Resolved: The Death Penalty is a Morally Tenable Punishment

My Round 2 will be a rebuttal of Con’s Round 2 contentions. Rebuttal 1: Deterrence Treats Individuals as a means to an end. Con states that the government using capital punishment as a means of deterrence strips off the humanity of the convicted by using them as a means to an end. The government's use of the death penalty does not intentionally use the condemned as a means to an end. Deterrence is merely a byproduct of justice. When a person sees justice being served out to a wrongdoer, he is less inclined to commit the same offense and potentially have to face the same punishment. Rebuttal 2: The Death Penalty runs counter to the very definition of Justice. Con states that the definition of justice is giving each their due. I would rather give the Merriam-Webster definition of justice: “The maintenance or administration of what is just especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments” [1]. So justice is giving each person a reward or punishment based on what is just, not what they are due. Con shows us the difference between what a person deserves and what they are due. This is a wrongly worded comparison. The real comparison should be between what is just and what is due. What a person is due is what they have a right to, or as my opponent states it; what they are entitled to. The Declaration of Independence boldly entitles every man to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” [2]. These are the basic dues of a human being. What is just is what is “Consistent with what is morally right. ” [3] This requires us to determine what is morally right, something that varies by its basis. If the government were to base its morals off of Sharia Law, the death penalty would be considered just for a large range of offenses. If the government were to base its morals off of the Bible, the death penalty would be considered just in cases of murder [4]. If the government were to base its morals off of popular opinion, the death penalty would again be just in cases of murder [5]. These three common bases of morality all agree that the death penalty is just. Since I have shown the difference between what is just and what is due, I will now show how they relate to capital punishment. A person is due “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. I believe the most important of these to be life since without life neither of the others matter. If a person takes the life of another person they are disregarding what that person was due and therefore forfeit their own right to life by making it disregardable. It does not matter that the death penalty does not further their rights since they, in effect, forfeited them. The just punishment for taking a life (according to the three major bases of morality listed above) is death. It is our government's duty to execute this punishment. Rebuttal 3: Life in prison without parole would have the same affect at face value of protecting the liberties of our citizenry. You talk about how using criminals for deterrence strips them of their humanity, yet you openly suggest confining them for their entire life? Cages are used for animals. Prison is essentially a large cage. You are suggesting that we treat criminals like animals. How is that any more an administration of justice than capital punishment? Rebuttal 4: The families of victims are not due retribution. This point does not directly relate to the resolution, however, I will give my thoughts. The victim’s family is not due retribution but I certainly believe that the death penalty will give them some sort of closure which they deserve. Rebuttal 5: It costs more after all the appeals processes to implement the death penalty than life in prison. I would concede this point to my opponent if I thought it had any correlation to the resolution. Cost has nothing to do with morals. I apologize for the poor formatting, my computer has been unreliable so I was not able to finish this as early as I hoped and I am nearly falling asleep while trying to format this from Google into DDO. I look forward to your Round 3. Sources: [1] . http://www.merriam-webster.com... [2] . http://www.archives.gov... [3] . http://www.thefreedictionary.com... [4] Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed”. [5] . http://www.pewresearch.org...