The Death Penalty Is Not Morally Permissible - 1231 Words

For thousands of years, punishment for crime has been met with several different styles of execution. In 1976, the United States government reinstalled the death penalty four short years after having banned it claiming that it violated the Constitution s ban on cruel and unusual punishment (MacKinnon, Ethics 289). Since 1976, the morality of execution as just punishment has been a highly discussed topic. The death penalty is not morally permissible because dissolving one s basic human right to life is wrong. In the United States, 36 states participate in capital punishment in one or more of the five different forms, including lethal injection, electrocution, gas chambers, firing squad, and hanging (â€Å"Description of Execution†). After being banned in 1972, several states sought to bring back capital punishment by providing sentence guidelines for both jury and judges when deciding the fit case in which to impose death (â€Å"Introduction to the Death Penalty†). These guidelines proved the punishment was constitutional under the Eight Amendment, proving it wasn’t â€Å"cruel and unusual† punishment under the correct circumstances. Three procedural reforms were approved by the case Gregg vs. Georgia, including bifurcated trials (separating guilt and penalty phases of trial), automatic appellate reviews of court decisions, and proportionality review to help eliminate sentencing disparities (â€Å"Introduction to the Death Penalty†). Ever since these changes in 1976, the death penaltyShow MoreRelatedAristotle Mill on Capital Punishment1322 Words   |  6 Pagescapital offenses by the state, or in other words, the death penalty. The first established death penalty laws can date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C. and the ethical debates towards this issue have existed just as long. There is a constant pro-con debate about this issue, and philosophers like Aristotle and Mill have their own take on this controversy as well. Aris totle is against capital punishment, while Mill believes it is morally permissible. Let me start off with Aristotle. InRead MorePros And Cons Of Capital Punishment1608 Words   |  7 PagesThe death penalty is quickly becoming one of the more controversial topics in the United States. Currently, there are 31 states where capital punishment is legal. As of April 2016, there have been 1,431 executions in the United States, but the number of executions in recent years has been steadily decreasing (Timmons 2017). The death penalty can be put up for moral debate, and one can ask oneself whether the death penalty is ever morally permissible. There are some pros and cons to having capitalRead MoreMoral Consequences Of The Death Penalty1623 Words   |  7 PagesConsequences of The Death Penalty The death penalty is quickly becoming one of the more controversial topics in the United States. Currently, there are 31 states where capital punishment is legal. As of April 2016, there have been 1,431 executions in the United States, but the number of executions in recent years has been steadily decreasing (Timmons 2017). The death penalty can be put up for moral debate, and one can ask oneself whether the death penalty is ever morally permissible. There are someRead MoreThe Dilemma Of The Death Penalty1703 Words   |  7 Pagesdilemma of the death penalty in the philosophical outlooks of Utilitarianism and Deontology, present arguments in light of both, and proceed to show why Deontology offers the best insights into the justification for the death penalty. The death penalty, also known as â€Å"capital punishment†, is, â€Å"the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes (serious crimes, especially murder, which are punishable by death).† (Death Penalty Law, Law And Legal Definition). The death penalty has existedRead MoreThe Death Penalty Is Morally Justified1444 Words   |  6 Pagesethicists. To compound the issue, not every murderer is Charles Manson. For many years, there has been a debate of whether or not the death penalty is morally justified. This debate has centered on whether humans have the right to take the lives of other human beings and has long divided people politically and socially. People who are in favor of the death penalty believe that, â€Å"Intentionally taking the life of an innocent human being is so evil†¦the perpetrator forfeits his own right to life†(PojmanRead MoreCapital Punishment: Why Death Penalty Is Morally Permissable Essay2465 Words   |  10 PagesWhy the Death Penalty is Morally Permissible Karina Morgan April 13, 2010 Professor Mark Reynolds PHI 206 Sec. 04 Word Count: 1,910 Syllogism for Argument: 1. Every human has a right to life 2. But this right is not absolute because a person’s life can be overridden for good reasons 3. So the right of life does not hold in every situation no matter what 4. One of these situations includes taking the life of another innocent human 5. Therefore, it is morally permissibleRead MoreCapital Punishment : The United States928 Words   |  4 Pagescapital punishment is in decline. Once a near universal practice, the death penalty has been abolished in 101 countries, as of July 2015(Amnesty International, 2015) and executions have become less common amongst industrialised democracies. Some nations keep capital statutes for instances of exceptional crimes such as treason, but parts of the former Soviet Union, Japan and the United States of America (USA) still administer death sentences for ‘ordinary’ crimes of violence. One clear anomaly to thisRead MoreEssay about The Debate Over Capital Punishment1141 Words   |  5 Pages The debate over capital punishment has been raging on for countless number of years. Capital punishment has been used for thousands of years due to the physiological fear it inflicts on the people who witness and learn about the death penalty. The use of this punishment has helped to reduce crime and alter the minds of future criminals to deter them against committing heinous crimes such as murder, treason, espionage, terrorism and in some cases aggravated kidnapping. Advocates say it deters crimeRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?1443 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Death Penalty Be Abolished in the United States? Adalynne Francis CRJU 1000 Dr. Huss November 14, 14 Should capital punishment/ death penalty be abolished in the United States? Many feel that the death penalty is immoral and question whether the state and federal government deserve the right to kill those whom it has imprisoned. On the other hand, those opposed feel that by not acting upon the death penalty communities would plunge in anarchy and that by having the death penaltyRead MoreTed Bundy And The Death Penalty1538 Words   |  7 Pagesit to be much more, nonetheless, he killed people for his own satisfaction. Did he deserve the death penalty? Did he deserve to die when he kill only almost 40 people? It may be a little too late to ask that because on January 24, 1989, he died in Florida’s electric chair as he consewuence. Nonetheless,and as unfortunate as it it, people like bundy exist today, some yet to be discovered. The death penalty is merely retribution, not at all revenge, as they are not nearly the same. Retribution is a