Murder As Retribution Essay Research Paper Title

Murder As Retribution Essay, Research Paper

Title: Murder as RetributionSubject: Type: Research PaperAcademic Level: CollegeContent: My paper was writen on the Death Penalty paperDescription: A paper on Admiral Arleigh Burke and Battle at Cape St. George

“When the fumes enveloped Don’s head he took a quick breath. A few seconds later he again looked in my direction. His face was red and contorted as if he were attempting to fight through tremendous pain. His mouth was pursed shut and his jaw was clenched tight. Don then look several more quick gulps of the fumes. At this point Don’s body started convulsing violently….His face and body fumed a deep red and the veins in his temple and neck began to bulge until I thought they might explode. After about a minute Don’s face leaned partially forward, but he was still conscious. Every few seconds he continued to gulp in. He was shuddering uncontrollably and his body was racked with spasms. His head continued to snap back. His hands were clenched. After several more manuals, the most violent of the convulsions subsided. At this time the muscles along Don’s left arm and back began twitching in a wavelike motion under his skin. Spittle drooled from his mouth. Don did not st!op moving for approximately eight minutes, and after that he continued to twitch and jerk for another minute. Approximately two minutes later, we were told by a prison official that the execution was complete. Don Harding took ten minutes and thirty one seconds to die.” (Gomez v. U.S. District Court, 112 S.Ct. 1652) Since before the day of Caesar, to the present, governments have used the death penalty as a crutch to try to circumvent the issue of violent crimes and their retribution. In any government system, the death penalty is a sentence that can be handed to an individual who is wrongly accused because no matter how blind the law says it is, discrimination and basic human emotions still play a role to the jurors. The many forms of executions in American is overwhelming; none of which are human, as seen with Don Harding s death in the gas chamber. Public opinion and the Cost of execution shows that Americans would prefer a alternative form of retribution and the cost! of execution is far more expensive then life sentences. The case against the death is strong, and this paper will further strengthen the argument. However, we must never forget that the victims are what we are fighting for and we must ask ourselves, “Is death to death what we want in this country, or shall we stand strong and look for an alternative form of retribution.”Unlike all other criminal punishments, the death penalty is irrevocable. A french Chamber of Deputies once said, “I shall ask for the abolition of the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me.”(Ancel, p55) Although some proponents of capital punishment would argue that the cause warrants the occasional execution of innocent people, most of the population believes that it is unlikely for innocent citizens to be executed. However, evidence and case studies have proven that, in this country, since the 1900 s, there are on the average four wrongly accused people per year that are sentenced to death. “In 1980, a black high school janitor, Clarence Bradley, and his white co-worker found the body of a missing 15-year-old white schoolgirl. Interrogated by police, they were told, “One of you two is going to hang for this.: Looking at Bradley, the officer said, “Since your the nigger, you re elected.” In this case of rush to judgment!, Bradley was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. The circumstantial evidence against him was thin, other leads were ignored by the police, and the courtroom atmosphere reeked of racism. In the 1972 Furman v. Georgia case, the Supreme Court, by a 5-4 majority, found that the manner by which the death penalty was being administered made it cruel and unusual punishment and therefore violating the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Justice William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall concurred, stating that, ” the death penalty was a denial of human dignity “(S.C Decisions 208) This denial of human dignity can be examined by the five different forms of death served in the US. The first is by hanging. This traditional mode of execution is available in Washington state and Montana. In this style, death is executed by placing a rope around the person s neck and dropping down from the gallows. The hanging is easily bungled in two different ways. First, if the drop is to short then the person will die a slow and agonizing death by strangulation. Second, if the drop is to long the head will be torn off from the body. The second and more common form of execution is de!ath by electrocution. In this case, the condemned prisoner is led or dragged into the death chamber, strapped into a chair, and electrodes are fastened to the head and legs. Then a switch is thrown. The body strains, jolting as the voltage is raised and lowered. Often smoke rises from the head. There is the awful odor of burning flesh. No one knows how long the electrocuted individuals retain consciousness. Only two states still authorize the firing squad, Idaho and Utah. In this case, the prisoner is strapped to a chair and hooded. A target is pinned to their chest and five marksmen , one with blanks, take aim and fire. The forth form of execution is death by the gas chamber. In this case, the prison is strapped