Exploration
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Taylor J. See-Palar
Composition II
Mrs. Wheeler
8 February 2013
Taylor See-Palar
Mrs. Wheeler
Composition II
6 February 2013
Cruel and Unusual Punishment The death penalty, also called capital punishment, has been seriously debated for many years. There are a lot of people who are against the death penalty, including myself, but there are also some who are for it. An article on Death Penalty Curriculum reports all of the reasons why they believe that execution is effective, while an article by Jayashree Pakhare says the death penalty ought to be banned. I also consider capital punishment to be cruel, and I don’t feel that it is necessary. Both articles, although they differ in their opinions, explain how and why the death penalty has been used in the past. The death penalty used to be used on people who participated in the practices of having a different religion, pre-marital sex, homosexual behavior, prostitution, rebelling, and blasphemy (Pakhare, 2011). In the past, capital punishment was used often. Society used it to deter murder rates and to cause potential killers to think twice (Death Penalty Curriculum, 2004). Capital punishment has become less popular today compared to how it was in the past. The whole point of capital punishment and the death penalty is to deter the murder rates and stop future criminals. Each article discusses research on how execution has actually affected murder rates. Jayashree Pakhare (2011), a writer for Buzzle, writes, “The purpose of any punishment should be deterrence from repeating the same act. But, according to the statistics available, the death penalty has not been effective in controlling the homicide rate. That means that capital punishment does not deter violent crime. According to a New York Times study, the last 20 years witnessed 48% homicide rate in states with the implementation of capital punishment compared to 23%$ in the states without it.” Pakhare believes that the
Taylor J. See-Palar
Composition II
Mrs. Wheeler
8 February 2013
Taylor See-Palar
Mrs. Wheeler
Composition II
6 February 2013
Cruel and Unusual Punishment The death penalty, also called capital punishment, has been seriously debated for many years. There are a lot of people who are against the death penalty, including myself, but there are also some who are for it. An article on Death Penalty Curriculum reports all of the reasons why they believe that execution is effective, while an article by Jayashree Pakhare says the death penalty ought to be banned. I also consider capital punishment to be cruel, and I don’t feel that it is necessary. Both articles, although they differ in their opinions, explain how and why the death penalty has been used in the past. The death penalty used to be used on people who participated in the practices of having a different religion, pre-marital sex, homosexual behavior, prostitution, rebelling, and blasphemy (Pakhare, 2011). In the past, capital punishment was used often. Society used it to deter murder rates and to cause potential killers to think twice (Death Penalty Curriculum, 2004). Capital punishment has become less popular today compared to how it was in the past. The whole point of capital punishment and the death penalty is to deter the murder rates and stop future criminals. Each article discusses research on how execution has actually affected murder rates. Jayashree Pakhare (2011), a writer for Buzzle, writes, “The purpose of any punishment should be deterrence from repeating the same act. But, according to the statistics available, the death penalty has not been effective in controlling the homicide rate. That means that capital punishment does not deter violent crime. According to a New York Times study, the last 20 years witnessed 48% homicide rate in states with the implementation of capital punishment compared to 23%$ in the states without it.” Pakhare believes that the
References: Pakhare, J. (2011, Dec. 14). Retrieved Feb. 5, 2013, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasonsagainst-capital-punishment-death-penalty.html (2004). In Death Penalty Curriculum. Retrieved Feb. 5, 2013, from http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/arguments/argument1a.htm