The USA and Japan are the only industrialized democracies in the world which still execute people.

Are you also in favour of the death penalty ?

Although there are countless pro and anti-death-penalty pages in the internet, we feel we still have to add one more!

Gymnasium Steglitz, Berlin > Advanced Course of English 2001> Project: Capital Punishment in the USA> Group 1 (girls)

The state must practise justice: There are too many mistakes !

In today´s media the death penalty is an often discussed subject. It is an issue of today and a lot of people cannot decide wether they are in favor of capital punishment or totally against it. Of course, you can look at it from many different angles, but the question remains how effective the death penalty actually is.The death penalty was abolished in the USA in 1971 and reinstated in 1976. There are different methods to execute the death-row inmate such as lethal injection, the gas chamber and the electric chair. In the USA most of the citizens are in favor of capital punishment. President George W. Bush also is in favor of it, which influences many US-citizens. To decide whether one should be in favor of capital punishment or not is a difficult decision. There are many arguments for and against capital punishment.

In general, we think each criminal should be given another chance. And as we are discussing the effectiveness of capital punishment, we think that it would be more effective to let the criminals live; they should get the chance of reform and rehabilitation, because then they would be able to repay the damage they have inflicted on our society. After McVeigh´s execution President Bush pointed out that "jusitice" was done, "not vengeance". And for us this seems to be the correct answer, as the state is supposed to practise justice and it would be wrong if it practised vengeance. Revenge cannot be the reason why a state executes criminals. This would then be like in the Old Testament, which says: An eye for an eye.

We have to consider that there have been cases where people were executed even though they were innocent. There is an opinion in the USA that the execution of innocent "victims" never occurs. But people who believe in this are wrong! As statistics show, about 24 people of 400 death-row inmates were found out not to be guilty. And if a state like America is not able to exclude such cases, we certainly cannot speak of the effectiveness of the death penalty. When someone is killed even though he is innocent, it is an injustice that can never be rectified.

Speaking about the "effectiveness" of capital punishment one also has to say that many relatives of victims admit that they do not feel much better afterwards. This shows that the execution of, for example, the murderer of your daughter would not really able to close this horrific chapter in your life.

Many people think that criminals are often sentenced to death in an unfair and discriminatory way. When we presented cases of different people who were executed in the past one student had to present a woman who was lesbian. We often thought whether this was really true that those people are disadvantaged in a certain way. And when we read a "New York Times" article about this topic, we were frightened by the fact that black or homosexual criminals are much more likely to be sentenced to death than white people. We do not know whether those statistics are correct, and we also think statistics have to be looked at in a very special and attentive way, but it still remains a horrifying imagination that some people suffer from those disadvantages. In order to eliminate those prejudices that seem to exist, it would be the best and the most effective solution to abolish the death penalty; because if capital punishment did not exist, there would not be space to spread those opinions which could also be called "prejudices".

Sister Helen Prejean in the film "Dead Man Walking" serves as an example to us, as she always tries to find something positive inside each human being. Even though she knows what cruel murderer her "client" is, she tries to help him. She shows her Christian love and she does not give up. She believes in the good will inside him. She is the only person who wants to give him another chance, and this is the reason why she never gives up…

As we found out on the internet the actual crime rate has not gone down since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976 as one might expect. It shows that capital punishment does not work as a deterrence as many people think. It seems to be like that because most of the criminals who commit a crime do not calculate what will follow their action. This brings evidence again that capital punishment is very ineffective as it does not work as deterrence.

Almost all religious groups share the belief that executions of a human being is immoral. Christianity, for example, says that God is the creator and giver of life, and that no one else has th right to destroy the life of onother human being. And even for a person who does not believe in any religion, this seems to be understandable: Namely that there is a power greater and higher than ourselves that reigns over life and death.

Let us know your view !

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Gymnasium Steglitz, Berlin > Advanced Course of English 2001> Project: Capital Punishment in the USA> Group 2 (girls)

Capital Punishment is primitive and no deterrent

The issue of the death penalty has been discussed a lot all over the world recently. Lots of different views have been shown on TV and in the media in general. The case of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma city bomber, was the reason for the latest discussions and arguments for and against the death penalty. The death penalty has always been an important topic about which the opinions of people differ a lot. After it had been abolished in 1971 the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Statistics say that in America about 60% are for the death penalty. Although this high rate may shock Europe, where most people condemn capital punishment, in the eyes of a lot of Americans, the death penalty is instituted to prevent and also to punish capital crimes. They think that the death penalty has a deterring effect on future murderers. And that is not the only argument death penalty proponents give for their point of view. For them, the death penalty is justice, revenge for the victims and a possibility for their relatives to reach closure. A lot of proponents refer to bible quotes like "vengeance is mine". It is the way they want to deal with the drastically increased crime rate and the stories they get from the media. But there are also people who want the death penalty abolished - and have good reasons for that.

