The Death Penalty And Wrongful Convictions - 980 Words

The death penalty has been a controversial topic among society for ages. An issue often brought up when discussing the legality of capital punishment is wrongful convictions. Advocates of the death penalty say that, while wrongful convictions are an issue, those few cases do not outweigh the need for lawful execution of felons who are, without a doubt, guilty. On the other hand, the opponents argue that the death penalty is wrong from both a legal and moral standpoint, an ineffective form of punishment, and should, ultimately, be outlawed. With both advocates and challengers constantly debating on this topic, the death penalty and wrongful convictions continue to be hot buttons issues for Americans and people throughout the world. In Jonah Goldberg’s article, Why Death Penalty Opponents Can’t Win, he dwells on how opponents of capital punishment may seem selective with the cases they bring up to challenge the death penalty. In his article, Goldberg expresses how he beli eves that abolitionists base their opinions of capital punishment, more or less, off of the fact that there is no way to be absolutely certain of a person’s guilt. He then goes on to state that these opponents cannot win because the cases they make public are more sympathetic in nature (12). While he calls this a good strategy (12), Goldberg goes on to express how he and many advocates believes that one wrongly accused person’s execution does not invalidate the need to lawfully execute the men and women whoShow MoreRelatedThe Wrongful Convictions Of The Death Penalty2050 Words   |  9 Pagesfour percent of them receive the death penalty being completely innocent. Scenarios like this happen all the time because there are more and more false persecutions each day which can be easily avoided. Many people are occupying prisons all over the world, for felonies they did not execute. More than 200 people have been exonerated through DNA testing nationwide. But why do these wrongful convictions keep happening? Well, in nearly 25 years since post-conviction DNA evidence has been used to demonstrateRead MoreThe Wrongful Convictions Of The Death Penalty2260 Words   |  10 Pagesfour percent of them receive the death penalty being completely innocent. Scenarios like this happen all the time because there are more and more false persecutions each day which can be easily avoided. Many people are occupying prisons all over the world, for felonies they did not execute. More than 200 people have been exonerated through DNA testing nationwide. But why do these wrongful convictions keep happening? Well, in nearly 25 years since post-conviction DNA evidence has been used to demonstrateRead MoreWrongful Conviction And The Death Penalty3795 Words   |  16 Pagesto twenty years in prison or the death penalty? The teenage years and mid-twenties heading into the thirties are supposed to be the best time in life for any individual, but also imagine all of those years taken away because the time spent in prison. No marriage, no more activities with kids or watching them grow up, can’t travel anywhere for vacation, all the holidays with family will disappear and other lifetime activities are gone as well. Wrongful conviction has been a huge issue for centuriesRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1132 Words   |  5 Pagesthat has the death penalty (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2017). Although thirty-one states have a death penalty, executions are rare or non-existing in most states (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2015). In 2015, only six states carried out executions (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2015). The death penalty has been a topic people argued over since it was first established. Many arguments have been made stating the positive impact from the death penalty, but there hasRead MoreDeath Penalty1333 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ Death Penalty: Yes or No? Amanda Nichole Hester ENG 2001 Instructor Gary Henry September 28, 2013 The debate over the death penalty has been looming over the United States of America for numerous years. The death penalty/ sentence has been around since 5th century B.C. The practice of sentencing someone to death dates back to when the colonists settled in the New World. The controversy that the death penalty has caused in the United States is startling withinRead MoreThe Supreme Court s Court1135 Words   |  5 Pagesalmost all extraditions from Canada that do not contain assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed violate the principles of fundamental justice. In that respect, â€Å"in all but exceptional cases† any exercise of the Minister’s discretion that purports to grant an unconditional extradition in light of a capital sentence is void under s. 7 of the Charter. This ruling now shifts Canada’s approach to death penalty extradition in line with that of most European states, including France, ItalyRead MoreThe Death Penalty And The Crimi nal Justice System1475 Words   |  6 PagesThe death penalty has been used as a form of punishments in the United States since the American colonies in the 1600’s (Del Carmen, 2015). The country has divided opinions about the proper procedures used by the criminal justice system to convict a person to live or death. The death penalty has created a public policy issue that has produced wide scholarly research, public debate and legal attention. The reality is that the majority on Americans support the death penalty. Only a small proportionRead MoreIdentifying Innocent People On Death Row1381 Words   |  6 PagesJackie Delaney Professor Nagy The World of Crime Fiction 12/14/15 Identifying Innocent People on Death Row through DNA Evidence How has DNA evidence helped to identify innocent people on death row? This topic raises the question of how many people on death row should truly be there and what percent are innocent. Jay D. Aronson works at Carnegie Mellon University as an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology and Society, and Simon A. Cole works at the University of California as an AssistantRead MoreIn The Beginning Of The 1930’S Wrongful Convictions Tended1228 Words   |  5 PagesIn the beginning of the 1930’s wrongful convictions tended to attract quite a bit of attention in the United States, but it mostly focuses on the individual cases. Some have extensively with the more visibility cases such as the Scottsboro boys, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder and more recent cases like the the Randall Dale Adams case in Texas who faced wrongful conviction, imprisonment, and near execution. Some cases have the attention of the public, including the Sam Sheppard case, whichRead MoreThe Dea th Penalty Should Be Abolished1403 Words   |  6 Pagesabolishing the death penalty is still a controversial debate. The legal system is there to defend the cries of the innocent, yet it cannot seem to determine who the innocents are. Until the voice of its people can be defended, the death penalty should be abolished. It is administering its punishments hoping they have the right perpetrator. It’s basically a guessing game and that should not be the case when it comes to who will end up getting deprived of their life. The death penalty is a racially