. The execution was watched via C.C.T.V by about 30 people including 10 survivors of the bombing and members of the media.The motive for the attack was apparently retaliation against the US Government for the bloody end to a siege near Waco, Texas, in which 82 members of the Branch Davidian sect died.In December 1997 his former army colleague Terry Nichols was convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy and sentenced to life in jail. A third man, Michael Fortier, confessed to knowing in advance about the bombing and was sentenced to 12 years after agreeing to be a key witness for the prosecution.The execution of McVeigh is a good thing because he can now not commit another crime because he is dead. Most of the community or state in this case will feel safer with one less criminal, a dangerous criminal, who cannot kill anymore. He has killed over 150 people so I think that if that does not reward a capital punishment sentence then nothing will, he has shown no remorse over the crime and has not apologised to the families of the dead for what he did.I don’t think that he deserves to live, some people who are against capital punishment say that keeping them alive is a just punishment because they have to live with what they have done forever and will have to live with the abuse from people. But I don’t think that this is true because if hey have killed as many people as McVeigh has then I don’t think they will really think about the people who he has killed and it wouldn’t have phased him, if he received abuse from the public then I think the police would have moved him onto a witness protection scheme which will help him get over what he has done and therefore it will not really be a just punishment.By killing him they have ended his life and ended the chance of him having a family and a successful career which I think is a just punishment for what he has done, if capital punishment was not usedand if he did stay in prison for the whole of his life which would be unlikely, then he would be still alive and may commit crimes in prison, the government is also using a lot of the tax payers money to look after them.

Which brings me on to my next reason for bringing capital punishment back; Looking after the prisoners costs money, the taxpayer’s money. This money could be used in education or in medical care to provide for people who deserve it instead of killers who deserve to be dead. Recent research has shown that more money is spent on prisoner’s meals than on school dinners, this shows that the government thinks that the prisoners welfare is more important than the welfare of young children who are the future of this country, the prisoners are criminals who are not doing anything for this country apart from wasting the taxpayer’s money. We cannot risk letting serial killers out of prison when they are “reformed” or pretend to be because they could go out and kill again, wouldn’t it just be better to kill the murderers?I think it will because they will not kill again and they are not wasting anymore money, it will also stop the prisons being more crowded and having to spend more money on building more prisons, and because the murderers are the most dangerous so the Government won’t have to spend as much money on making the prisons more secure.

Some people who are against bringing back capital punishment say that we should think about the killer’s family and how they will have to live without their son, daughter etc. But I think that the killer should have thought about that and he/she should have thought about how the victim’s family will feel before he/she does the crime, it is the killers fault so they should take the punishment and we should not give them a second chance just because their family will miss them, this is also another part of the punishment knowing how your family will feel when you are dead and how they will have to deal with abuse from the public every time they go in the street.My penultimate point on why we should bring back capital punishment is that in a large number of cases a life sentence is not life it is only about 12-15 years.

All the reasons above are why I think that capital punishment should be brought back and I hope this happens in the near future.