The great unfairness of capital punishment is shown in the following facts: Most of the people sentenced to death are blacks, although the percentage of blacks in the USA is quite small in relation to whites. Most of the prosecutors who sentence someone to death are white men. Mostly people who killed white persons are sentenced to death. When one looks at all these facts and arguments one could come to the conclusion, that capital punishment is neither justice nor vengeance, it is not even justified. There are too many arguments against it. Only the fact, that since the reinstatement almost 80 people who were found guilty were proved to be innocent and got free only a few days before their execution shows that you can never be sure whether a sentence to death is right or wrong. 23 people convicted of a murder were found not guilty after their execution. How will the government rectify these mistakes and reinstate the dignity of those people? If the only way for the government to reinstate the dignity of a victim is to execute the murderer, would it not be necessary to execute the government since it also kills innocent persons and takes away his or her dignity in this way.

We do believe that executing someone is a primitive answer to capital crimes. Although it feels right sometimes, we know that "an eye for an eye" is not the right way to deal with criminals. We mean, if you get raped you usually do not rape the criminal as well. Both is against the law, even if the victim would justify his rape saying it was revenge. We believe that killing for whatever reason should not be allowed by the law!

Let us know your view !

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Gymnasium Steglitz, Berlin > Advanced Course of English 2001> Project: Capital Punishment in the USA> Group 3 (boys)

What do you gain from Capital Punishment ? "Are you for life, or are you for death ?"

In any discussion of how effective the death penalty is and what it stands for a whole host of issues are involved: One has to consider the intentions of the death penalty as well as its actual meaning and if the intentions can be pursued. Another question related to the effectiveness (which is questioned by 14 states having abolished the death penalty), of capital punishment would be if there are alternative, more promising ways of justice.
It does not help to kill someone, especially if you are in a Christian country. The bishops reject the death penalty, nevertheless allowing it in severe cases. Even the Church appears to have a split opinion. Sister Helen Prejean who was spiritual advisor for several death row inmates emphazises that. She also points out what the different points of view are. " Are you for compassion, or are you for violence? Are you for mercy, or are you for vengeance?…Are you for life, or are you for death?" To make it clearer it should be mentioned that despite the loss of a human being some family members forgive the murderer or rapist. Victims' Families For Reconciliation (VFFR) wants to show that mercy should be practised and asks the state not to execute human beings.
They can be viewed as representatives of America's current situation. recent polls show that the agreement with the death penalty has steadily declined from an all time high of 80% to 67%. It is still high, but fewer people tend to favour it because of its cruelty. It is not a pleasant event to see someone shake and burn while he or she is still alive.

Another argument which is often used by supporters is that someone who receives the death penalty is not able to kill again, but the same effect can be reached by sentencing a criminal to lifelong imprisonment without the possibility of parole....
In fact, it is possible to keep death row candidates alive and at the same time deny them the option of early release or parole. The state of California has been practising this method since 1977 and since then no one has ever been released. This lifelong sentence respects the dignity of life which the Church demands and can thus morally be accepted.  
Racial discrimination plays a great role in capital cases: A black or a Hispanic person, who murdered a white one is more likely to be sentenced to death than a white one; blacks and Hispanics are involved in 82% of the capital cases; way more than their percentage in society. The likelihood of being sentenced to death is higher for poor people than it is for rich ones, who can afford proper legal representation. Of the 22.000 homicides in the USA each year only 300 become a capital case; a lottery which the minorities and poor lose.
In addition to that it is about 1,25 million dollars cheaper to keep someone in prison than to execute him.

The border between justice and vengeance has yet to be set, but the law which includes and justifies the death penalty, is set too far away from justice to be called acceptable. Although in cases like Timothy McVeigh's it seems almost impossible to show mercy, one has to consider that there is no use but vengeance, which can be gained out of a murderer's death, and, although vengeance and hate are human feelings and just as normal as any other, we should not let them dominate our mind, just like a murderer's mind when committing his crime. The sentence for murderers should rather be lifelong imprisonment and the lower costs which will derive from this should lead to more money, which can be used to help the victim's relatives forget about their pain and overcome their trauma.

Let us know your view !

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