Godding 1

Elyse Godding

Mrs. Cramer

Comp 1

15 May 2020

Capital Punishment: Is Justice

In 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnave, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the bombing of the

Boston Marathon. Two years later, the federal jury gave them the death sentence. Knowing that

these men killed three and injured hundreds, polls showed the American majority supported the

sentence. At this point in time capital punishment was at its lowest point since the 1970s

("Capital Punishment" 1). A capital crime is punishable by death if convicted by the court of law.

Some examples of capital crimes are murder, treason, and crimes against humanity. Having

capital punishment as option for capital crimes shows other criminals that if they commit a crime

that fits into those specific categories they will be punished. Some believe that capital

punishment is a merciful way of punishing cruel killers and opponents argue that sometimes

executions are botched. Moreover, crimes that are severe and destructive towards society deserve

capital punishment because it is a just punishment, it is humane, and it decreases the amount of

violent crimes.

Furthermore, capital punishment is a just way for the justice system to punish heinous

criminals. Nebraska's governor Paul Ricketts argued to oppose the effort to repeal the veto of

capital punishment in Nebraska in May 2015. He said we should look to the government to

enhance public safety not to have them weaken it. The decision to repeal capital punishment will

evaluate the Legislature's prosecutorial tools to control the capital crimes ("Capital Punishment"

Current 4). This also tests the prosecutorial means to advocate the horrific cases. Capital
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punishment sustains public safety and making it illegal will weaken it. "We hear so much about

the innocent people who've gotten off death row," National Review's Jonah Goldberg wrote, but

"We hear very little about the criminals who've had their guilt confirmed by the same

techniques.… Death-penalty opponents are less eager to debate such cases because they want to

delegitimize 'the system'" ("Capital Punishment" Current 4). The opposing side are less

ambitious to debate the guilty cases because they just want to reject the system. Even though

capital punishment is a life or death situation and it is vital that the right killer is punished

(Bushman 1). The justice system needs to know beyond a reasonable doubt that the offender

committed the crime, a violent crime. If that occurs and the judge and jury sentence the criminal

to capital punishment, then they should be sent to death the proper way.

Continuing, capital punishment is a humane way of punishing capital crimes. Lethal

injection is a method of execution and it uses a combination of three chemicals, which are

intended to put to sleep, paralyze. This is an improvement over other methods of executions, it is

not the perfect way of execution, but these problems are being fixed. "In 2014, for example,

Joseph R. Wood, who had been convicted of the 1991 killing of his ex-girlfriend and her father,

took more than two hours to die after he was injected with a combination of legal drugs"

("Capital Punishment" 1). This shows that there needs to be fixed by having regulations to lethal

injection and having an overview of the criminal's medical record to make sure that it will work

the proper way without any complications. Additionally, the justice system must be fair in

prosecuting cases to give the defendant humane treatment. The death penalty is constitutional. In

his concurring opinion in Glossip v. Gross in 2015, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote:

"Petitioners…were afforded counsel and tried before a jury of their peers—tried twice,

once to determine whether they were guilty and once to determine whether death was the
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appropriate sentence. They were duly convicted and sentenced. They were granted the

right to appeal and to seek postconviction relief, first in state and then in federal court...

("Capital Punishment" 6).

This shows that the justice system works by reviewing cases if they are appealed.

Moreover, capital punishment deters capital crimes which improves society and

intimidates criminals. "Proponents claim that the threat of death is the ultimate fear, and that this

fear can be harnessed to dissuade people from committing the most heinous crimes" (Goldman

91). Knowing the consequence is death, fear can show criminals and or people that breaking the

law in and committing a crime that is severe is punishable by death. On the other hand, capital

punishment can be used against the system. The death penalty provides a way for the criminal to

commit suicide by the state. For example, Daniel M. Colwell allegedly said that he killed due that

he could be executed because he could not do it himself (Goldman 91). A way to regulate state-

sponsored suicide if it is to occur, is to do a psychological evaluation to determine if the criminal

is or was mentally stable during the time of the crime. On the contrary that, having rules and

regulations regarding the conviction of a criminal should be emplaced to keep people safe. On the

contrary, the opposing side will not have a false assumption that the justice system fair. In addition,

the idea that capital punishment deters the amount of capital crimes are reinforced. To show, "...

the Supreme Court had indirectly relied on the idea that the death penalty deters murders. Voters

tend to list deterrence as an important reason for supporting the death penalty" (Goldman 91). The

Supreme Court relied on the deterrence of crime from capital punishment. Furthermore, voters

listed deterrence as a reason for supporting capital punishment, it showed that capital punishment

makes a difference in ordinary people's lives.

Altogether, capital crimes deserve capital punishment because they are adverse towards

communities, capital punishment is just, humane, and it deters capital crimes. Having a just way

to punish criminals that commit capital crimes is vital because it gives a sense of safety towards

the public. Even though capital crimes are heinous acts, there is a humane way to punish the

violators of the law - lethal injection. Capital punishment is the solution to decrease the capital

crime rate because it intimidates the offenders which are apprehended - committing these crimes

is not an intelligent idea. In June of 2015, Tsarnaey is sentenced to death by the court of law and

apologizes for committing the heinous act.

Works Cited

Bushman, Brad. "The Death Penalty Is a Flawed Form of Punishment." Death Penalty, edited by

Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010955214/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=d3323b18.

Accessed 8 Feb. 2018. Originally published as "It's Time to Kill the Death Penalty,"

Psychology Today, 19 Jan. 2014

“Capital Punishment: Should Capital Punishment Be Allowed in the United States?” Infobase

Learning - Login, Infobase, icof.infobaselearning.com/articles/crime,-law,-and-

justice/capital-punishment.aspx?issueID=15213&hd=1608.

DREHLE, DAVID Von. “Capital Punishment: The End of the Death Penalty.” Time, Time, 8

June 2015, time.com/deathpenalty/.

Goldman, Raphael. Capital Punishment. Edited by Ann Chih. Lin, CQ Press, 2002.

Hays, Scott Robert. Capital Punishment. Rourke Corp., 1990.

Bushman, Brad. "The Death Penalty Is a Flawed Form of Punishment." Death Penalty, edited by

Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2015. Current Controversies. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010955214/OVIC?u=pl1949&xid=d3323b18.

Accessed 8 Feb. 2018. Originally published as "It's Time to Kill the Death Penalty,"

Psychology Today, 19 Jan. 2014