Attention Getter For Capital Punishment
Topic: Capital Punishment
General Purpose: To argue
Specific Purpose: To argue that the United States should outlaw capital punishment in all fifty states.
Thesis Statement: Capital Punishment should be outlawed in all fifty states because: (1) capital punishment once executed cannot be undone, and (2) the cost process of capital punishment isn’t worth the expense.
Introduction
I. [Attention Getter] Imagine being sentenced to die.
A. The United States gives you, the offender, five options to proceed.
1. Most likely your state will proceed with your execution through lethal injection.
2. There are other options if you so choose.
a) They are lethal gas, hanging, firing squad, and electrocution.
B. It’s hard to believe that the United States allows …show more content…
[Constructive Argument] Capital punishment cannot be undone.
A. If any wrongfully accused individuals have been sentenced to death, nothing can be done for the individual after the execution.
1. The justice system makes mistakes.
a) Jennifer Givens, an assistant professor and legal director at the University of Virginia: School of Law, wrote a scholarly essay in June 2017 which states “Recent research suggests that the rate of wrongful convictions in capital cases where a death sentence was imposed is approximately four percent which means that approximately 120 of the roughly 3,000 inmates on death row in this country are not guilty” (Givens).
b) Givens also states “The common causes of wrongful convictions are well documented: police and prosecutorial misconduct, mistaken eye witness identification, false confessions, lying incentivized witnesses (usually jailhouse snitches), junk or stale science, and bad lawyering on the part of the defense counsel” (Givens).
c) Information provided by Givens shows that wrong convictions can easily happen.
B. Today, I will inform you of three instances where wrongfully convicted individuals were put to death because of capital …show more content…
(1) It prevents the individual from committing more crimes while they are incarcerated.
B. [Attack the reasoning] Second, although capital punishment could be seen as a deterrent, there’s no data to support the claim.
1. From a scholarly essay written by John Lamperti, a professor of mathematics at Dartmouth university, the author does a statistical analysis on whether or not capital punishment deters murder.
a) In his findings, he states “Data from 1973 to 1984 show that murder rates in the states without the death penalty were consistently lower and averaged only 63% of the corresponding rates in the states retaining it” (Lamperti).
(1) This data is important because it analyzes murder rates in the states before and after the death penalty was reintroduced in the United States.
C. [Minimizing] Finally, capital punishment can’t be proven to be a deterrent, so the outlawing of capital punishment in the United States won’t increase crime.
D. [Impact] With the information I have provided, it contradicts those that want capital punishment.
1. There is no factual data to back up the claim.
2. Other deterrents must be taken into account.
3. The outlaw of capital punishment in the U.S. doesn’t have negative
General Purpose: To argue
Specific Purpose: To argue that the United States should outlaw capital punishment in all fifty states.
Thesis Statement: Capital Punishment should be outlawed in all fifty states because: (1) capital punishment once executed cannot be undone, and (2) the cost process of capital punishment isn’t worth the expense.
Introduction
I. [Attention Getter] Imagine being sentenced to die.
A. The United States gives you, the offender, five options to proceed.
1. Most likely your state will proceed with your execution through lethal injection.
2. There are other options if you so choose.
a) They are lethal gas, hanging, firing squad, and electrocution.
B. It’s hard to believe that the United States allows …show more content…
[Constructive Argument] Capital punishment cannot be undone.
A. If any wrongfully accused individuals have been sentenced to death, nothing can be done for the individual after the execution.
1. The justice system makes mistakes.
a) Jennifer Givens, an assistant professor and legal director at the University of Virginia: School of Law, wrote a scholarly essay in June 2017 which states “Recent research suggests that the rate of wrongful convictions in capital cases where a death sentence was imposed is approximately four percent which means that approximately 120 of the roughly 3,000 inmates on death row in this country are not guilty” (Givens).
b) Givens also states “The common causes of wrongful convictions are well documented: police and prosecutorial misconduct, mistaken eye witness identification, false confessions, lying incentivized witnesses (usually jailhouse snitches), junk or stale science, and bad lawyering on the part of the defense counsel” (Givens).
c) Information provided by Givens shows that wrong convictions can easily happen.
B. Today, I will inform you of three instances where wrongfully convicted individuals were put to death because of capital …show more content…
(1) It prevents the individual from committing more crimes while they are incarcerated.
B. [Attack the reasoning] Second, although capital punishment could be seen as a deterrent, there’s no data to support the claim.
1. From a scholarly essay written by John Lamperti, a professor of mathematics at Dartmouth university, the author does a statistical analysis on whether or not capital punishment deters murder.
a) In his findings, he states “Data from 1973 to 1984 show that murder rates in the states without the death penalty were consistently lower and averaged only 63% of the corresponding rates in the states retaining it” (Lamperti).
(1) This data is important because it analyzes murder rates in the states before and after the death penalty was reintroduced in the United States.
C. [Minimizing] Finally, capital punishment can’t be proven to be a deterrent, so the outlawing of capital punishment in the United States won’t increase crime.
D. [Impact] With the information I have provided, it contradicts those that want capital punishment.
1. There is no factual data to back up the claim.
2. Other deterrents must be taken into account.
3. The outlaw of capital punishment in the U.S. doesn’t have negative