“Death Penalty” Pros and Cons

â€Å"Death Penalty† Pros and Cons Francisco X. Lendor Introduction to Criminal Justice (1102 CCJS100 4021) Due on: Tuesday, March 26, 2011 â€Å"Death Penalty† – Pros and Cons History over the years has taught us of many different ways on how to control or punish people who don’t follow the rules and laws imposed by society and courts. These are adopted by society to establish behavior standards. Whether some of them are effective or not, these must be respected in order to not fall into a severe punishment like the death penalty. Aâ€Å"The enormity of killing one’s fellow man with premeditation is the principal reason for the existence of the death penalty. † Throughout history, death penalty has been debated in many different ways. Groups protesting bring up their point of views with their pros and cons to defend their position in favor or against this punishment. A perfect example of why some groups oppose to this penalty is discussed in articles 1â€Å"Anti-death penalty groups raising money for exonoree Anthony Graves†, by Diane Jennings, and in 2â€Å"Testimony to begin today in death penalty trial of man accused of killing wife, stepdaughter and showing stepsons their bodies†, by Jennifer Emily. In the first article, a group from the Texas Moratorium Network was raising money to help, in this case, Anthony Graves. Graves spent 18 years in jail for murders he never committed, and was finally released from the â€Å"death row† from Texas after prosecutors declared him innocent. On the other hand, on the second article, Gary Green was facing a final decision to be convicted of capital murder in Texas. After stabbing his wife, he killed her 6-year-old daughter and proceeded to show their bodies to his stepsons. Jurors in this case were to decide Bâ€Å"whether to impose a death sentence or send him to prison for life without parole. † Death penalty brings positive and negative contributions to society. Even though, there have been a lot of proven mistakes when imposing it, and it still shows to be unsuccessful on removing evil from society. One of the pros death penalty contributes to society is that it deters some population from committing murder. It also gives peace of mind to the victim and their families and puts an end to the crime. Also, the fear of the highest form of punishment will keep potential victims alive. Sometimes families of the victims begin their healing process once the murderer is put to death. Politically seen, it also gives pride to politicians and some others may even secure their â€Å"positions† by taking a well known murder case to a closing point. Proponents of the death penalty say Câ€Å"it is an important tool for preserving law and order, deters crime, and costs less than life imprisonment. † They also argue that Dâ€Å"retribution helps console grieving families, and ensures that the perpetrators of heinous crimes never have an opportunity to cause future tragedy. † But it comes to the fact that these arguments just help them justify their support to punishment, while it is still not supported by a majority. Society still has a lot of issues against the death penalty. One of the most commonly questions people ask themselves is; what would it accomplish to put someone on death row? If the victim is already dead, you cannot bring him back. It is not true that the opponents feel â€Å"fear of death† will prevent one of committing murder. Statistics show that most of the murders are done on the heat of passion when a person is unable to think rationally. Therefore, how can one think of fear in the â€Å"heat of passion? † Opponents also argue the fact that there have been a lot of cases where the person being convicted was mistakenly accused. Worse than that, many have often been mistakenly killed due to the capital punishment process, and it is often inconsistently and arbitrarily applied. For Christians, a perfect example of a person driven to the death row being â€Å"mistakenly accused† was Jesus. Legitimate murderers, in the bible, were granted freedom and forgiveness, but Jesus was convicted, accused, and finally killed. This argument is mostly used by religious activists and protesters against the death penalty. People with deep-rooted belief to religious viewpoint often defend the right to life above any punishment that will threaten or jeopardize it. Based on the information published in both articles resumed above, and over the internet, I conclude that death penalty is not a deterrent, as violent crime rates show to be consistently higher in death penalty jurisdictions. Whether you are a hardened criminal or a government representing the people, killing another human being is wrong. It is wrong from the eyes of the â€Å"justice†, and so it is wrong viewed from the eyes of God or the â€Å"Supreme Being† in which we believe. Keeping killers off the streets for good through the Life Without Parole (LWOP) also prevents re-offending without having to harm murderers’ life. As Voltaire once wrote; Eâ€Å"let the punishments of criminals be useful. A hanged man is good for nothing; a man condemned to public works still serves the country, and is a good living lesson. † BIBLIOGRAPHY . UMUC Library: Guide to Criminal Justice  Resources—UMUC Article: Anti-death penalty groups raising money for exonoree Anthony Graves, by Diane Jennings – Reporter of Dallas Morning News UMUC Library: Guide to Criminal Justice  Resources—UMUC Article: â€Å"Testimony to begin today in death penalty trial of man accused of killing wife, stepdaughter and showing stepsons their bodies†, by Jennifer Emily – Reporter of Dallas Morning News REFERENCES â€Å"CITED† TIME in Partnership with CNN (online): http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905684,00. html 2nd paragraph of: UMUC Library: Guide to Criminal Justice  Resources—UMUC Article: â€Å"Testimony to begin today in death penalty trial of man accused of killing wife, stepdaughter and showing stepsons their bodies†, by Jennifer Emily – Reporter of Dallas Morning News 2nd paragraph of: http://deathpenalty. procon. org/ 2nd paragraph of: http://deathpenalty. procon. org/ http://www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/