Argumentative Essay 2- First Draft- Should the law of capital punishment be passed again?-07.05.2014

Salih ÖZKAN

May 7, 2014

First Draft- 7. Essay- Argumentative essay 2

Should the law of capital punishment be passed again?

The capital punishment is the punishment which involves killing someone who has committed a crime or crimes. Until the mid-twentieth century, the capital punishment was being employed for the people who had committed a crime or crimes. However, this law is fortunately no longer in use. Yet, today, the restoration of capital punishment is being argued by the authorities. Although some people may think that the restoration of capital punishment is necessary, I believe that the capital punishment should not be passed again because it may cause an innocent person to die, prison can sometimes improve a person, and execution is more expensive than life imprisonment.

First, the state should not restore the law of capital punishment because innocent people may be executed. Some people may think that the judges are the one who have got a lot of experience, so they are able to decide whether one is guilty or not. However, as they are also human beings, there always possibility exists that they make mistakes. According to a research that was done by Michael Radelet, in the United States, from 1900-2007, 426 people convicted of capital crimes, were later found innocent. 403 were released from death row, but 23 had already been executed. Is there any way to bring them to life?

Second, the state should not pass the law of capital punishment again because prison gives people the chance to change. Proponents of the restoration of capital punishment may think that capital punishment is sometimes the only way to provide the justice.  However, prisoners have the opportunity to change their bad behaviors, while executed people do not have any opportunity to do so. For example, Caryl Chessman, who had been claimed to be a rapist,  had taught people how to read and written several books before he was executed. As another example, Jaturun Siripongs, who had killed two liquor store employees, became a Buddhist monk while he was in prison. No matter how terrible the mistakes they have made, people can change.

Finally, the restoration of capital punishment should not be accepted because execution is more expensive than life imprisonment. Some people may think that taxpayers should not pay their tax for prisoners. However, the money spent for execution is more than the money spent for life imprisonment. According to the Los Angeles Times's report, in California, keeping people in prison for life costs 136 million dollars; however, executing them costs more than $250 million. The government spends millions of dollars on execution decision.

In sum, the restoration of capital punishment should not be passed again because innocent people may be executed,  prison help people change their bad behaviors, and imprisoning criminals is less expensive than executing them. Executing someone is violent and it undermines the respect the country gets from other countries. The core countries like France, Germany, and Switzerland have already abolished the capital punishment because they are aware of its bad results. Therefore, to be like one of those countries, the state should not focus on the restoration of capital punishment.

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Radelet, Michael. In Spite of Innocence. as on Amnesty USA website and "The Innocence List" on www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. May 11, 2006.

"Caryl Chessman.". The Biography.com website. http://www.biography.com/people/caryl-chessman-17169566

D. Hatfield, Larry. "Siripungs put to death". SFGate. February 9, 1999. http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Siripongs-put-to-death-3098221.php#photo-2282619

Williams, Carol J. Los Angeles Times. "Death penalty costs". June 20, 2011 http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/20/local/la-me-adv-death-penalty-costs-20110620