Death penalty assignment PDF

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info on pro death penelty argument and how to defend it...

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Karina Tohme ENC 1102 Module 2 Research assignment

I have decided to do further research on the argument of capital punishment. The idea of being pro or anti the death penalty has always been a topic of interest for me. I have always been intrigued by most criminal stories, criminal shows, the FBI, and the different types of punishments bestowed on the worst criminials in history. I have always been fascinated by the different psychological reasons behind crimes, the justice system, and bringing justice to the victims. There are many holes in the justice system that indeed need to be mended for bthe US to stay safe and to ultimately become a crimeless nation. There has been so many stories of the cruelty of these criminals and I believe that it is partly our duty to come up with ways to stop them and give them the punishment that they deserve. I have also learned a good amount of information for both sides of the arguments, so I am in no way or form bias against one or the other. I believe that I lean more towards being for the death penalty, so I will be doing research on the benefits it brings to the citizens of this country. Some of the questions I would like to explore are, “does the death penalty save the US financially in the long run? How do the criminals themselves feel about it? Are the victims and their families fond of it? What is the best way to stop the climbing rate of criminals in the US?” The main idea for my research will be to present how being pro death penalty will help the US become a safer place in the long run.

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“Top 10 Pro & Con Arguments.” Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?, 9 2016, https://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000. Head, Tom, et al. “These Are the Most Common Arguments in Favor of the Death Penalty.” ThoughtCo, 3 July 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/arguments-for-the-deathpenalty-721136. “How the Death Penalty Saves Lives.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 29 Sept. 2014, https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/29/the-deathpenalty-saves-lives-by-deterring-crime. Simon, Darran. “Victim's Family on Arkansas Execution: 'Ready for It to Be Done'.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 Apr. 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/us/arkansas-execution-victims-families/index.html. Kane, Gregory. “To Murder Victims' Families, Executing Killers Is Justice.” Baltimoresun.com, Baltimore Sun, 30 May 2019, https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bal-md.kane05feb05-column.html. Saey, Tina Hesman. “Crime Solvers Embraced Genetic Genealogy.” Science News, 6 Sept. 2019, https://www.sciencenews.org/article/genetic-genealogy-forensics-topscience-stories-2018-yir. Jeff Jacoby. “The Death Penalty, Humane and Painless.” Jeff Jacoby, 21 Mar. 2018, http://www.jeffjacoby.com/20988/the-death-penalty-humane-and-painless.

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This website is known for discussing the pros and cons of controversial and existing subjects. Their logo for the website is simply, “PROS & CONS OF CURRENT ISSUES. RELIABLE. NONPARTISAN. EMPOWERING.” I have handpicked this website because I would like to research and show the benefits and reasons we should keep the death penalty, but also the disadvantages. However, this website is beneficial to my research because it displays real life quotes said by intelligent and highly respected figures. Reading the information on this website has opened my eyes to how complex the argument for or against the death penalty is. It is so difficult and controversial because there are so many arguments that need to be spoken about that have no definite answer This site speaks about morality, constitutionality, deterrence, retribution, irrevocable mistakes, cost of death vs. life in prison, race, closure for victims' families , attorney quality , and physicians at execution. Fortunately, this website attempts to make the different arguments easier to understand by diving into each of these specific points, showing the pros and cons of each one, so that way an individual can read it and discover their own opinion about the subject.

2. The next website I would like to summarize is a site full of thoughts! This website was written for one purpose, that purpose being to highlight arguments FOR the death penalty. It does not give the pros and cons of the death penalty argument; however, it gives us the five strongest arguments in order to keep the death penalty effective in the United States. It explains the deterrence of criminals, the cheaper cost it presents, the families closure, what the bible says about murder, and if murders really do deserve to die. As complex, complicated, and difficult the death penalty argument is, this site keeps the facts very simple. They lay out the details in a list of short paragraphs that are specific and to the point. The words used to write this essay are very conversational and easy to understand. To give an example, the topic sentence for the paragraph about the cost of the death penalty, states, “"The Death Penalty is Cheaper Than Feeding a Murderer for Life" This easily explains the argument. It explains that it costs less to execute the worst of criminals, rather than keeping them well-fed on death row for years on end.

3. This next site is written for the US News and World Report by David B. Muhlhausen. Muhlhausen is a Heritage Foundation research fellow for the Center for Data Analysis. This article focuses on the facts and statistics that are used in order to determine if the death penalty deterrers criminals in the long run. This article heavily supports the argument for capital punishment because it integrates numbers and specific statistics that help persuade the people to keep this law. The article strategically begins with a real-life story of a man who was executed for the murder of an innocent man. The writer purposefully writes employing logos and pathos in order to evoke true emotion in the readers. The article speaks about the deterring of criminals by using the designed capital

punishment. It gives us this specific statistic, stating, “In another examination, based on the data from all 50 states from 1978 to 1997, Federal Communications Commission economist Paul Zimmerman demonstrated that each state execution deters an average of 14 murders annually.” The specific stories that are used in order to persuade the readers in favor of the death penalty are very important to each article made for this purpose.

