Death penalty

The death penalty

The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1301
October 30, 2016
Carmen F. Sanchez

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Abstract
The death penalty has been a topic that has brought up a variety of opinions based on whether it
should be abolished or be left alone. Although there are those who believe that the existence of
such punishment is crucial to the safety and stability of the country others believe that it is in fact
doing the complete opposite. One argument that is talked about most frequently is the lack of
humanity and morality that comes in to place when executing someone for committing heinous
crimes such as murder or even rape. The large majority of the public is completely unaware of
the effects that could arise when being exposed to such acts of violence. Although to some it
might seem that the existence of such punishment brings justice to the country, to others it can
mean otherwise, in other words it can symbolize the lack of justice in our country. Most of
society might believe that the reason behind having the death penalty saves money in the long
run but there are many sources that have proved this to be false. Overall, there are many views
on the topic but the main difference between them is the kind of information that played a role in
forming a certain view.

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Introduction
The death penalty has caused an up rise of conflictive opinions on whether it should be abolished
or left unchanged. Those who support the act of execution as a form of punishment believe that it
will lower the rate of crime within the community and ultimately deter someone from wanting to
commit a crime (Soss, et al 2003). Those who vote against the death penalty believe that
exposing society to such cruel and unusual punishment will not only promote the act of violence
itself but also support the idea of retaliating against someone else to get revenge (Brook, 2014).
The main attribute that leads part of society to go against the capital punishment is because it is
morally wrong. Although some might argue that executing a convict is a form of justice, they fail
to realize that they are still committing an act of murder (Stevenson, 2004). In other words, the
act of murder cannot be justified no matter the circumstance it is practiced in. Criminals are still
considered human beings no matter the crimes he or she has committed which means that their
inalienable rights which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness should not be violated.
There are many reasons why the death penalty should be abolished, many of which society is
completely unaware of. This report will cover the following reasons, which include price, social
effects, and the lack of morality and humanity.
States that have abolished the capital punishment
Although there have been states that have abolished the death penalty throughout the years, there
are still others who have not changed their mind about the potential effects that the capital
punishment could have on society, and the overall disregard of a persons natural rights, which
include the right to live. States such as; Rhode Island, New York, New Mexico, Connecticut,
Nebraska and Delaware have all agreed that the act of executing someone does in fact go against
the constitution (Death penalty information center, 2016). What this shows is that the different

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vis each state has regarding the use of execution as a form of punishment can be interpreted as
unconstitutional. Well if that is the case how come states such as Texas, Arizona, California,
Florida, etc. still use practice the capital punishment. Well like it was mentioned before, there is
an ideology that goes around stating that it will lower criminality rates such as murder for
example. In fact, that has been proven to be wrong because there has been no substantial
decrease in the amount of criminal deterrence (Pojman, L. P., & Reiman, J. H. 1998).
Price
There have been many opinions based on the assumption that the existence of the capital
punishment is one way the state saves money opposed to keeping a criminal in prison for life.
This assumption was proven to be wrong in 1988 where a study held in Florida showed that the
cost to have a criminal executed was about 3.3 million dollars opposed to a life in prison had an
average cost of 600,000 dollars (McLaughlin, 2014). Knowing that the cost of executing
someone is significantly greater than simply placing someone is prison for life, how come the
government still choses to have this form of punishment? Well per McLaughlin, if those who are
against the capital punishment were to bring out the cost of executing someone to the state they
would be more incline to listen and potentially abolish this form of punishment. Many of those
who want the death penalty to be abolished point out the immorality behind the punishment but
never point out the benefits that would come out of abolishing such punishment. The states have
been more inclined to abolishing death row because it was brought up to their attention that they
could save money if they were to simply sentence someone to life in prison (McLaughlin, 2014).
Social Effects

