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Argumentative Essay: The Death Penalty In The United States

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Argumentative Essay: The Death Penalty In The United States
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The Death Penalty

As long as human beings have had the capacity to think and make decisions, there have been good and bad actions made by people toward one another. The way society treats these actions varies by time period, location, and situation surrounding the deed. Bad deeds have had a huge spectrum of punishments, and today, in this country, the worst a man can earn is the death penalty. It is, by definition, the punishment of execution, administered to someone convicted of a capital crime. If one is going to discuss this topic they must first understand what this means; someone is having their life taken away because of an action to society. The death penalty is wrong and should be abolished by the American Government, because
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This will be used in my rebuttal; because it disproves the thought that capital punishment works as an incentive for people to not commit crimes. The blogger gives full citation to where he/she got their stats, so I know they 're not made up.

"High Cost of Death Row." _New York Times_ 28 September 2009: A22, Print.

This is an editorial that is supporting my opinion on getting rid of the death penalty. It comes from a reputable author who states and cites many legitimate arguments against the death penalty. Although it does briefly touch on some of the moral reasons that it shouldn 't be allowed, this editorial focuses in on the economic factor to having these programs in place. This is especially good for my article because of the economic crisis we are in, the reader can relate to this issue in the aspect of money, not jus morality.

Jiang, Shanhe. "Death Penalty Views in China, Japan and the U.S.: An Empirical Comparison" _Journal of Criminal Justice_, 38.5 (2010): 862-9.
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It gives statistics and quotes from professors and other written scholars, some on their opinion but mostly just informational. The position of the author is against mine, so I can use it to start of a rebuttal and to state the opinion of the opposite side. This article also gives a brief timeline of when certain laws were put into place, and how the death penalty laws have changed over time.

Powell, Michael. "Obama Disagrees With Supreme Court Decision on Death Penalty." _New York Times_ 25 June 2008: Print.

This article will be very useful, being that it is an article about our president discussing the death penalty. Naturally, everyone will care about the presidents ' opinion even if they don 't agree with it. Most of the information is from a press conference given about a certain Supreme Court decision on child rapists and the death penalty. I will be able to use this to quote Obama 's opinion, but also it is a single case not just about the death penalty in general, so it will be very handy. For the most part, it is against my stance so I will use this to rebuttal against.

Urbina, Ian. "Citing Cost, States Consider End to Death Penalty." _New York Times_ 25 February 2009: A1,

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