The Death Penalty

justice

An Introduction..

Taking a Life for a Life is Immoral

Some Sources we Used...

Counter Arguments

The death penalty serves justice and closure for the victim's family

LAW

• “If taking a life is criticized as immoral, why is the murder not treated to the same standard? They should both be equal in punishment” (Van den Haag).

• The entire idea of justice is put in perspective not only for the family’s peace of mind, but for the rest of society

It isn’t meant as in terms of revenge because it is not about the pain that the criminal feels while being executed, but about their death as a lesson to others and closure for families’ well being.

• “The minute amount of pain experienced by the murderer on death row does not even begin to compensate for the pain of the victims” (“The Ethics”)

The death penalty is not murder with the use of the justice system (“The Ethics”)

Primary: 1941 Afro American Newspaper (“New”), In Cold Blood (Capote), Discussion of Boston Bombing and Death Penalty (Boston), Death Penalty Debate (Hanna), The Ultimate Punishment (Van)

Secondary: Honorary website for officers killed in duty (Corrections), Article on a criminal who killed inmate (Samuel), Website which states the Fifth Amendment ("Fifth”), Capital Punishment is Morally justified (“The Ethics”)

The Death Penalty

Counter Arguments:

morality

Life Imprisonment is the Better Alternative

• “Life imprisonment is the better alternative”
• “Taking a life for a life is immoral”

Samuel D. Smith

"Samuel Smith an inmate at the Jefferson City Correctional Center murdered fellow inmate Marlin May...The correctional officers were able to pull Mays to safety and found that he had been stabbed 19 times in the head, chest, back, and arm" (Samuel).

Should the killer live? The victim never had a choice.

This incident which occurred in 1987 presents the danger that criminals may still cause, regardless if they’re in jail.

Smith was already in jail, sentenced to 12 years due to 2nd degree murder, (Mays was there for robbery and theft), although he was in prison it didn’t prevent him from taking a life through a knife fight.

Donna Payant

• The death penalty is the highest capital punishment and similarly biggest deterrent for criminals who consider committing these crimes (Van den Haag)

Thesis: The Death Penalty presented through the novel In Cold Blood is an element of society that is arguably inhumane, however, it is necessary to justify the means of taking someone’s life which our judicial system achieves.

• “Corrections Officer Donna Payant was attacked and strangled by an inmate at the Green Haven Correctional Facility. The inmate was serving three consecutive life sentences for kidnapping and murdering two women” (Corrections).

Picture Credits

Officers who work in prisons are also at risk from the dangers a criminal may present. Although prisons may seem as a deterrent from keeping criminals away from society, they can still pose a threat to innocent people who work in prisons during their line of duty.

Works Cited

1.http://img.neoseeker.com/boxview.php?iid=29271&eid=35768&type=front (In Cold Blood Book)

2.http://utdprelaw.com/opportunities/service-opportunities/ (Consitution and gavel)

3.http://forum.goregrish.com/threads/jarvis-roosevelt-catoe.22401/ (picture of Catoe)

4."Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death." YouTube. ABC News, 15 May 2015.

Web. 18 May 2015. <https://youtu.be/em5ZkTFxIuI> (video)

5,6,7 http://www.crimearchives.net/1959_clutter/html/images.html(pictures of Clutter Family and Perry)

8. http://pixgood.com/gavel-png.html (gavel Clip art)

9.<http://www.odmp.org/officer/10455-corrections-officer-donna-a-payant>. (officer badge)

10. <http://www.wesleylowe.com/exe2.jpg> (concluding cartoon)

"Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death." YouTube. ABC News, 15 May 2015.

Web. 18 May 2015. <https://youtu.be/em5ZkTFxIuI>.

Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences.

New York: Random House, 1966. Print.

"Corrections Officer Donna A. Payant." ODMP RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2015.

<http://www.odmp.org/officer/10455-corrections-officer-donna-a-payant>.

"Fifth Amendment." Fifth Amendment. Legal Information Institute, n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.

<https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fifth_amendment>.

Hanna, John. "'In Cold Blood' Murders Haunt Death Penalty Debate." Los Angeles Times. Los

Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 1994. Web. 18 May 2015.

<http://articles.latimes.com/1994-03-20/news/mn-36257_1_death-penalty>.

"New Trial to Be Asked for Catoe." The Afro American 28 Oct. 1941: 1-2. Web. 10 May 2015.

<http://news.google.com>.

"Pros & Cons: Death Penalty - The Pros & Cons." The Pros Cons. N.p., 17 June 2014. Web. 13

May 2015. <http://theproscons.com/pros-cons-death-penalty/>.

"Samuel D. Smith #714." Samuel D. Smith #714. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.

<http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/smith714.htm>.

"The Ethics of Capital Punishment." Capital Punishment Is Morally Justified. Gale

Group, 2011. Web. <http://ic.galegroup.com>.

Van Den Haag, Ernest. "The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 10 May

2015. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/angel/procon/haagarticle.html>.

The Death Penalty In Use

History of the death penalty

Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Sentenced to Death

The Fifth Amendment states:

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime...nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" ("Fifth").

Jarvis Theodore Roosevelt Catoe

In Conclusion..

Abbie Relatado

Sandra Vargas

Naomi Hunt

• The Boston bombing is an example of a modern day event leading to the death penalty
• Four innocent people were killed
• The death penalty was justified through the thirty counts of laws that were broken

• Convicted of murdering half a dozen women
• Was put on trial
• Was put on death penalty 18 minutes later
• "Let it be known that our girls and our women may know that, whether in their castles or on our streets, they will walk in safety and peace" ("New")
• "He wanted to live, thought he had the right to live. Rose Abramo Witz wanted to live. Abramo Witz wanted to live. She too had the right to live" ("New")
• "...and the hardest thing you can ask a citizen to do is sit in judgement of life or death over an individual" ("New")
• despite the difficult and uncomfortable decisions, the torn citizens must come to an agreement on what will be beneficial to society ("Pros")

The death penalty is highlighted in the novel In Cold Blood through Dick and Perry's experiences on death row.

• The Fifth Amendment supports the death penalty
• States that all people must be given a fair trial before their rights can be taken away

Honors English period 1

Our Stance:

• Justified under the Constitution
• All suspects are put under fair trial before they are sentenced to the death penalty.

The Novel In Cold Blood

-not promoting "revenge", but opposing inhumane acts

-we support the idea of using the death penalty only when absolutely necessary

• Dick an Perry murder the Clutter family
• Find themselves on death row
• The topic of the Death Penalty became more popular
• Though Capote was anti-death penalty, he ironically sheds light on the death penalty through the popularity of his novel published in 1965 (Hanna)
• Today, more speak openly about the death penalty
• As of 2000, the state of Kansas has become more progressive toward their views on it (Hanna)
• "[In Cold Blood] is like a Bible," said Rep. David Heineman, an attorney who as a teenager lived four mes from the Clutters' home outside Holcomb in southwestern Kansas. "We can look at it through our own lenses and substantiate our own viewpoints'" (Hanna).

What you should know:

-Everyone is a future voter (Prop 34)