Primary reasons civilized nations have abolished capital punishment

¶ … Vote to Oppose the Death Penalty

Specific Purpose: The audience of this paper will understand the primary reasons that most of the civilized world has moved to ban the use of the death penalty.

Capital punishment, specifically the death penalty, is a relic from the past, a form of punishment that is both inhumane and ineffective, that has been replaced by more civilized methods of punishment by most progressive societies for a variety of practical and ethical considerations.

The death penalty is most likely humanities oldest form of punishment that predates recorded history itself; it is a brutal and inhumane form of punishment that is based upon a retribution concept that has been shown an ineffective form of punishment relative to what is best to the collective good of society.

Body

The death penalty is an expression of the absolute power of the state; abolition of that penalty is a much- needed limit on government power.

Supporting facts

Few countries in the world have retained the use of the death penalty in this day and age and the remaining countries are limited to the U.S., Sudan, China, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan; the U.S. representing the only advanced nation still practicing this form of punishment.

II. Supporting facts

In the U.S., Texas in the outright leader in the use of the death penalty and between 1976 (the year in which the Supreme Court lifted its prohibition on the death penalty) and 1998 Texas executed 167 people. (Walpin, N.d.).

III. Supporting facts

Because of its leadership in this practice, Texas has been rigorously studied and its population has been surveyed about its opinions and attitudes about the death penalty and one study found that strong majorities maintain support for the death penalty (68% and 73%, respectively) (Vollum, Longmire, & Buffington-Vollum, 2004).

IV. Supporting facts (Only a Single sentence)

Interestingly, despite the majority support for the death penalty, even the residents of Texas doubt that the death penalty is actually an effective form of punishment (Vollum, Longmire, & Buffington-Vollum, 2004).

2. Why is there is racial and economic discrimination in application of the death penalty? (Support Argument). (Only a Single sentence)

I. Supporting facts (Only a Single sentence)

II. Supporting facts (Only a Single sentence)

III. Supporting facts (Only a Single sentence)

a. Sub-supporting fact (Only a Single sentence)

3. How executions have a corrupting effect on the public? (Support Argument)

I. Supporting facts

Since the 1980s the prison population in the United States has grown at a rate that has no historical precedent that can be found in history (The Justice Policy Institute, 2000).

II. Supporting facts

One of the most famous experiments in social psychology was conducted by researchers at the Stanford University in which they replicated a prison situation in the school (Zimbardo, 2012).

III. Supporting facts

The prison experiment had to be stopped early because its psychological effects on the participants were so toxic that it could not be allowed to continue any further.

a. Sub-supporting fact

People have compared the effects of the prison situation with many of the developments that have occurred in recent times such as the abuses of power that have occurred in military prisons (Zagorin, 2007).

4. (Counterargument against Topic )

I. Supporting facts (Counterargument) (Only a Single sentence)

Studies conducted by economists have pointed to the fact that the use of the death penalty has a deterrent effect that reduces crime rates for the rest of the population (Dezhadbksh, Rubin, & Shepherd, 2003).

II. Supporting facts (Counterargument) (Only a Single sentence)

Other studies have also seemingly added support for the deterrent effect such as a study University of Colorado at Denver in 2003 which estimated that each person executed reduces the homicide rate by roughly five victims (Mocain & Gittings, 2003).

a. Sub-supporting fact (Only a Single sentence)

If there is a deterrent effect that is produced by the use of the death penalty, then this could be used as a justification for its use.