Death Penalty Essay, Research Paper

Disasters in Death Introduction I. Roosevelt Collins, a black man in Alabama,

was convicted of rape, sentenced to death, and executed in 1937. Roosevelt

testified that the ?victim? who was white had consented to sex, which caused

a near-riot in the courtroom. The all-white jury deliberated for only FOUR

minutes. Later interviews with several jurors revealed that although they

believed the act was consensual, they also thought that he deserved death

simply for ?messin? around? with a white woman. Even the judge, off the

record, admitted his belief that Roosevelt was telling the truth, QUOTE: ?An

innocent man went to his death.? Horace Dunkins was executed on July 17,

1989. His attorney never told the jury he was mentally retarded, with an IQ

estimated at 65. When newspapers reported this several years later, one

juror told the press she would not have voted for the death penalty had she

known of his retardation. The accomplice to this crime was given a life

sentence. II. Everyone has their own opinion of the Death Penalty. The

problem is, most United States citizens do not have the facts. As long as the

death penalty is a form of punishment, we all should be aware of this

information?the correct information, and not just what crime the ?Dead Man

Walking? committed. III. Myself, Chandra, Steve, and Geoff have done

extensive research on the subject of corporal punishment and will discuss

those findings with you today. IV. The Death Penalty is a costly, immoral,

and imperfect form of punishment. Before Americans chant ?Death? for a

moral wrong, we should make sure that we are right. V. Today we will

discuss some of the problems with the death penalty, solutions and

alternatives to it, and even give you a glimpse into how our future America

will be if we continue this immoral deterrent. Chandra will share with us three

of the major problems with the death penalty. Steve will discuss some

solutions and alternatives to corporal punishment. Finally, Geoff will give us

some insight how the death penalty has failed as a deterrent and will continue

to poison our lives in the future and what we can do to change things.

Transition: Chandra will begin by explaining three major concerns with the

death penalty. Body of Speech I. First Main Point (Need-Problem): The

Death Penalty has three major problems: the cost, immoral issues, and

erroneous executions. a. Supporting Point: The death penalty is a very costly

form of punishment. i. Data: According to Dave Erickson?s study, ?Cost of

the Death Penalty,? on Los Angeles County found at Deathpenalty.org, it

would cost nearly $2 million to try a case that carries the death penalty

sentencing versus the $1 million for a regular trial. ii. Data: When an execution

is, in fact, carried out it will cost an additional 2.5 to 3 million dollars per

execution. iii. Data: There are currently 3,061 inmates waiting to be executed,

which will cost approximately $9.1 billion while giving them life imprisonment

without the possibility of parole would cost $3 billion. b. Supporting Point:

The death penalty brings with it many issues of morality. i. Data: As it is put

on the homepage of nodeathpenalty.org in an article entitled ?Campaign to

end the Death Penalty,? it is cruel and unusual punishment to put someone to

death. c. Supporting Point: Innocent people are getting lost in the turmoil. i.

Data: Also on the deathpenalty.org website in a page entitled, ?Death Penalty

Focus,? it states that 23 innocent people have been unjustly put to death for

crimes they did not commit. ii. Data: On the sociology website of NI

University, it is stated that a man named Sie Dawson was put to death and

then later discovered to be innocent. Transition: Chandra has just described a

few of the major problems with the Death Penalty including the inexcusable

wrongful executions that have and will take place. In fact, just this Sunday

night on the news show Dateline on NBC, they did a report on the release of

a death row inmate. This is the 76th since the death penalty was reinstated

and everyday there is new information on DNA of a convicted murder who

may be found innocent of his or her crime. One word for that is

INEXCUSABLE! Now we will hear from Steve some possible solutions to

these problems. II. Second Main Point (Solution-Satisfaction): A change in

the ?life? laws and the economic situation will provides us with solutions to

these problems. a. Supporting Point: There are two alternatives to the death

penalty. i. Data: The obvious alternative to capital punishment is life without

parole. According to the homepage of Citizens United for Alternatives to the

Death Penalty, it is more expensive to execute someone that to keep them in

prison for life. ii. Data: The page also states, ?To suggest that the death

penalty is a deterrent to violent criminals and is a vehicle to somehow grant

relief to the suffering of the victims families is to deceive the constituents they

serve. This is another par of the problem that needs to be solved. We need to

change the legislation to abolish capital punishment. b. Supporting Point: We

need reconstruction of the prison system. i. Data: Persons convicted of

capital punishment should serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before the