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Although it might seem like the only ones who are affected by the capital punishment are those
who are being executed, it goes much further than that. Even though a criminal being executed
will appear to lower criminality rates it does the opposite (Pojman, L. P., & Reiman, J. H. (1998).
Per Brook Dan in Kill the Death Penalty:10 Arguments Against Capital Punishment society is
being exposed to acts of violence which could potentially lead up to more violence and
aggressive behavior. When criminals are placed in death row for a long time they tend to
disregard the reason for their imprisonment, meaning that there is no reflection or sign of repent
for committing such crime, which goes against the whole meaning of imprisoning someone,
which also means no form of deterrence what so ever (Brook, 2014).
Lack of morality and humanity
When someone is place in death row it is safe to assume that it was done without any influential
factor such as race or amount of wealth, well that is not always the case (Adams, 2005). Per
Banner S., although the crime was the most influential part when deciding if someone is
deserving of the death penalty or not, their racial background was also an influence. This
information shows how not everyone who was ever place in death row was one hundred percent
deserving of such punishment. The problem with this is that the whole point of punishing
someone with execution is to serve justice, but how can this be if the whole process of
determination has unjust influences. The racial background of a criminal is not the only flaw
with such form of punishment, the possibility of a mistake occurring in placing someone in death
row is not one that has never happened before. For example, in a documentary called
Rethinking the death penalty many authoritative figures are not willing to have such fault
weighing on their shoulders because they do realize that when executing someone there is no
possible way of bringing the person back to life if new evidence comes out stating that the

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person who was executed is proven innocent. In the recent years, new innovations such as the
use of DNA to prove someones innocence have helped criminals prove their innocence right
before they were executed (Rethinking the death penalty, 2000). This information helps prove
that before DNA could be tested there was probably many cases where the person who was
executed could have been proven innocent, but unfortunately that was not a possibility in their
time.
Conclusion
The death penalty is not a gateway to justice because of all the flaws that it has. When someone
is being executed there is no way of bringing the person back to life therefore shuts down any
possibilities for them to be proven innocent and being released. The only real way to avoid this
phenomenon is to either abolish the death penalty or to be one hundred percent sure that the
person that is being placed under death row is guilty, but the second choice is not one that is
always full proof. The information provided above shows that not punishment is perfect,
especially one that involves killing someone for their crimes. Although society is inclined
towards believing that executing those who are criminals will benefit them they fail to see that
violence only ends up with more violence and so on. In other words, if one chooses to fight fire
with fire, the only thing that comes out of that is a bigger fire.

References

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Adams, L. (2005). Death By Discretion: Who Decides Who Lives and Dies in the United States
of America?. American Journal Of Criminal Law, 32(3), 381-401.
Banner, S. (2000). Too Close for Insight. Reviews in American History 28(3), 460-464. The
Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from Project MUSE database
Brook Dan, Ph.D., Kill the Death Penalty:10 Arguments Against Capital Punishment, (July 15,
2014). Retrieved October 7,2016, from http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/07/15/killdeath-penalty-10-arguments-against-capital-punishment
Death penalty information center, (August 18, 2016) States with and without the death penalty,
Retrieved October 6, 2016, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-deathpenalty
McLaughlin, J. (2014). The Price of Justice: Interest-Convergence, Cost, And the Anti-Death
Penalty Movement. Northwestern University Law Review, 108(2), 675-710. Retrieved October
16,2016, from EbscoHost database
Pojman, L. P., & Reiman, J. H. (1998). The Death Penalty: For and Against. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Retrieved October 6,2016, from EbscoHost database
Rethinking the death penalty [Video file]. (2000). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://0fod.infobase.com.lib.utep.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=104347&xtid=11258
Soss, J., Langbein, L., & Metelko, A. R. (2003). Why Do White Americans Support the Death
Penalty?. Journal of Politics, Retrieved October 11, 2016 from EbscoHost database
Stevenson B, JD, Close to death, 2004, Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment in
America," from Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? The

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Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case, Retrieved October 6,2016, from
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000

Annotated Bibliography

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Adams, L. (2005). Death by Discretion: Who Decides Who Lives and Dies in the United States
of America?. American Journal of Criminal Law, 32(3), 381-401.
There are many things that come into making the decision of whether someone is
deserving of the placement in death row. Although itd be assumed that the decision
would be influence free and that the sentencing would ultimately be serving justice, but
that is not always the case, in face there are many influences that would trigger a
prosecutor toward making sure a convict is faced with the death penalty or vice versa,
influences include racial background and ethnicity. There have been cases where race was
a strong influence on the ultimate determination is someone was whether going to be
executed or not. What i hope to achieve with this article is to show the unjust decisions
that are made when determining if someone is deserving of the death punishment or not
and that there has been people who could have walked freely but their background was a
strong influence within their conviction.
Banner, S. (2000). Too Close for Insight. Reviews in American History 28(3), 460-464. The
Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from Project MUSE
database
This book is mainly about what influences the likelihood of a criminal being sentenced
to death row. It can obviously be determined by the seriousness of the crime, but in some
cases, it has been slightly determined by the racial ethnicity of the convict, which shows
that not much has changed when it comes to racial discrimination. Also in the book, it is
pointed out that the death penalty could easily be compared to slavery because of the lack
of humanity when it is time to execute the person. With this book, I hope to bring
awareness to why the death sentence should be reconsidered. There are many alternatives

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that could be used as a form of punishment such as a life time sentence without any
possibility of parole, this would be significantly cheaper and the state would not run the
risk of accidentally killing an innocent person, because its been known to happen.
Brook Dan, Ph.D., Kill the Death Penalty:10 Arguments Against Capital Punishment, (July 15,
2014). Retrieved October 7,2016, from
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/07/15/kill-death-penalty-10arguments-

against-capital-punishment

Many things are pointed out in the article regarding the cons and effects of the death
penalty. The death penalty itself could be considered a form a cruel and unusual
punishments because of the methods and steps that come into place when executing a
convict. Aside from the punishment affecting the convict directly it also has a great
impact on society. For example, society is being exposed to a form of violence which
could lead to a negative and aggressive response. The death penalty also has possibilities
of a mistake being made such as executing someone who is later found to be innocent,
once the person is killed there is no way of fixing that mistake. Also this form of
punishment is significantly more expensive compared to a convict that is sentenced to life
in prison. What I hope to achieve with this is to bring awareness to the fact that the death
penalty is causing more harm than benefits. The public lacks the sufficient knowledge on
the topic and its effects on society that lead them into believing that the execution of a
convict will benefit them in the long run.
Death penalty information center, (August 18, 2016) States with and without the death penalty,
Retrieved October 6, 2016, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-withoutdeath-penalty

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There is a list of states that have abolished the death penalty because they believed that
this form was unconstitutional such as; Rhode Island, New York, New Mexico,
Connecticut, Nebraska and Delaware. Although there have been states that declared death
row as unconstitutional there are still states that believe this form of punishment is best to
maintain criminal activity under control such that it would deter people from wanting to
commit such crimes, states include; Texas, Arizona, California, Florida, etc. What I hope
to accomplish with this research is why certain states decided to abolish the death
penalty, the one who already abolished the punishment all agreed that it can be
considered unconstitutional depending on the way it is seen and interpreted.
McLaughlin, J. (2014). The Price of Justice: Interest-Convergence, Cost, And the Anti-Death
Penalty Movement. Northwestern University Law Review, 108(2), 675-710.
Retrieved

October 16,2016, from EbscoHost database

This article talks about how the government is not willing to change their minds on the
death penalty because many debates are based on how the process of goes against moral
which is not something that the government itself is not concerned about. So, in order to
gain the government's approval, the benefits should be stated, such as how they would be
saving money in the long run because the death penalty is quite expensive. What I hope
to accomplish with this article is encourage people to look for other reasons other than
moral to convince those with power to abolish the death penalty. The reason for this is
because not everyone has the same view on the topic so rather than simply state your
views and concerns state those that could influence your audience in this case it would be
the government, their main concern is the money and what they could do to cut back on
expenses.

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Pojman, L. P., & Reiman, J. H. (1998). The Death Penalty: For and Against. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Retrieved October 6,2016, from EbscoHost database
Two philosophers offer their opinion based on whether the death

penalty should go on

or if it should be abolished. Louis P. Pojman is a firm believer in the principle of

retribution, He believes that our actions are deserving of either a reward or punishment,
therefore we should accept the consequence of our actions. On the other hand, Jeffrey
Reiman believes that the act of execution has not shown substantial result in the
deterrence of crimes and that if we were to get rid of the death penalty we would show
the intolerance for violence no matter what act is deserving of it. With this book, I hope
to show the different moral inclination for agreeing with the death penalty as well as why
it should be disagreed with it.

Rethinking the death penalty [Video file]. (2000). Retrieved October 16, 2016, from
http://0-

fod.infobase.com.lib.utep.edu/PortalPlaylists.aspx?

wID=104347&xtid=11258
Many politicians have changed their mind about the death penalty. They believe
that when executing someone there is always the risk of making a mistake that
could potentially take the life of an innocent person, many politicians are not
willing or capable of coping with this fault. There have been cases where people
were wrongly convicted and are ultimately set free because new evidence has
come out showing there was a mistake made, mistakes that include DNA

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evidence. What I hope to achieve with this source is prove that executing a person
runs the risk of ultimately committing murder against what could be an innocent
person, that is a mistake that could never be fixed. This risk can only be avoided if
the capital punishment were to be completely abolished.
Soss, J., Langbein, L., & Metelko, A. R. (2003). Why Do White Americans Support the Death
Penalty?. Journal of Politics, Retrieved October 11, 2016 from EbscoHost database
This Journal further supports the idea behind the fact that racial discrimination does occur
during the time a convict is sentenced to death. The author explains how aside from
simply being a racial problem he mentioned that white Americans are more likely to
agree with the death penalty because they believe that it will bring order to the country
along with potential deterrence from criminal activity. They are also inclined to go for the
death penalty because it represents the true American ideology. With this journal, I hope
to strengthen my research when it comes to setting our moral values straight. When there
is a convict placed in death row the idea of this punishment being morally wrong is not
one that gets paid too much attention, political values are what people are more inclined
to believe in especially those who believe that this form of punishment will potentially
bring order to the state they live in and eventually to the country itself.
Stevenson B, JD, Close to death, 2004, Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment in
America," from Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment?
The Experts on Both Sides Make Their Best Case, Retrieved October 6,2016, from
http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000

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In Bryan Stevensons article close to death there is an explication based on the

immorality behind taking a criminal down death row. He claims that killing a convict has
little to no relevance to the fact that the criminal is deserving of death itself, no matter the
severity of the crime committed. He also brings out the point that most of the time if not
all the time the system tends to treat you better depending on the wealth you possess. I
hope that this will strengthen my point within my research paper pertaining to the lack of
justice within the system. For being such a sensitive topic the system lacks the effort of
making sure criminals are given the right punishment

1. What is this writer's purpose? How can you tell?

The purpose of the writer is to explain the death penalty and why it should
not be in effect. The writer explains both sides of the death penalty, on why
should a person be kill and how much money goes into the case of a person
been in trail to be sentence to the death penalty.

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2. Does the writer achieve this purpose effectively? Why or why not? What
techniques does the writer use to help achieve the purpose?
Yes and no, there is a lot of information on how a person is chosen to pay his
sentence with the death penalty.

3. Identify any places where the writer's ideas are unclear. How could the
writer clarify these points?
the main attribute that leads part of society to go against the capital
punishment is because it is morally wrong. Explain why is morally wrong.
How? who?

4. What is the writer's thesis statement (main argument)? Does the writer
return to this argument consistently throughout the paper? If not, where
does the argument start to unravel?
Missing a thesis.

5. Where would you like the writer to have provided more information?
Need more information on how a convict is chosen for death penalty the trial
time and when they get they get sentence to death penalty how long after
till is she/he gets prosecuted

6. Are there any factual mistakes or logical inconsistencies? If so, where are
they and why are they problematic? Where it says

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What I am trying to say is that do not use this in a repot paper. Good
information was provided, but would like to read more information on topic.

7. Evaluate the writing itself. Is the paper easy to read? Are there particular
grammatical issues that you noticed? How distracting did you find these
issues?
Very easy to ready, but missing information on the process of a person been
in trial for death penalty.

8. Who is the intended audience of the paper? How can you tell?
This paper is intended for Adult to understand the pros and cons of the death
penalty. Maybe for people to change they mind about how they feel about
the death penalty been legal in some states and not in others.

9. Name two strengths of the paper. Was there a particularly memorable

detail?
The information provided about the financial spend on the case is
good information, but would like to see some numbers to compare how much
money goes into the case and how much money is spent if a person is just
put in prison.

10. Name two weaknesses of the paper. Are there any strategies you can
suggest to the writer to help him/her remedy these weaknesses?
What is the main point you are trying to have the readers understand?
Just missing information that will be very useful to understand your topic.

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(Written by Janet Yvellez)