and, that do to so would contradict Judeo-Christian values of morality (Wilson, 2009). Additionally, opponents of the death penalty note that there is no evidence that lethal punishment has any effect whatsoever on whether or not criminals will commit a murder; and, that retribution here does not help to bring about closure. Rather, it perpetuates the underlying violence and had a tendency to bring about more anger as opposed to peace. In the words of Jesuit Priest and Community Professor, Raymond a. Schroth, S.J., "It [capital punishment] contaminates the otherwise good will which any human being needs to progress in love and understanding" (Schroth, 2008). Thus, capital punishment as a means to provide retribution for families fails to take into consideration the immense toll that the process of putting another human being puts another under.
In addition to the foregoing reasons against capital punishment, a review of the implementation of capital punishment over the years in America in particular reveals that the practice itself is not free from racial stereotypes. In fact, a disproportionate amount of people of color have been sentenced to death. Furthermore, the poor have less access to knowledge regarding his or her options and they have less resources to rely upon should they need help. As such, a disproportionate amount of people being set to death includes those who cannot find a lawyer who is ready and willing to fight for their honor and their name (Wilson, 2009).
Case Study: Stanley Tookie Williams III
One of the more controversial modern capital cases occurred in the United States in 2005, upon the death of Stanley Tookie Williams III. The "King Crip" or Stanley Tookie Williams III was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1953. As a young adult, he founded Crips which has grown into one of the most notorious and violent gangs in the United States today. In 1979, the court convicted him of four murders during the course of a robbery and sentenced him to death. Toward the end of his life, he apologized for his role in the creation of the Crips and for the numerous crimes that he committed -- many of which...
[DPIC] Similarly, many other researches were conducted but failed to offer any conclusive evidence as to the effectiveness of capital punishment in deterring crimes. The lack of consistency in these results presents a complex problem before us in evaluating the utilitarian value of death penalty. One more aspect to be considered under the utilitarian thought is the cost of executions. It is well-known that the legal cost of executions in
Capital Punishment Solitary confinement represents one among the best means of keeping modern-day prisoners from communication and conflict, but has the most injurious effects on their health. Individuals imprisoned in conditions of solitary confinement demonstrate more psychotic behavior compared to normal prisoners; this includes higher rate of suicides (Thesis Statement). After a prisoner loses his/her mental capacity of understanding the reason for his/her imprisonment or punishment, subjecting him/her to solitary confinement
Death Penalty is the most severe forms of punishment that can be accorded to a criminal who has committed a crime and deserves to be punished. The brief history of death penalty shows that this is nothing new, because it was something that was practiced right from the eighteenth century BC, in Babylon, and thereafter in Athens, and in Rome, and in Great Britain. The death penalty methods of punishments
However, sociologists argue that the retributive justice theory suffers due to the lack of appreciation of circumstantial causes involved in the commission of crime. By counting 'free will' as the only factor involved in a crime the deontological thinking lacks in the comprehensive analysis of criminal behavior. For instance the disproportionate number of crimes by the economically disadvantaged African-Americans when compared to Caucasians is a clear instance for external
Death Penalty for Juvenile Offenders Supreme Court by a majority decision on March 1, 2005 in Roper v. Simmons held that death penalty for juveniles was "cruel and unusual" and as such the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution forbid the execution of offenders who were under the age of 18 when their crimes were committed. The action reversed the death sentences of 72 convicted murderers in the U.S.
However, this difficulty can be avoided by examining van den Haag's distinction between justice and equality. The physical reality of administering justice can never match its theoretical guidelines. Justice is a necessary tool in the aim of producing a functional society. Accordingly, inequities that arise in its practice must be tolerated -- although fought against. State sanctioned killing, on the other hand, is not a logistic necessity for any
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