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AnthonyDiMeglio
ProfessorCox
CriminalJustice1010
3April2016

TheDeathPenalty
WhileresearchinginformationontheDeathPenalty,Ifoundthattherewasanabundance
ofinformationavailableforreview.Also,whenspeakingwithothersonthissubjectlotwas
broughtupfordebate.Personally,Iamstronglyagainstcapitalpunishment.However,thishad
notalwaysbeentrue.Backintheearly2000s,Iwasallforcapitalpunishment,believingthatif
someonecommittedacrimetheyhadtopayforit,especiallywhentheUnitedStatesArmy
capturedSaddamHussain.OftenIwouldarguethatifsomeonecommittedsuchaheinouscrime
intakingsomeoneelse'slifethattheydeservedtheDeathPenalty.ItwasonlywhenIbecame
older,wiserandmaturedthatIchangedmybelief,sureitisagainstreligiousbeliefs,butitisalso
morallywrongandthewrongthingtodo.
Thethoughtisthatwhensomeonetakesthelifeofanotherhumanbeinganduponbeing
foundguilty,thestatetakestheirlife.ThisdoesnotsitwellatallwithmeatallIjustcannot
makeanysenseofthisatall.Basically,ifsomeonekillssomeoneelsethatiswrong,however,it
isrightforthestatetodothesamethingasapunishmentfortheircrime.Commonsenseshould
tellusthattwowrongsdonotequalaright,sowhydostatesstilldothis.DavidVonDrehle
states,Somecrimesaresoterriblethatdeathistheonlypunishmentsufficienttobalancethe
scale,whenlookingathiswordtobalancethescalethisisstatingthatweneedtojustify


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murderbymurderingtheperpetratorthatcommittedthem.Onecanonlyassumethatstatements
suchasthisweremadeundertheassumptionthattheuseofCapitalPunishmentdeterscrime,
thankstorecentstatisticsweknowthisnottobetrue.
Inchapter11ofourtextbook,weareprovidedwithachartthatillustratesprisoners
whichhavebeenexcitedoverthepast34years,intotalthechartcomesouttojustover1,000.
DiggingdeeperintothehistoryofAmericaoverthepast315yearsIfoundthatover15,800
prisonershadbeenexecutedwithinthattimethatismanylivesinwhichthisnationhas
permittedtobekilled.Notonlyisthisnumberalotbuttherehavealsobeenmanydifferentways
inwhichtheseprisonerswereexecutedovertheyears.ExecutionstylesincludeFiringSquads,
Burning,Hanging,Gas,Injection,andElectrocution.Alotofthesestyleshavegoneawayover
theyearssincetheywereinhumaneandtorturousexecutionstyles,theyhavebeenreplacedby
onesmorehumanewhichshouldbequickandinmostcasespainless.Thishasnotalwaysbeen
thecaseevenintoday'sworld,andtherehavebeenrecentdocumentedcaseswhereithastaken
overtwohoursfortheinmatetodie.Icannothelpbutaskthequestiondoesthisnotfallunder
torture?
LookingbacktotheoriginsoftheDeathPenaltyrevealsthatoneofthepurposesfor
havingitwasduetothePrisonandJailsystemsnotbeingabletokeeptheextremelydangerous
criminalslockedup.Byexecutingthesetypesofcriminals,therewouldbenochanceatallthat
theycouldescapeandpossiblycommentanyfurthercrimes.Thankstomodernadvancesin
technologywearenowinapositiontosafelyandsecurelydetainthemostdangerouscriminals
inthisnationwithlittletonochanceofescaping.Whenaperpetratorgetssentencedtodeathitis
notafastprocessbyanymeansittypicallytakesanywherebetween12and30yearstoexecute


