Capital Punishment

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that capital punishment has no place in a supposedly civilized and industrialized nation such as the United States. According to the paper, the death penalty has done little to curb crime and has never been implemented fairly in the United States. Therefore, capital punishment should be repealed in favor of alternative forms such as life imprisonment without parole.

Outline:
Why the Death Penalty?
Philosophies of Justice
Deterrence and Racism in the Death Penalty
Cruel and Unusual

From the Paper:

"Study after study, however, has shown no correlation between the availability of a death penalty and crime. A study by the Death Penalty Information Center shows that United States, which retains the death penalty, has a murder rate that is more than three times that of many of its European allies that have banned capital punishment (DPIC homepage). Many factors could account for the much lower murder rate in Europe, such as stronger familial ties and much more stringent gun control laws. Capital punishment, however, is not one of these reasons."
"Furthermore, it is a fact that capital punishment could not be fairly administered throughout the country. From state to state, variables such as race, class and even gender continue to influence sentencing in capital cases. In addition, the imposition of capital punishment is subject to extra-legal influences. Statistics show that the imposition of the death penalty is "infected by prejudice and discrimination." Part of the reason is socio-economic, as researchers show how people who are poor are more likely to be represented by public defenders, while many Caucasian defendants can afford expensive defense teams (Johnson and Johnson 519)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR). "Definition of Mental Retardation," available at www.aamr.org/policies/faqmentalretardation.html. Visited April 7, 2003.
• Bonner, Raymond and Sarah Rimer. "Executing the Mentally Retarded Even As Laws Begin to Shift." The New York Times. August 7, 2000. ProQuest Database.
• Bonner, Raymond and Ford Fessenden, "States with No Death Penalty Share Lower Homicide Rates," The New York Times (22 September 2000): A1.
• Death Penalty Information Center homepage. 01 May 2006. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
• Dieter, Richard C. "SENTENCING FOR LIFE:." Death Penalty Issues. Death Penalty Information Center. 1 May 2006. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/dpic.r07.html>.

More papers on Capital Punishment:

• Argumentative Essay # 22661 : "Capital Punishment and the Washington Sniper"
• Argumentative Essay # 148116 : "Does Capital Punishment Deter Murder?"
• Analytical Essay # 86172 : "Capital Punishment in Texas"
• Analytical Essay # 130903 : "Religion and Capital Punishment"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: