Capital Punishment

Persuasive Essay # 100385

Criminology > Criminal Justice and Corrections
Ethics
Hot Topics > Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

Presents argumenta against capital punishment.

1,175 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that, since the main issue in the debate over capital punishment hinges on whether killing is a morally justified response to criminal conduct, capital punishment simply cannot be considered acceptable on moral grounds. The paper argues that the death penalty is an old barbaric practice that is immoral, unfair to minorities, simply does not deter crime, and should be discontinued except in a very small minority of cases.

From the Paper:

"Capital punishment should be outlawed because it denies a citizen his or her Constitutional right to due process of law. The imposition of capital punishment is arbitrary and irrevocable. It forever deprives an individual of potential benefits of new evidence or new laws that might warrant the reversal of a conviction or the setting aside of a death sentence, and violates a citizen's constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the laws, for studies have proven that capital punishment is applied randomly at best and discriminatorily at worst. It is imposed disproportionately, and many would say in a racist manner, upon those whose victims are white, on offenders who are people of color, and on those who are poor and uneducated."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bedau, Hugo Adam. The Death Penalty in America: Current Controversies. Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Costanzo, Mark. Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty. New York:Worth Publishing, 1997.
Megivern, James J. The Death Penalty: An Historical and Theological Survey. New York:Paulist Press, 1997.