The Death Penalty : A Real Execution

Views on the death penalty

Death Row- The final 24 hours...

Death Penalty

In my eyes I see death penalty as an easy way out for victims, most victims are put on "death row" but then are executed. I see it as it would be a worse punishment if they had to stay on death row or even in a prison.. Being executed is fast & easy and then you don't have to be in pain or suffer any longer. Another way I look at the death penalty is, what if someone was wrongfully convicted of a crime and is executed after saying so many times they didn't do anything & didn't have a good enough trial, how would everyone feel if the person was innocent & they took his/her life. I can see the death penalty being used if it's absolutely necessary but in most cases I feel it should be illegal, I know this sounds awful but I feel the person should have to suffer & pay for what he/she did and not just get out of everything the easy way..

Wrongful Death Penalty Convictions

  I recently read an article on people wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death penalty on crimes they didn't commit. Anthony Graves, a man from Texas, was released from prison 3 years ago after serving more than 10 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. Graves is now an advocate for criminal justice reform. Former US President Jimmy Carter has also become an advocate by recently starting a campaign to outlaw the death penalty.
     According to the article, 1,241 people have been wrongly convicted and later released with all charges cleared based on evidence that proved they were innocent, since 1989.To prevent more wrongful convictions, the ABA (American Bar Association) have taken assessments in of the death penalty system in 12 states and have recommended that alternative action be taken regarding stronger police interrogations and protecting mentally ill death row inmates. Although 60% of Americans favor the death penalty, support for it is at its lowest since 1972.

Death Penalty Around World

Death Penalty is all over the world from Untied State to China. Capital Punishment. North Korea is one country that is still using it along with Japan, Egypt, and Vietnam.

North Korea used the “Death Penalty” for the people who were charged with grand theft, murder, rape and drug smuggling.  It is not pretty and the Execution is carried out in public.   They kill by firing squad and North Korea is one of the five countries who still preform public executions.

In Egypt, one of oldest countries that use the death penalty, dates back to Ancient Egypt.  If you broke any of the MAs laws or any crime it is punishment by death.  Early this year Egyptian court gave a death sentence to 21 people because a mass attack during a soccer game at Port Said Stadium know as Port Said Stadium Disaster.

Finally, Japan is different from the United States.  They only give the death penalty to treason and murder, but in 4th century Japan, they were heavily influenced by the Chinese judicial system and changed it up time and time again.  Japan was a sentencing guideline, this guideline came to Japan after the trial of Norio Nagayama a 19- year-old from disadvantaged background, who committed four murders, in 1968 and finally hanged in 1997.

The nine criteria are as follows:

1. Degree of viciousness

2. Motive

3. How the crime was committed; especially the manner in which the victim was killed

4. Outcome of the crime; especially the number of victims

5. Sentiment of the bereaved family member

6. Impact of the crime on Japanese society

7. Defendant’s Age (in Japan, someone is a minor until the age of 20)

8. Defendant’s previous criminal record

9. Degree of remorse shown by the defendant  

Japan will give the death sentence to minors who commit capital crimes at 18 or 19.  Only six have died by the death penalty in 2013 so far.  They are as follows:

Masahiro Kanagawa age 29 died 2/21/13

Keiki Kano age 62 died 2/21/13

Kaoru Kobayashi age 44 died 2/21/13

Katsuji Hamasaki age 64 died 4/26/13

Yoshihide Miyagi age 56 died 4/26/13

Tokuhisa Kumagai age 73 died 9/12/13 

The Death Penalty Debate

Facts

- It costs way more to execute someone than to just keep them in prison for life
-Number of executions since 1976, has been 1,352
- There are 32 states that allow the death penalty
- Race of defendants executed: 56% white, 34% black, 8% Hispanic, and 2% other
- Race of victims in death penalty cases: 76% white, 15% black, 7% Hispanic, and 2% other
- Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence
- The primary method used for the execution is a lethal injection
- The order of the methods used greatest to least: lethal injection: 1,117, electrocution: 158, gas chamber: 11, hanging: 3, firing squad: 3

Our Opinions on the Death Penalty

When my group members and I first started talking about the death penalty we all agreed that it should stay legal. We thought the people who committed huge crimes, such as, murders, should be killed, also. Now that we have researched more information about the topic and saw some interesting facts about the topic and saw some interesting facts and other peoples perspectives on the topic... we don't believe in it anymore. There has been way too many innocent people executed. It costs more to execute them instead of just letting them sit in prison the rest of their lives. We believe that putting them through the death penalty is just an easy way out. We think it is more of a punishment to sit in prison the rest of their lives, suffer, and be haunted by the crimes they have committed.