Capital Punishment Should Not Be - 2299 Words

Capital Punishment: To Be or Not to Be On Sunday, March 29, 2009, at approximately 10:00am, Robert Stewart, aged 45, entered the Pine Lake Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in the small town of Carthage, NC. As he moved through the halls, he gunned down nearly a dozen innocent victims. In the aftermath of his deadly rampage, Stewart left eleven victims, eight dead and three wounded. He had killed the most helpless victims, elderly nursing home patients, many who lay helplessly in their beds or sat bound in their wheelchairs. All of his victims, except one, were between seventy-eight and ninety-eight years of age, incapable of self-defense and in the final season of their lives. Undoubtedly, this was a heinous crime, the kind that forces one to question why. What would lead a man to commit such a horrible act? Is there any way to explain it? There is much speculation about Stewart’s motive, but in the grand scheme of things, what does it matter? Would any explanation make Stewart’s deed any less horrendous? No. The end result would be the same- innocent lives lost in a brutal attack, and families left behind, trying to make sense of it all. While some are asking why he did it, others are already contemplating Stewart’s fate. Of course, many are demanding death. The controversy comes as society strives to decide what that severe punishment should be. Should it be the death penalty? What is the death penalty? It is the killing of a person as punishment by judicial process.Show MoreRelatedCapital Punishment Should Be Abolished1137 Words   |  5 PagesThe case for capital punishment Topic: why capital punishment should continue General purpose: To argue Specific purpose: my main aim is to convince the audience that capital punishment should be upheld. In other, the advantages of capital punishment outweigh its disadvantages. Introduction Capital punishment is also known as death penalty and it has been in existence since time immemorial. Throughout history, the death penalty has been used to punish a number of crimes that include murderRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Allowed955 Words   |  4 PagesCapital punishment is execution, which can furthermore be identified as the death penalty, has been a hot topic in the public eye for a while. The question on lots of minds is whether it is acceptable for the state to terminate one’s life for the crime they have committed. A significant question that we will address is whether or not capital punishment should be allowed. By inquiring more information about this topic people should be able to formulate their own opinions on this debate. As I beganRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Not Be Legal950 Words   |  4 PagesCapital Punishment is still used in the United States, and there has been 152 people that has been released from death row since 1973. There has been many more people that were not released but executed and possibly innocent. Kantian ethics is the theory that says the moral actions are not determined by the consequences but by the right nature of the action. Capital punishment may be questionable with some cases of innocents, with that being said the use of capital punishment should only be usedRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Not Be Abolished901 Words   |  4 Pagesgovernment (â€Å"Capital Punishment in the United States†). Capital punishment is being debated all over the world whether it is murder or justice for the crime they have committed. Statistics show that murderers often kill again after releasement from prison. The Bureau of Justice gives relevant statistics pertaining to murderers who were released from prison: in 1994 40.7% of murderers were arrested for a new crime within three years of release (United States Department of Justice). Capital punishment shouldRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Leg al933 Words   |  4 Pagescontroversial issues in the country today is addressed in the question, should capital punishment be applied to minors and, if so how young it too young? Although, capital punishment has been a part of the United States for many years, the United States still have yet to figure out how to solve all its dilemmas and whether or not capital punishment should be administered to minors. Debates about the use of capital punishment for juveniles have grown increasingly intense, within the last ten yearsRead MoreCapital Punishment Should be Abolished883 Words   |  4 Pages Capital punishment is the punishment of death for a crime given by the state. It is used for a variety of crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and treason. Many countries also have the death penalty for sexual crimes such as rape, incest and adultery. The lethal injection, the electric chair, hanging and stoning are all methods of execution used throughout the world. Capital punishment ha s been around since ancient times; it was used in ancient Rome, and one of the most famous people to be crucifiedRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Illegal1536 Words   |  7 PagesCapital punishment is the planned taking of a legally convicted persons life. Convicted persons are put to death under certain guidelines; such as age, and the crime that was committed. Certain laws such as the â€Å"Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996† (Supreme Court Rulings), â€Å"New Terrorism Crimes and Penalties† (Death Penalty Statutes), and Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (Death Penalty Laws) ensure that only those who are convicted of either acts of terror, homicides, and other lifeRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Abolished1444 Words   |  6 PagesThe political issue that I choose is capital punishment. There are pretty much the same number of reasons why capital punishment should be nullified as there are reasons why we require it. It is a complex issue and it is practically impossible to point to any single argument as the most important. Overall 140 countries have now stopped using capital punishment. America s continued use of the death penalty just profiles us as a fierce and wrathful country and keeps us in the same class as Iran, NorthRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Legal846 Words   |  4 Pagesyou within minutes. Should this be legal, or should criminals have to live with their crimes? Capital punishment is the cause of many debates throughout the country. Some people believe that Capital Punishment should be allowed as it gives the victims families the closure they desperately require. Others, like myself, believe that those who do unspeakable crimes should have to live with that guilt in a 6-foot by 8-foot cement room. Also, the problem with Capital Punishment, is sentencing the wrongRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Eliminated1342 Words   |  6 PagesCapital Punishment should be eliminated in America The European influence on America gave way to the similarities between our cultures, including the death penalty. The first recorded execution in America was that of Captain Kendall in Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy, but at that the time capital punishment was used even for minor crimes. Fast forward 150 years to the Abolitionist Movement and we see Cesare Beccaria post an essay in 1767 declaring the state has no right to