CRJ 524 WEEK 4 DISCUSSION 2

In this discussion, address capital punishment and its implementation in the United States. Examine its use and application against the logical fallacy of “two wrongs make a right.” If capital punishment can be proven to be a logical fallacy, discuss the efficacy of its continued use.

Guided Response: Your analyses here will be rooted in both logic and ethics. What is the best, rational argument in support of capital punishment? How can the pros to capital punishment overcome the logical fallacy of “two wrongs make a right”?

States within the US which allow death by electrocution:

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Kentucky

Oklahoma

South Carolina

Tennessee

Virginia

Three states allow the gas chamber:

Arizona

Missouri

Wyoming

Source: (Berman, & Barnes, n.d.)

 

These states allow hanging:

Delaware

New Hampshire

Washington These (2) states allow the firing squad:

Oklahoma

Utah

 

Source: (Berman, & Barnes, n.d.)

 

Oklahoma is the only state that still allows for the use of a firing squad in the year 2017.

Capital punishment prevents a murderer from having an opportunity to murder again. Capital Punishment acts as a permanent deterrent by preventing a murderer from ever happening again.

Even if the death penalty punishes some while sparing others, it does not follow that everyone should be spared. The guilty should still be punished appropriately, even if some do escape proper punishment unjustly. The death penalty should apply to killers of all people. I see no reason why a white cop can kill an unarmed black male, and no ruckus is made by the Caucasian community, yet if the demographics were reversed. Highly compensated, artsy attorneys should not be able to get some defendants off on technicalities, especially if they know that capital punishment id on the table. Even with the cons that are characteristic of capital punishment, which is still no reason to abandon the method as way o punishing the offenders in certain cases.

Moreover, even if some studies regarding deterrence are inconclusive, that is only because the death penalty is rarely used and takes years before an execution is actually carried out. Punishments which are swift and sure are the best deterrent. The fact that some states or countries which do not use the death penalty have lower murder rates than jurisdictions which do is not evidence of the failure of deterrence. States with high murder rates would have even higher rates if they did not use the death penalty. The death penalty is a deterrent that certain states cannot afford not to have.

 

REFERENCES

UNKNOWN. (n.d.). Crime, Punishment and Prison Alternatives – Lawyers.com. Retrieved from http://criminal.lawyers.com/criminal-law-basics/crime-punishment-and-prison-alternatives.html

 

Powell, L.Retrieved from

 

http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/arguments/arguments.PDF

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