Respond to Peers: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. In your responses to your peers of at least 200 words, extend the conversation by examining their claims or arguments in more depth or by responding to the posts that they make to you. Keep the discussion on target and try to analyze things in as much detail as you can. For instance, analyze your classmate’s argument concerning age in the application of the death penalty. Are the examples they provide balanced or biased towards one viewpoint? Also, support your analysis with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.
Describe one argument that supports the death penalty.
Capital Punishment has long been a controversial topic and has been used as punishment for crimes of murder and can be applies to crimes of treason, and espionage. In the United States, “31 states, the federal government and the military still have the death penalty” (States With and Without the Death Penalty, 2015). Violent crime that take the life of people is considered the worst crime in America. For committing that crime, in many cases the defendant will get the death penalty. Mass murder defendant “Jessie Dotson” of Memphis Tennessee “killed several relatives including his brother and toddler nephews” (Grinberg, 2010). People like Dotson must receive the death penalty as it is important to send a message to society that this type behavior will not be tolerated and justice will prevail. Also, proponents of the death penalty believe it deters crime, cost less than life imprisonment, and that the defendant will commit murder again in prison given the opportunity.
Describe one argument that opposes the death penalty.
Opponents of capital punishment believe it has no deterrent effect on crime, the state should not have the powder to take a human life as it cannot create life, and that the death penalty is discriminatory and unjust. In many executions, a lethal injection of “sodium thiopental” is used as an accurate means of inducing death. However, this method came under fire in January of 2014 when the execution of convicted killer “ Dennis McGuire using a controversial new lethal injection took approximately 15 minutes, during which the condemned killer appeared to gasp and convulse” (Gangloff, 2014). This type of death is considered as cruel and unusual punishment which is covered under the “Eight Amendment” of the Constitution.
Explain which argument is the most credible, reliable, and valid. Why?
As our world is surely becoming more and more dangerous, violent crime has become the norm, mass shooting are common and expected, and our prison system is already overcrowded, execution of our most violent criminals is justified in my opinion. As I am a proponent of the death penalty, family members of victims need and require justice and this is why we have a judicial system. Many families require retribution and justly so if the crime committed justifies the death penalty.
States With and Without the Death Penalty. (2015, July 1). Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/states-and-without-death-penalty
Grinberg, E. (2010, October 12). Tennessee man gets death sentence for mass murder. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/12/tennessee-man-gets-death-sentence-for-mass-murder/
Gangloff, J. (2014, January 16). Ohio execution under fire for lengthy death with new lethal injection drugs. Retrieved October 9, 2015, from http://www.examiner.com/article/ohio-execution-under-fire-for-lengthy-death-with-new-lethal-injection-drugs
