Capital Punishment

I'm afraid future responses won't be quite this fast. Introduction,Pro's argument is founded upon the idea that men deserve death if they have killed blatanly. Basically, justice requires men recieve their due. I would agree that death penalty makes sense morally, however in an imperfect world the death penalty does not serve justce. Let's take a closer look at the goals of the dealth penalty in my first main point. 1. The goals of capital punishment are deterrence and justice. Rachel C. King (J. D. Northeastern University School of Law, counsel for the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security for the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives), “No Due Process: How the Death Penalty Violates the Constitutional Rights of the Family Members of Death Row Prisoners,” published by Berkeley Electronic Press’ Legal Series (Paper No. 1584), August 19, 2006 <accessed July 5, 2011> . http://law.bepress.com... “In its post-Furman jurisprudence, the Supreme Court has acknowledged several state interests that may support capital punishment. These interests include deterrence, retribution, [and] incapacitation, and denunciation and vindication of legal and moral order. Deterrence and retribution are the two most commonly cited reasons for maintaining the death penalty. ” However the dealth penalty fails in these purposes. To prove this, let's take a look at my next few points. Death Penalty does not serve Justice. 2. Innocent people sentenced to death Prof. Victor Streib (professor of law at Ohio Northern University, attorney specializing in violent crime and the death penalty, frequently cited by the U. S. Supreme Court), “CLASSIC ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY,” Elon Law Review (Vol. 1 Issue 1 pp 1-16),2009 . http://www.elon.edu... “The ultimate end result of discrimination, caprice, and just plain bad luck can be clear error: convicting and sentencing to death an innocent offender. The death penalty system is operated and controlled by human beings who are not immune to human error. [later, in the same context:]Over 120 innocent persons have been sent to death row in the current era (since 1973), and several other states have ordered a moratorium on executions until the causes of these fatal errors are found. ” The death penalty also has a violently negative effect on other innocent victims; the families of death row inmates. 3. The innocent suffer with the guilty Rachel C. King (J. D. Northeastern University School of Law, counsel for the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security for the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives), “No Due Process: How the Death Penalty Violates the Constitutional Rights of the Family Members of Death Row Prisoners,” published by Berkeley Electronic Press’ Legal Series (Paper No. 1584), August 19, 2006 <accessed July 5, 2011> . http://law.bepress.com... “Many people lose the support of their friends and community when a family member is on death row. One woman whose brother was on death row said, “[a]ll my friends . . . just abandoned me. They didn’t support me at all during the years, and when I came down for [my brother’s] execution, not one of them showed any support. Not one of them called or came over, NOT ONE! ” This woman eventually developed high blood pressure, migraine headaches, depression and sleeplessness as a result of her brother’s arrest. ” Not only does the death penalty punish the innocent along with the guilty, but capital defendants are also given grossly incompetent legal representation, severely lessening their chance at a fair trial. 4. Capital defendants are given incompetent representation Prof. Scott Vollum (Ph. D. in Criminal Justice, Associate Professor of Justice Studies, James Madison University), Prof. Stacy Mallicoat (Ph. D. in Sociology, Assistant Professor in the Political Science and Criminal Justice Division at California State University—Fullerton, CA), and Prof. Jacqueline Buffington-Vollum (Assistant Professor in the Political Science and Criminal Justice Division at James Madison University), “Death Penalty Attitudes in an Increasingly Critical Climate: Value-Expressive Support and Attitude Mutability,” Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice, published in Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice (Vol. 5, Issue 3, pp 221-242), 2009<accessed July 2, 2011>. http://www.utsa.edu... “Organizations such as the American Bar Association, countless observers and participants in capital trials, capital jurors, and scholarly research studies have all testified to the grossly incompetent legal representation offered to many capital defendants during their trials and sentencing. In addition to the often ill-prepared, ill-equipped, inexperienced, or simply incompetent representation in many capital cases, numerous cases of mentally ill, drunken, and sleeping lawyers have been documented in recent years. ” These three points put together shows how capital punishment cannot serve its goal of justice. 5. Non-deterrence Prof. Scott Vollum (Ph. D. in Criminal Justice, Associate Professor of Justice Studies, James Madison University), Prof. Stacy Mallicoat (Ph. D. in Sociology, Assistant Professor in the Political Science and Criminal Justice Division at California State University—Fullerton, CA), and Prof. Jacqueline Buffington-Vollum (Assistant Professor in the Political Science and Criminal Justice Division at James Madison University), “Death Penalty Attitudes in an Increasingly Critical Climate: Value-Expressive Support and Attitude Mutability,” Southwestern Association of Criminal Justice, published in Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice (Vol. 5, Issue 3, pp 221-242), 2009<accessed July 2, 2011>. http://www.utsa.edu... “In spite of decades of studies, researchers have failed to find the death penalty to be a general deterrent (i. e. , the death penalty has not been found to deter or stop other people from committing murder). ” The bottom line is this, the dealth penalty is flawed and does not serve justce. Nor does it deter future violence. A much more just sentence with less error woulfd be life imprisonment. I apologize for any mispelled words.