4. The fourth article I chose is all about the victim’s families. No one can ever be prepared to imagine the escalated pain of a loved one being murdered. For many families, the death penalty is the only way they will ever experience closure, peace, and security. The fight for the death penalty will always be something a victim’s family wants, whether they accept it or not. This article was written for CNN by Darron Simon. He writes about the true account of the Jones family, and how their mother was killed by a rapist who attacked her one night. The execution of this man is a huge deal for this family, and they have been waiting a long time for it. The article states that, “Jones' pending death will bring closure for the family of Mary Phillips. They have trudged to clemency hearings over the years, crying and pleading for Arkansas to carry out the execution.” The whole family will be watching as the man is put to death. This article evokes immense emotion and is written in order to spread awareness that the death of these inhumane killers is very necessary to the families who have been crushed.

5. The fifth article I chose to include is written by Gregory Kane for the Baltimore Sun, a renowned newspaper. This article is similar to the site that explained how capital punishment brings closure to families, however, it explains that it also brings justice. When a loved one is taken away from a family, all the family focuses on and needs is justice for their loved one. This article goes into depth with the Romano family, who lost their sister who was beaten and brutally attacked by her newly wed husband. Kane interviews the family and writes down their real-life answers to the sensitive questions. This article is also very focused on evoking emotion by speaking to the pained family members directly. Fred Romano explains, “That is a suffering death penalty opponents can't or won't understand. The pain of homicide victims' relatives never ends. It chips away at their souls and psyches year after depressing year. So what's the appropriate punishment for that?” For myself, reading that makes me side with the Romano family and push for capital punishment. It is very hard to read these real life accounts of pained families, and not agree that they should have peace, security, and justice.

6. When it comes to the argument of the death penalty, many people argue the fact that there are a percentage of people who are falsely accused. This article, written by Tina Saey for the Science News Journal goes into depth to explain the recent advances in research and DNA technology to catch criminals. The article has real stories, facts, statistics, and information for the readers to grasp on to and be confident in. It explains that million sof

Americans have turned in their DNA for thousands of ancestry websites, and by doing that, the police are able to find offenders of crime, murders, rapists, or any people that could be related to any type of these crimes. The internet has become a deadly trap for criminals, and nobody is getting by without being fully analyzed and checked. They include a quote from a prosecutor at a court scene who said, “Today, if you’re a criminal and you’ve left your DNA at the crime scene, you may as well turn yourself in now. We will catch you.” This just goes to say that DNA testing has evolved tremendously throughout the years and is the most reliable source of evidence for finding guilty murders and executing them. 7. This next article was written by Jeff Jacoby for the Boston Globe. It is a direct counter argument to those who claim that lethal injection is “inhumane” or not done in the “right matter.” The article dives into he details and logistics of what directly goes into the lethal injection shot, and how we can fix this problem in our country. Jacoby believes that capital punishment should remain as humane as possible, because after all, criminals are human too. The author is willing to explain every detail of the process in order to persuade the readers that the punishment is indeed humane. In the article, Jacoby presents a new idea to execute criminals. The execution would involve nitrogen gas, which is mainly used to kill animals as of now. However, if it could be used for criminals it would take away any concern people have with the painfulness of the lethal injection. According to an assisted-suicide group, as one of them says, it is "peaceful, quick, and requires no drugs." Introducing this new way of execution could change the way people perceive the law to execute criminals in this nation. This article provides with an alternate idea and hope for the future of this country.

In summary, my research has put me in the best situation to defend my case in favor of the death penalty. I have not only learned about the information that supports my case, but I have also learned the disadvantages of it. I feel very well-rounded in knowing the information of this subject; however, I still stand with my beliefs. My research has given me reasons to defend my case. I now know that the death penalty saves lives by deterring future criminals or stopping them right in their tracks. I also know that execution will be easier and more humane in the future. Lastly, executing the wrong person will slowly but surely come to an end, with the heightened advancements of DNA testing. One way I could make my research more specific and more focused, is to spend time researching my arguments more in depth. Now that I know the most important arguments in favor of capital punishment, I should use that to my advantage by researching particular stories and real-life accounts of these instances. I am more likely to use the research I found that involves real-life stories and quotes from people who have been through it all. I will use my research on the Jones and Romano family along with the powerful research on DNA. The research I will most likely not use heavily, is the sites on the pros and cons of the death penalty. If I were to write a essay taking a stand on pro death penalty, I would not like to include any of the cons.

For my draft, I have left out the two steps that involve making the Prezi and explaining it. Those will be included in my final!...