Death Penalty Research Paper

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The death penalty has been around for years. The first known execution was of Captain George Kendall who was shot by a firing squad in Jamestown in December 1607. He was accused of sowing discard and mutiny .There is many ways to perform an execution such as Electrocution, Gas chamber and lethal injection being the most commonly used.
When it comes to whether I’m for or against the death penalty I often find myself on the fence. Therefore I’m pro in some instances and con in others. The pro side of course would be Just punishment, Safety Concerns and maintains order. The con side includes wrong convictions, makes the criminal the victim and cost.
No one wants to lose their life so that’s why just punishment is so important. It’s only right if you murder someone that you are sentenced to death. So therefore death penalty is nothing but just punishment for those who have taken the life of another individual or individuals live. There are other criminal actions that deserve that final measure. Things like Rape of a child younger than 12 years of age, rape of an elderly and mass murder. I feel so strongly about this topic because I feel that to kill a child, an elderly person or a number of people you have to either be a really sick person or just have no care or compassion. An individual that cold hearted is a huge risk to society and it’s a responsibility of the court to make sure that the individual is sentence correctly so that the police can protect rights of individuals and insure safety for those in their jurisdiction . If there is not a just punishment when the individual is sentence there will be a safety concerns. In some instances the victim or victim’s family may not feel safe if the defendant is sentenced properly. If the defendant is given life there is a risk of him/her breaking out. The could be traumatized to the fact where she/he trusts no one and in a sense that’s a life gone because what I life without trust so one could argue that the defendant so lose his life because in a sense another individuals was ended or changed for the worst. When sentence life in prison a criminal may feel like it’s there no bigger trouble he/she can get into. So because of that their behavior may be out of control .Also if they murdered someone in the free world they could very well murder someone in prison , without capital punishment we would have no way to control the inmates in prison . With the death penalty in place there is a boundary most people aren’t really wiling to cross.
In 2010 alone 130 people were released from death row with evidence of their innocence. This is one the major reasons why I am against the death penalty in some instances. There are several documented cases where DNA testing showed that innocent people were put to death by the government. We have an imperfect justice system where poor defendants are given minimal legal attention by often lesser qualified individuals. Some would blame the court system, not that death penalty itself for the problems, but we can't risk mistakes. Criminals usually are looked down upon by society. People are disgusted by the vile acts they commit and feel tremendous sympathy for the victims of murder, rape, etc. However, the death penalty has a way of shifting sympathy away from the victims and to the criminals themselves. An excellent example is the execution a few years ago of former gang leader "Tookie" Williams. He was one of the original members of the notorious Crips gang, which has a long legacy of robbery, assault, and murder. This is a man who was convicted with overwhelming evidence of the murder of four people, some of whom he shot in the back and then laughed at the sounds they made as they died. This is a man who never even took responsibility for the crimes or apologized to the victims . These victims had kids and spouses, but instead of sympathy for them, sympathy shifted to Tookie. Candlelight vigils were held for him. Websites like savetookie.org
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