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aprisoner.Withinthistime,theyhaveallthetimethattheyneedtonotonlyreflectonwhatthey
didbutalsoattempttoimprovethemselvesthroughprogramsofferedbythestate.
Whenwetakealookatsomeofthedeathrowcases,wewillfindthatinsomecasesof
murderwasintheheatofthemoment,itmayhaveneverbeentheirintenttocommitthecrime.
Peoplecanbequicktojudgethesemurdererseventhoughsomehaveneverevengottensomuch
asaspeedingticketthepublicdetermineswhattheywouldlikeforthembeforethecourtdoes.
Thisisnottoimplythatmurderiscorrectandcanbejustifieditonlyismeanttobringoutthat
everybodyhasaboilingpointinwheretheycouldpotentlybreakandbeingthateverycaseis
different.Somepeople(notall)canseekthehelpinwhichtheyneedtochangeandshouldbe
grantedasecondchance.Oneheatofthemomentthemistakeshouldnotdoomthem.They
alreadyhavetolivewiththemistakeinwhichtheymade.
InotonlycoveredarticlesandspokewithpeopleinpersononthissubjectbutIalso
wantedtogetabroaderview,soIfoundsositeswhichdebatedthistopic.Myfindingsfrom
thesedebateswerethattherewasanabundanceofgoodopposinginformationastowhythe
DeathPenaltyisunacceptable,however,whenlookingattheotherside(thosewhoaccept
CapitalPunishment),Ifoundthelackofgoodarguments.Mostofthesedebaterscouldnotback
theirbeliefsviableinformation.Therehavebeencasesthatincentpeopleareaccusedofacrime
thattheydidnotcomment,however,duetotheadvancesintechnologysomeinmateswhohave
servedmanyyearsondeathrowtogetexonerated.OnesuchcasewasthatofKirk
BloodsworthscasehehadbeenfoundguiltyofrapeandmurderonlytohaveDNAevidence
clearhimtenyearslater.Whatisevenmorebothersomethananinnocentmanalmostbeing
murderedforacrimethathedidnotcommitishisaccountofwhathappenedafterthejudge


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sentencedhim,asBloodworthputsitThecourtroomeruptedinapplause,theypartiedtill
2o'clockinthemorningtomyexecution.Itisdisturbingthatpeopleinmoderndaywould
cheerandthenwanttopartythataconvictedcriminalisgoingtodie,howbarbaricisthat?
Whentheperpetratorissentencedtodeathinaway,theyaregettingtheeasywayout
(assumingthattheyareguilty)theydonothavetospendtherestoftheirlivesrottinginacell.
Byhavinganinmatespendtheirlifeinprisonwithoutthepossibilityofparolewouldbeworse
thanadeathsentence,theywouldhavetoliveouttheirdayslockedup.TodaytheDeathPenalty
isslowlystartingtofadeawayacrossthenation,with18statesalreadyabolishingitmoreare
suretofollowintime.WealsoseeCapitalPunishmentdiminishworldwide,overhalfofthe
countriesacrosstheglobehalfhaveputanendtoitalready.


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WorksCited
Board,TheEditorial."TheDeathPenaltyEndgame."NewYorkTimes17Jan.2016:10(L).
OpposingViewpointsinContext.Web.4Apr.2016.
"DeathPenalty2015:TheGoodandtheBad."AmnestyInternationalUSA.N.p.,n.d.Web.03
Apr.2016.
"FewerCountriesAreRelyingOnDeathPenalty,ButThey'reExecutingMore."AllThings
Considered(2016):LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.4Apr.2016.
Gaines,LarryK.,andRogerLeRoy.Miller."Chapter11PunishmentandSentencing."Criminal
JusticeinAction.7thed.Belmont,CA:WadsworthCengageLearning,2013.35589.
Print.
"IstheDeathPenaltyRight?"IstheDeathPenaltyRight?N.p.,n.d.Web.03Apr.2016.
OnceOnDeathRow,HeNowFightsToDefeatTheDeathPenalty.n.p.:NationalPublicRadio,
2013.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.4Apr.2016.
VonDrehle,David."Here'sWhyTheDeathPenaltyIsDoomedinAmerica."Time.Time,n.d.
Web.03Apr.2016.
"What'sNew."DPIC.N.p.,n.d.Web.03Apr.2016.