When it comes to the topic of the death penalty, most of us will readily agree that there is a lot of controversy. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of whether or not the death penalty should be allowed to continue. Whereas some are convinced that the death penalty is inhumane, others maintain that the death penalty is the only conseqeuence for certain cases.
In discussions of capital punishment, one controversial issue has been race. Recently, an international study was conducted, those who were convicted of murdering a white victim were more likely to receive the death penalty, however there are more white people on death row than blacks (African Americans), (Death Penalty: Guide to critical anaylsis, pg 2). Moreover if one argues race, wouldn't you also have to argue sexual orientation, gender, and demographics as well, the list is endless. These findings have important consequences for the broader domain of what people think when it comes to capital punishment.
Supporters for abolishing the death penalty argue that by executing a person on death row you are creating more victims. The emotional stress on their families is extremely high. Although I agree with this up to a point I cannot accept this overall conclusion that you are creating more victims. I feel for the families that are losing a loved one, however, I do not feel that any amount of hurting that the families could have could even begin to touch that of the victims families. The hurting they have will not go away with the execution, but it may, nevertheless, help with closure. Although upsetting the convicts families may seem of concern to only a small group of people, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about the victims' families and how they have been robbed of their loved ones.
My feelings are also mixed as far as finances and the death penalty go. I do not feel that we should decide to execute or not based on finances, but it is a compelling arguement. However, if you do this are you not putting a price on the person who was a victim's life. In her book, Lauri Friedman maintains that, " Costs vary depending on the state, but it can cost approximately three to four times as much to actually execute a convicted killer than to keep him or her imprisoned for life" (11). Due to the fact that it does cost more to execute I do have to concede to the supporter of abolishing the death penalty but I do not change my stance on capital punishment. My discussion of capital punishment is in fact addressing a larger matter than finances, but whether or not it should be used at a form of consequence.
Although I grant that some people with mental illness should not be executed, I still maintain that if you know the difference between right and wrong you are a candidate for the death penalty. A person who knows enough to lie about something they did that was wrong, must have known it was wrong in the first place so in that respect I believe that they should be able to be executed the same as anybody else.
In conclusion I maintain that if you commit the crime you need to do the time, or in this case be put to death. I don't know if the death penalty will work as a deterrent for not commiting crime, but I know that as for myself I will feel better knowing that these people will not be able to be paroled to kill again.
Works cited:
Friedman, Lauri. The Death Penalty. San Diego: Reference Point Press, Inc., 2007. Print.
Death Penalty: Guide to critical analysis. Web. 12 Sept. 2009.
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When we look at the issue of determining if someone is able to understand the consequences of there actions, the best tools we have are IQ and Psychological exams. When we look at these two exams the courts look primarily at the IQ exam. They do this because if someone is suffering from mental illness there IQ score will reflect it in the oral responses to question, there ability to stay on task, it also shows the individuals thought process. When looking at capital punishment cases there is no set number assigned by the U.S. Supreme Court, they left that determination up to individual states. Some states IQ needs to be below 65, while others state it can be as high as 75.
ReplyDeleteBefore we can answer the question of who qualifies for there life spared due limited mental ability. We first need to understand what these scores mean. A score of 65 means there employable, can be educated, and are able to care for them-selves with some assistance. These individual are immature, but can functional in a social setting. A score of 75 means a person is limited in trainability, have difficulty in everyday tasks, like using a phonebook, reading a bus schedule, filling out forms. They require assistance from family and social services agencies. They are employable but require supervision. When we look at the score of 80-85 these is where we find the highest number violent male criminals. These individuals are capable of hands on task, with little or no supervision, as long as they have clear directions, and not required to make decisions. A score of 90 is people are able to make rational decisions for them-selves. The chart below shows you the percentage of individuals in each score range; a score of 150 is 1% of the population, 150-125 represents 8% of the population, 115-125 is 12% of the population, 85-115 is 70% of population, and score of under 85 is found in 9% of the population.
When looking at the IQ scores of Death Row inmates 84% scored under 90 and 5% or 175 currently have IQ’s score under 70. Then have been 34 individuals executed sense 1976 who were mentaly retarded.
In conclusion I believe that a mentaly retarded person should not be executed or imprisioned, they should be however placed in an appropiate facility for teatment and possible rehabilitation. Further more I see the need for there to be consistancy across the nation as to what determains a person retarded. Lastly my opion is anyone with an IQ under 90 is imparied. This is due to the data discussed earlier, that states persons under 90 are not able to make decisions positive or negative with out assistance. Rather then execute these individuals why don’t we look at the cause of the problem and treat that first. Also as a society why are we not putting presure on the medical community to do eary internvention on these individuals whe there young. You never now put an ounce of intervention and prevention could save us all a bunch grief.
Friedman, Lauri. The Death Penalty. California:San Diego,2007.Print
Although I agree with you that there are many issues to debate about the death penalty, I still think that race is the most problematic one. And even I concede that comparing to the number of people in the death row, there is no bias in the ratio of black/white that being executed, I still insist that comparing to the demographic, there is a racial bias in the number of African American being sentenced to the death penalty. There are 45% white/ 42% black in death row, and there are 56% white /35% black people has been executed ("Fact about the Death Penalty"). According to an article title, "Ethnic Groups in the United States," there is 74% white/13% black. In other word, although the population of white American is about 6 times larger than the population of black American in the U.S., the number of black American in death row is about the same as the number of white American. In fact, a January 2003 study released by the University of Maryland concluded that prosecutors are more likely to seek a death sentence when the race of the victim is white and are less likely to seek a death sentence when the victim is African-American (“Death Penalty and Race.”)
ReplyDeleteWork Cited:
“Death Penalty and Race.” www.amnestyusa.org. Amnesty International USA. Web. 4 Sep. 2009.
"Ethnic Groups in the United States". Wikipedia.org. *Wikipedia*. 13 Sep. 2009
Facts about the Death Penalty.” www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. *Death Penalty Information Center*. 1 Sep. 2009. Web. 13 Sep. 2009.