Pro Capital Punishment

Article VIII of the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual Punishments inflicted on persons accused or convicted of crimes. Whether the original intention included eventual abolition or retention of the death penalty for any or all crimes has yet to be determined. As legislators change, so does legislation regarding capital Punishment. For example, the moratorium on capital punishment that began in 1967 and seemed to promise a new era now appears to have been only a brief interlude. Since 1972, 37 states have enacted one or more capital statutes. Beginning in 1976 a series of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the basic proposition that if legislature enacts a capital statute it may do so in the confidence that nothing in the federal constitution is thereby necessarily violated. In 1984 the Senate voted to restore the federal death penalty. In 1988 a provision in the drug bill passed by Congress permits the death penalty for murders committed by people involved in at least two continuing criminal operations involving drugs or for someone who kills a police officer in the course of a drug-related crime. In publicizing dru

. . .
nd argument that capital punishment is less expensive than the alternative life imprisonment. That is, life without parole would create a prison management nightmare as lifers with nothing to lose act out their anger through violence against guards and other inmates. This violence increases the costs to operate prisons, which already includes shelter, clothing, food, staffing, and facility maintenance. Therefore, the death penalty is more effective in preventing crime than the alternative because it is a more effective deterrent, because it more effectively incapacitates, and because it is more economical. Thirdly, proponents and opponents of capital punishment express a concern for human life. Both sides concur that any loss of human life is a tragedy; they disagree in terms of degree. Proponents submit that it is more tragic for the innocent to lose life than for the State to take the life of a criminal convicted of a capital offense. Proponents analogize that capital punishment is to the judicial system what self defense is to the individual and propose that if the latter is not morally wrong then the former cannot be. Except for absolute pacifists, who believe it is morally wrong to use violence even to defend themsel
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hegel Mill, Justice Statistics, Patient Likewise, Bush Drug, Supreme Court, VIII Constitution, According Ernest, According Newman, Prisons Society, capital punishment, death penalty, , human life, capital crimes, favor capital punishment, favor capital, law enforcement, function retribution, innocent person, morally wrong, bureau justice, defense death penalty, ultimate penalty reserved, reserved ultimate crime, penalty reserved ultimate,
Approximate Word count = 2891
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Pro Capital Punishment