Preview

Death Penalty

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
685 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Death Penalty
Introduction: Death penalty has been an inalienable part of human society and its legal system for centuries, regarded as a necessary deterrent to dangerous crimes and a way to liberate the community from dangerous criminals. However, later on this type of punishment came to be regarded as a crime against humanistic ideals by many, and its validity in the legal system has been questioned. Until now, the debate rages on. But I’m here to tell you that the death penalty is the right thing to do !!
Background: The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C.E. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.E.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. In the Tenth Century A.D., hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain. In the following century, William the Conqueror would not allow persons to be hanged or otherwise executed for any crime, except in times of war. This trend would not last, for in the Sixteenth Century, under the reign of Henry VIII, as many as 72,000 people are estimated to have been executed. Some common methods of execution at that time were boiling, burning at the stake, hanging, beheading, and drawing and quartering. Executions were carried out for such capital offenses as marrying a Jew, not confessing to a crime, and treason. The number of capital crimes in Britain continued to rise throughout the next two centuries. By the 1700s, 222 crimes were punishable by death in Britain, including stealing, cutting down a tree, and robbing a rabbit warren. Because of the severity of the death penalty, many juries would not

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Introduction Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is defined as the physical execution of a person by the state as punishment for a crime. The existence of the death penalty dates as early as the eighteenth century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. The code outlines twenty-five different crimes for which the death penalty was applied. At this time, the means by which the death penalty was enacted included crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. However, by the tenth century A.D., hanging became the primary execution method in Britain.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    death penalty

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Specific deterrence- punishment of a crime that prevents the offender from repeating the same offense again.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is known that, “The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes” (“Introduction to the Death Penalty”). In the seventh century B.C. the death penalty was a part of the Draconian Code of Athens while the death penalty was the only punishment for any crime. During this time, the death penalty came to the extent of drowning, beating to death, crucifixion, impalement, and being buried alive (“Introduction to the Death Penalty”). In the tenth century, Britain began using hanging as the usual method for punishment. William the Conqueror made it a law in the eleventh century that no executions could be…

    • 1312 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 4048 Words
    • 17 Pages

    Title: Point: Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished. By: Ballaro, Beverly, Cushman, C. Ames, Points of View: Death Penalty, 2009 Database: Points of View Reference Center…

    • 4048 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After analyzing Ernest Van Den Haag’s case study ‘In Defense of the Death Penalty’, and Hugo A. Bedau’s ‘The Case Against the Death Penalty’, I have conflicting feelings contradict my own analysis. Ernest Van Den Haag breaks down the pros and cons of the death penalty and uses retributivism to justify death penalty and capital punishment, while Hugo A. Bedau’s article is about the inconsistency in capital punishment and in particular on the abolition of practice. Each article states key positions that make my feelings conflicted between both sides, Bedau backs up that the majority of people persecuted fight through several trails after a long period incarcerated with life sentenced to death end up guilty. (Bedau, 243) Van Den Haag key positions reflect in the retributivist statement, “eye for an eye”. (Van Den Haag, 231) I believe in both sides, and in my own opinion there is no solution for middle ground.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman, a classical scholar and poet, who was once a Professor of Latin at University College, in London in 1892, and the song “My Hero” by the band Foo Fighters, an American rock band formed by singer/guitarist/drummer Dave Grohl in 1995, both talk about a hero who dies young and in the peak of their fame. Similar literary elements that the poem and the song shared were they both had apostrophe and both of their stanzas are quatrain. Something that “To an Athlete Dying Young” had that “My Hero” did not have was metaphors and personification. The poem and song are both try to look at death in more of a positive way, and being young but still being able to have such an affect on others.…

    • 1117 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Have you ever wondered what life would be like knowing that a murderer went free after killing one of your family members; it is a very unsettling thought knowing that people have this feeling everyday. The death penalty is the best punishment for murderers because it is condoned by the Bible, gives closure to family members and keeps the cost of inmates down.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages

    “Forgiving violence does not mean condoning violence. There are only two alternatives to forgiving violence: revenge, or adopting an attitude of never-ending bitterness and anger. For too long we have treated violence with violence, and that's why it never ends.” (Coretta Scott King, Widow of Martin Luther King) Capital Punishment should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. The Catholic Church is adamantly opposed to the death penalty. The death penalty should be banned as long as there are non-lethal means to defend and protect the people’s safety.…

    • 1865 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The death penalty dates back as far as the Ancient Laws of China. In the 18th Century B.C., the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for twenty-five…

    • 2636 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (referring to execution by beheading).…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Should the Death Penalty be Banned as a Form of Punishment.” Balance Politics. N.p., 12…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The death penalty has been most talked about for years, to some it is an unfair way to pass judgment on a person. The argument went as far as to say that conforming to such a method is a step backwards and offers no real solution. Critic Coretta Scott King argued strongly against the practice and rebukes the idea. One can always say what they want about the matter but insufficient knowledge with hinder their judgment. The death penalty ought to be considered as a means of punishment for those who commit ghastly murders.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Capital punishment has been used around the world for many thousands of years as a way of enforcing justice when someone has done wrong by what standards that the cultures have. Over the past few centuries capital punishment has started to be questioned by many people in Europe and in the United States. Many people who support the death penalty cite reasons such as deterrence and not wanting to spend money a person who will never be a productive member of society again. Many who are in opposition to the death penalty say that the death penalty is killing innocent people and is actually not saving any money at all and that it is in fact costing too much and that it is wrong to simply kill someone who commits a crime. There are also questions to the fairness of the death penalty and many who question if it is being applied fairly. Both sides of the debate over the morality and legitimacy of capital punishment will be presented in this paper with this author taking one side. While the thought of having someone put to death is not something that anyone would like, the death penalty is the only way for ultimate justice to be administered for victims provided that it is fairly administered.…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The death penalty is an extremely controversial topic that is developing within our society today. According to Andre and Velasquez in “Capital Punishment: Our Duty or Our Doom,” 2000 people in the United States are currently awaiting capital punishment due to atrocious crimes (Andre and Velasquez 2013). This issue is becoming more controversial as more states are beginning to consider ratifying this concept states Andre and Velasquez (Andre and Velasquez 2013). The reason this issue is becoming more controversial is due to the fact that this punishment is at the peak of severity. Capital punishment is the legal process for a court to deem death upon an individual due to the severity of the crimes committed. These crimes can range anywhere from murder, to treason under certain circumstances. Sociologically, numerous activist groups due to the fact of the extreme controversy of the task at hand are questioning this issue. Does living in a free country necessarily give the courts the right to take a person’s life just due to the crimes, or is another punishment necessarily acceptable in certain circumstances? Does a judge, or any person for that matter, have the rights to sentence a person to death? Andre and Velasquez state that morally, the death penalty is wrong on the basis that society has a moral obligation to save as many lives as possible, not take them (Andre and Velasquez 2013). Andre and Velasquez further state that there is no supporting evidence to say that another punishment has a stronger effect then let’s say death (Andre and Velasquez 2013). The death penalty is an extremely controversial topic due to the severity of the punishment; however, certain measure must be understood to fully implicate the reasons for the establishment of this punishment within our society today.…

    • 2110 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Death Penalty

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. There are two sides for the death penalty. Some people disagree with the death penalty and some people are for it. There are many reasons why people are for it and why people are not for it.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics