Capital Punishment in America Essay - 1337 Words

Capital Punishment in America In America, we no longer feel that crime should go without harsh punishment. Tim Robbins’ film, â€Å"Dead Man Walking† is a movie about a man named Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) who is on death row, and the different things he goes through as he counts down his final days until execution. The movie is based on a true story. Through the movie, I was able to see the different the steps that a death row inmate goes through leading up to execution. I cannot really say that the movie was pro or anti death penalty because I think it covered both sides well. In â€Å"Dead Man Walking† the justice system was right, and they executed the right man. However, in reality our system isn’t always right and sometimes†¦show more content†¦According to prodeathpenalty.com, our founding fathers didn’t think of capital punishment as cruel and unusual. The Fifth Amendment states no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law. The Eighth Amendment states that cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted (Allen). Since both of these amendments were passed on the same day, some would argue that executing someone for a capital offense does not qualify as cruel or unusual punishment as long as the individual has not been deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of the law. I think they were more worried about the death penalty being abused, than it being cruel and unusual. To truly measure the effectiveness of the death penalty, you must measure the affect it has on the future actions of the accused, and in deterring people in society. The death penalty saves lives because, by executing murderers, you’re preventing them from killing again. The usual alternative to the death penalty is life without parole. When a prisoner is sentenced to life without parole he has a lifetime to commit other crimes while in prison or even attempt escape. In most cases though, people don’t spend the rest of their lives in prison if it’sShow MoreRelatedEssay on Capital Punishment in America1180 Words   |  5 PagesCapital Punishment in America Capital punishment is the execution of a perpetrator for committing a heinous crime (homicide), and it is a hotly debated topic in our society. The basic issue is whether capital punishment should be allowed as it is today, or abolished in part or in whole. 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We are killing all these prisoners and not really getting the answers we need. Like are we really stopping crime. Also, the death penalty puts innocent lives at risk because of how flawed it is. Since the entry of the death penalty in the United Sta tes in 1976, 138 innocent menRead MoreAmerica s Strategy Of Capital Punishment Essay1085 Words   |  5 PagesAmerica’s strategy of capital punishment believes that killing someone actually solves the problem of reducing crime rates, when in reality it is more of a method to avoid the real issue with the criminal justice system. We are killing all these prisoners and not really getting the answers we need. For instance, are we really stopping crime? Also, the death penalty puts innocent lives at risk because of how flawed it is. Since the introduction of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, 138Read MoreAmerica s Debate On Capital Punishment760 Words   |  4 PagesAmerica’s Debate: Should the Capital Punishment be abolished in the United States? Violent crimes such a murder, rape, sexual assault, and robbery are perpetrated by criminals once every few minutes in this country. Lawmakers spend countless hours enacting laws to prevent these crimes. The introduction of the death penalty is an effort to deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. What exactly does the death penalty accomplish? The best description of the term death penalty is the legal executionRead MoreThe Positive Effect of Capital Punishment in Modern America1642 Words   |  7 PagesRonnie Kuester Dr. Borgmeyer Eng. Comp. II 30 Sept. 2010 The Positive Effect of Capital Punishment in Modern America â€Å"I don’t think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don’t think that’s right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people’s lives† (Bush). Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in the American society and is also one of the topics most people feel very emotional about. Everyone feels that their views areRead MoreAmerica s Capital Punishment Process1632 Words   |  7 PagesThus, it is not surprising that most people who are languishing in jail are those living below the poverty line that have no means to pay for a competent lawyer to defend themselves in a court of law. The United States of America’s capital punishment process is very flawed. Humans are imperfect and are always making mistakes, how do we justify being the group of people having the power to condemn someone to death when there have been times that our human judgments were flawed and immoral. This is