Example research essay topic: Mentally Retarded People Put To Death - 1,632 words

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Is Capital Punishment an effective penalty? Yes. It protects society and keeps order in it as well. Capital Punishment does not stop people from killing one another. However, the only thing it mainly does is stopping a known killer from killing more innocent people.

I believe that it is a just and efficacious punishment for those who commit crimes bad enough to deserve death. Now does the death penalty truly deter crimes and murder? This question is in the center of a big political controversy over this topic. Some people oppose the death penalty because of the many people on death row today. Statistics also state that states with capital punishment have a higher crime rate then those that do not. Therefore, it is not an effective penalty, it is ineffective and a waist of our hard earned tax dollars.

This process costs between 500, 000 to 1, 000, 000 dollars annually. I have to say that the states that have capital punishment are usually urbanized areas that have high crime rates because of the enormous population. Rather, in rural states there is no need for the death penalty because everyone is scattered around and the population is not as big. Abolitionists explain that capital punishment is a racist penalty. They say it is only given to the minorities.

It is not fair to say that because the sad fact is that the majority of the people on death row are blacks and whites. There are approximately 3, 000 for both ethnic groups and the closest group after that is the Hispanic s with about 200. I think it is wrong to be racist, but if they get caught, no matter their race they should be sentenced to death. I believe it is morally wrong to have mentally retarded people on death row, because, they do not have an understanding about things and they could accidentally kill someone out of curiosity. If someone says that they are mentally retarded to see if they can sneak out of getting capital punishment I think he should be sent to an experienced doctor and be pronounced mentally retarded. In December 1989, the US Supreme Court ruled that it was not unconstitutional to execute mentally retarded people.

Since then about 50 have been executed. I think they should be taken to jail for some time and watched at a hospital. With a good lawyer anyone who is sentenced to life or death can depend more on their lawyer than on a crime. This statement stands true on various examples; the O. J Simpson Trial, and the Unabomber killed so many people and he is still living after they have proof that he one of the killers.

Other murderers have killed only 1 and are put to death immediately, without question. It is wrong to have these killers laugh in the face of society just because they have a good lawyer that knows how to manipulate the system. It is bad to see this happen because justice never gets served. If they kill people and plan the killing there should be no question about it, no lawyer, nothing whatsoever. If they are strong enough to take away innocent people s lives they should be ready to pay the consequences. I also believe that if someone admits their fault and is willing to change, they should be given a second chance.

I admit killing more people does not sound good at all so if we can avoid that by sentencing years in prison it would be much better. There are people that claim they have been saved by god, after they killed so many people. For example, Carla Fay Tucker, she was executed here in Texas for slaying her victims with an axe brutally; she knew what she was doing when she killed the people. She claimed that god had saved her; I think she was just saying that to get out of the hot seat.

However, I do believe some that are executed change because they realize how serious the crime is that they have committed and that society will not tolerated. Some people feel that execution is the only way to bring justice to the society and especially to the families of the murdered victims. The people that say no to the death penalty would most probably not have the same response if one of their own family members were brutally murdered. This is what makes this subject so controversial, would you feel the same way if someone killed your little sister or brother?

I would personally want to assassinate that person, with pleasure. For the state to decide whether a known murderer is to be put to death or to be given jail time is a hard decision. Because, you have to think about these people s families, the types of jurors you have in the stand, and the type of murderer, whether it was accidental or done on purpose, especially if the murderer explains he likes killing and he will kill again if they do not kill him. We are blind to see most of the time, that we have a lot of corruption in the police force, and we do very little background checks on the jurors.

This leads to a lot of lifesaving when it comes to a racist person on the stand, 1 vote can change the decision whether someone is to die or to live in jail. This has happened a lot in the past to a lot of innocent people that got sentenced to death for one person in the stand or in the police force planting evidence on someone and some guilty people that got away with murder. According to the 1986 Stanford University Survey at least twenty-three Americans have been wrongly executed in the twentieth century. Throughout history people have been put to death for various forms of wrongdoing.

Methods of execution have included such practices such as crucifixion, stoning, burning at the stake, shooting, drowning, hanging, chopping of their heads and impaling. Today s capital punishment is typically accomplished by lethal gas, injection, and electrocution, hanging or shooting. Other harsh, physical forms of this punishment were referred to as corporal punishment they have all been eliminated in modern times as uncivilized and unnecessary. About 80 nations have abolished slavery and about the same number of nations retain it. In some way murderers want you to murder them; the reason why they committed the murders was because they felt like they had no purpose anymore to live so they decided they would kill someone to be looked at as being an evil person and become famous for that, therefore, there lives have a purpose and we give them that.

I think in those cases, they should be given two life sentences, so that they rot in jail feeling pain. Jail for some individuals is not good because in jail they will eat 3 times a day, have a toilet and have a bed to sleep in with new covers everyday, watch television and make friends with other crazy inmates that fits there taste. They will be living a descent life and thinking about what rotten crime they will commit when they get out. Also, some believe that by not executing a victim s murderer, one is putting higher value to a murderer s life than on the victim. Some people think the complete opposite of what I think. They believe that two wrongs will never make a right and that it is not our decision to make if someone is to die or not, it is God to judge that person.

Christians say that all lives are holy and that we cannot put ourselves in that position. They say that the death penalty is wrong because instead of killing the guilty it kills the innocent; the guilty still walk amongst us. They also believe that jail time just about cuts it for punishment. What are we showing society by this? That it is all right to kill another person and the punishment will be limited? That is not good at all.

When a person breaks the law they have to be ready to face the consequences or else they should commit these horrible crimes. When one is unworthy to life, does not value life and want to take the life of others they should be put to death. I believe in that concept of an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth; depending on the case, in this case murder and yes this is necessary. If there is no capital punishment, there will not be any consequences to threaten these sick people, and people that continue committing vicious crimes. They will continue the evil and the righteous will go after them and this world would become a total chaos. Even though some say that as long as a state keeps killing, we are sending a message that killing is a way to solve problems.

I personally say that capital punishment is correct in the sense that it is a last resort. We must fight fire with fire. We will never have a perfect society because; there will always be some kind of evil. The best we can do is put our foot down to evil. I still have to say that the death penalty is the most effective means of crime deterrent as you can see. It not only punishes those who commit these crimes, but also prevents future crimes by striking terror in the would-be murderer s mind with the consequences he would have to face for his actions.

It has been proven to be effective throughout history, as long as people keep committing crimes; I don t think it will ever cease being around.

Research essay sample on Mentally Retarded People Put To Death