Capital Punishment

Argumentative Essay # 100744

Criminology > Criminal Justice and Corrections
Hot Topics > Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

This paper argues that capital punishment is a necessary evil.

1,260 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that safeguards built into the legal system have allowed the courtrooms of today to be places where true justice is meted out in a fair manner. The author points out that the introduction of new DNA technologies can help determine both innocence and guilt. The paper relates that the deterrent effect of the death penalty, cannot be denied because the fear of punishment and death is similar in all human beings even criminals; exceptions to this principle are few. The author stresses that, although the death penalty is not pleasant to think about, it is a necessary evil in our society to punish, deter and eliminate those persons who would unjustly take the lives of other people.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Does Bias Exist?
The Death Penalty as a Deterrent
DNA and the Death Penalty
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Finally, there are those who claim that death row is full of innocent men and recent releases due to new DNA evidence is proof of this assertion. "..." This argument actually bolsters the pro-death penalty argument, as if DNA can prove an inmate innocent of crime, it can prove guilt as well; therefore, society can be even more certain that those on death row are rightfully there. In addition, since 1976, "not one person in the United States has been later proven innocent as a result of DNA evidence." I would argue it is the rare occasion that DNA actually exonerates a death row inmate..."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bedau, Hugo Adam, and Cassell, Paul G. Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Eddlem, Thomas R. "Ten Anti-Death Penalty Fallacies: The Case Against Capital Punishment Relies on Myth, Misinformation, and Misplaced Emotionalism." The New American 18.11 (2002): 23-26.
Haines, Herbert H. Against Capital Punishment: The Anti-death Penalty Movement in America, 1972-1994. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Howe, Scott W. "The Futile Quest for Racial Neutrality in Capital Selection and the Eighth Amendment Argument for Abolition Base on Unconscious Racial Discrimination." William and Mary Law Review 45.5 (2004): 2083-2166.
Klug, Elizabeth A. "Inter Alia.(Study of Racial And Geographical Disparities in Federal Death Penalty System)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)." Corrections Compendium 26.7 (2001): 1-2.