Death Penalty in USA and recent happenings

Death Penalty in USA. Death penalty is also referred as capital punishment which mean the maximum punishment an offender can receive when found guilty with a capital crime. The issue can be discussed using two approach, this is by agreeing by the motion and recommend this as the way to go or by going against the idea. Death penalty   should be abolished due to the following reasons.

Death Warrant: Supporters

Supporters of the death penalty often posit arguments that cite retribution for violent crimes as being instrumental in justice. However, several studies and research have shown  that taking the life of another human being through capital punishment only perpetuates a cycle of violence. Furthermore, other research has shown that flaws in our justice system has led to innocent being prosecuted, guilty being set free, and a plethora of other biases being present during capital punishment case this is according to Dye(2015).

Capital Punishment: Prison Conditions

Moreover, current prison conditions have continually reflected racial and socioeconomic biases which make prisoners of lesser privilege more likely to be sentenced with the death penalty than those of wealthy upbringings and substantial careers. Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and professor at the New York University School of Law, visited The Daily Show with John Stewart in October 2014 to discuss the discord between morality and America’s criminal justice system. Dye (2015).  Stevenson noted that the current criminal justice system operates in a way that is kinder to people who are wealthy and guilty than those who are poor and innocent.

Deterrent

Authored by the Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, this powerful article reviews the many different arguments against the death penalty and uses a multitude of case discussions to show how the death penalty works, not in theory, but in practice. Some of these arguments include: the death penalty does not have a demonstrable deterrent effect; it costs more to maintain the system than to imprison murderers for life; many wrongfully condemned defendants have been saved by the serendipitous discovery of evidence not available during trial; innocent persons have been executed; the death penalty has been applied in a freakish manner and not pain-free; and time and geography often is the deciding factor in capital and non-capital cases. Warden (2009). The Article uses the case discussions to conclude that the death penalty is more objectionable today than ever before.

Sources

Corlet, J. (2013). Responsibility and Punishment. Springer Science & Business Media.

Dye, T. (2015). Top 10 Reasons The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished. Retrieved from

Warden, R (2009).  Reflection of Capital Punishment. Western Journal of Law and Social Policy, 12(2).