possibility of consideration of parole. Parole boards must abide by strict but

fair standards in deciding who should receive parole. The abolition of parole

endangers prison workers. c. Supporting Point: The economic factor of the

solution can be solved fairly easily. i. Data: While in prison, prisoners should

work in jobs which are not slave-like and allow for some dignity and purpose

of life for the inmate. Such work situations create safer conditions for guards

and others who work in prisons. ii. Data: A portion of the prisoners? earnings

should go towards paying for their incarceration, and a portion should go into

a fund for the victims of violent crime and their survivors. This would allow

for a restitution fund for social, psychological, and religious help for victims

and survivor families. Such funds could also provide financial help for families

which have lost a wage earner to murder. Transition: Thank you Steve for

offering some solutions and alternatives to the death penalty. However, the

only way for things to change is for us all to learn the facts and statistics of the

death penalty as a deterrent. So now, Geoff is going to give us some insight

into our future with the death penalty based on past and present statistics and

what we all can do to start this process. III. Third Main Point

(Visualization-Action): There are other ways to deter violent crime and by

looking at past statistics it is not shown to be a deterrent to crimes. There are

also ways we can help put a stop to this. a. Supporting Point: There are other

ways to deter violent crimes. i. Data: A 1995 Hart Research Associates Poll

of Police Chiefs in the U.S. Indicated that 67% of them do not believe the

Death Penalty significantly reduces the number of homicides. In fact the

Death Penalty was rated last in effective was of reducing violent crime.

(Death Penalty Information Center website) ii. Data: A survey of experts

from the American Society of Criminology, the Academy of Criminal Justice

Sciences, and the Law and Society Association showed that the

overwhelming majority did not believe that the death penalty is a proven

deterrent to homicide. b. Supporting Point: The Death Penalty is not a

deterrent. i. Data: Supporting Point: From 1976 until 1995 there were 313

executions carried out in the United states while the National Murder Rate

was an average of 8.88. ii. Data: In a comparison done in 1997, of murder

rates between states with the Death Penalty and states with out the states that

have the Death Penalty have a murder rate per 100,000 almost double that of

the states that do not have the Death Penalty. (See Graph) (Death Penalty

Information website) I. Data: A few key years to point out. (Death Penalty

Information Center website) c. Supporting Point: What we can do to stop the

Death Penalty. i. Data: There are many organizations out there trying to

abolish the Death Penalty. ii. Data: Professor William A. Schabas wrote a

book entitled ?The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law,?

which is available at most bookstores. iii. Data: You can also write to your

congressperson. There are a few bills trying to go through congress to abolish

the Death Penalty. US Senator Russ Feingold introduced a bill to the Senate

on November 11, 1999, calling for the abolition of the Death Penalty in the

US. Transition: We have now discussed the problems and alternatives to the

death and as Geoff has just showed us there are things each of us can do to

help change the law that hasn?t done what it was intended to do. Conclusion:

I. Today we have shown you that the Death Penalty is a costly, immoral, and

imperfect form of punishment. II. Specifically, we discussed some of the

major problems with the death penalty, solutions and alternatives to it, and

gave you a glimpse into what it has done for us thus far and for our future. III.

We leave you with this?According to a webpage from ACLU Marquis de

Lafayette, speaking to the French Chamber of Deputies in 1830, years after

having witnessed the executions of the French Revolution said this? “I shall

ask for the abolition of the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of

human judgment demonstrated to me.” I couldn?t have said it better than that.

References: Alternatives to the Death Penalty. [Online}.

www.cuadp.org/altern.htm. (1998). Amnesty International USA. [Online].

Amnesty International Inc. www.amnesty-usa.org/abolish/index.html. (1999,

November 23). Appeals Unlimited. [Online]. Appeals Unlimited/AUSoft.

www.appeals.com/ deathpenalty.html. Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

[Online]. www.nodeathpenalty.org/fivereasons.html. (1999, October 1).

Economics of Capital Punishment, The. [Online]. www.mindspring.com/~

phporter/econ.html. (1999). Death Penalty Focus. (1999, April 24). Cost of

the Death Penalty and Myths and Facts. [Online]. www.deathpenalty.org.

(version on November 18, 1999). Illinois Wrongful Capital Murder

Convictions. [Online]. www.sun.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/wrong/illmurder.html.

(1999, February).