Capitalism Essay Research Paper Good Afternoon I

Capitalism Essay, Research Paper

Good Afternoon, I am honored to be here, and I thank you for having me.Today I would like to speak to you about a very controversial issue-capital punishment. What do those two words mean to you. To mostpeople they mean a murder victims family receiving justice for theirdeceased. Let me see a show of hands. How many people in the audiencebelieve in the death penalty. I conducted a weeklong survey of twohundred people of all ages. The purpose was to see how many peoplebelieved in the death penalty and how many opposed it. My results areshown on this overhead.As you can clearly see, 98% believe in the death penalty. 57% believethat the death penalty is a deterrent for murder. A high of 97% of thepeople favor capital punishment, where 1% think that our justice systemshould not be more lenient on death row inmates. Only 89% think thatonce convicted of murder, an inmate should be sentenced to deathimmediately. I would like to take this time to tell you a story. On August 15,1997, the Reverend John Miller preached a sermon at the Martha VineyardsTabernacle in New Hampshire. He told his congregation, which includedthe vacationing President Clinton and his wife, that capital punishmentis wrong. I invite you to look at a picture of Timothy McVeigh and toforgive him, said Miller. If we profess to be Christians, then we arecalled to love and forgive. Once the sermon ended, Rev. Miller,Clinton, and their wives got together for brunch at the Sweet Life Cafi. What the Rev. did not know was that 24-year-old Jeremy T Charron; anEpsom New Hampshire police officer was gunned down in cold blood justhours before Miller s sermon on forgiving murderers. That Sunday markedCharron s 44th day as a full time police officer, the job he dreamed ofsince he was 6 years old. Jeremy Charron leaves behind his parents, two sets of grandparents, twosisters, two brothers, a wide circle of friends, and a girlfriend whoseengagement ring he had begun to shop for. Maybe the Reverend Millerwould advise those grieving for Charron to look at pictures of GordonPerry, the robber accused of pumping the bullets into Charron s heart,and 18 year old Kevin Paul, the accomplice, and forgive. The state of New Hampshire has opted not to forgive, but to prosecute.Perry has been charged with capital murder. If he is convicted, thestate will seek the death penalty for the first time since 1939.Jeanne Shepard, the democratic governor, says a capital murderprosecution will put criminals On notice that if they kill a policeofficer in New Hampshire, they will face the death penalty. What ifthey kill someone other than a cop. Should criminals not be put onnotice that they will face the death penalty if they kill a cashier incold blood. A farmer, or a schoolteacher. They should- but the lawsays otherwise. In New Hampshire as in all states with the deathpenalty, murder can be punished with execution only in specificcircumstances. The murder of an officer in the line of duty is one ofthem. Among others are murder combined with rape, murder for higher,and murder in the course of kidnapping. First degree murder is notpunishable by death. One who willfully murders a cashier is no lessevil then the murderer of a police officer. Both have committed theworst crime. Both should be subjected to the worst possiblepunishment. That is justice. Standing in the way of that justice, however, are the likes of Rev.Miller, who brim with such pity for criminals that they have none leftover for the victims. Forgive Timothy McVeigh, he says, as if we havethat right. Absolve the man who slaughtered 168 innocent men, women,and children in Oklahoma City. Pardon the killer of Officer Charron.Nothing could be more sinful and indecent. How sad that Miller,enjoying his brunch with the president at the Sweet Life Cafi, shouldlack compassion for the sweet life of others.Executions at U.S. prisons reached a 40- year high last year. There aregoing to be more executions in the future as these cases are speeded up,as a result of federal and state laws shortening the appeal process. Iwould now like to direct your attention to the overhead.The following chart shows statistics of the number of executions perstate for the 1997 year. Currently there are only 12 states without thedeath penalty. Those states are Hawaii, Alaska, West Virginia,Washington D.C., Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Michigan,Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and North Dakota.The U.S. has over 1.5 million incarcerated in prisons, by far thelargest system in the world, and that does not include those in jail.The tough-on-crime politicians, of course, are elected by promisingbigger and better jails for those scum bags. I once heard someone say, Building jails to lessen crime is like building more cemeteries toprevent AIDS. Prison building is the fastest growing industry inAmerica. In fact, prisons can no longer be called prisons. Thepolitically correct term is correction-industrial complexes.Gene Amole is a writer for the New York Times who opposes the deathpenalty. As experiences show, there is no closure, when the one whodid the killing is executed. There is a very real climate of revengeand retribution in this country. What we need is restorative justiceand healing. Mr. Amole comments on the sixth commandment, (it) is so simple, so easyto understand, Thou Shalt Not Kill . There is nothing that I can seethat permits us to commit premeditated institutional murder, which isexa