Problem of the Death Penalty

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In his essay "Death and Justice: How Capital Punishment Affirms Life" Edward J. Koch defends capital punishment as supporting the precious nature of life (Wood 714-718). He presents seven common arguments used to oppose the death penalty, and shows why they are untenable. One argument commonly used is that no other major democracy uses the death penalty, yet Koch points out that no other major democracy has such a high murder rate as that found in the United States (Wood 716). The president of France's National Assembly, Raymond Forni in 2000, campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide (Two). The death penalty was abolished in France in 1981, and France was the last of the Western European nations to do so. Forni stated that France was late in abolishing the death penalty because it was strongly supported by public opinion because of problems of security and criminality, and that even today there is strong support for it. The essential step in abolishing the death penalty in France was the declaration by Francois Mitterand during his presidential campaign, which was a risky move, since 65 percent of the French people favored keeping the death penalty in place.

Forni opposes the death penalty for several reasons: that it is barbaric, irreversible, leaving no possibility for correcting errors of justice, that not killing is enshrined in the bible, and that redemption can always be hoped for (Two). He cannot understand how, in such a great democracy as

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dy by the American Civil Liberties Union found that lawyers representing death row inmates in Virginia were more likely to be disbarred or disciplined than other lawyers, and in one in 10 trials that ended in a death sentence, the defendant was represented by a lawyer who would later lose his license. Some judges in Virginia continue to appoint lawyers in capital cases who were criticized by federal judges in other death penalty cases. In a hotly disputed case in Virginia in 1997, Joseph Roger O'Dell was executed for the rape and murder of a waitress despite his persistent claims of innocence. Even though there was a strong possibility that DNA evidence could prove his claim, the state opposed new testing and even asked a judge for the evidence to be destroyed. Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) also thinks that capital punishment should be abolished, and that it does not deter the taking of lives (Ballard 5). However, another Black spokesperson, talk show host Larry Elder, argues against abolishing the death penalty, saying, like Edward J. Koch, that it makes a profound statement that you have committed the ultimate sin against society, and society has made a moral judgment about your conduct, i.e. affirming the preciou
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Approximate Word count = 2201
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

Problem of the Death Penalty

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