Abigail Anderson & Nicole Marin

Philosophy
21 October 2014
Debate: Against Death Penalty
Opening Statement:
Nicole-

Imagine the person you love the most in the world, imagine them making a

mistake. Now, they would have to be eliminated in front of you, in front of a room of spectators.
Does that sound like justice to you? While some say serial killers, rapists, etc. deserve to be
executed, it is not any humans right to take the life of another human being, even in the name of
justice. Death should never be an option for a form of punishment. Many people think that by
killing the perpetrator, the victims family will be at ease. This is not the case, and most families
dont feel any better after the individual is executed. This form of capital punishment should be
completely abandoned, and the criminal should be left to rot in prison. Prison is a better option
for the criminal because it lets them live their life, contained in a metal box, surrounded by other
scum like them. This is the worst punishment of all. Having your life waste away before your
eyes, boredom, dullness, guilt, is the best vengeance. Most criminals do not care about dying.
Death is seen as a kindness, compared to the cruel life if imprisonment. The death penalty also
does not deter crime, as many think it does. Publicity may encourage crime instead of
preventing it. It is also proven that when an execution goes public, the crime
rates raise exponentially.
Many people will vote pro-death penalty because they think their tax money is going
down the drain by supporting criminals in jail, but in actuality the death penalty is way more
expensive then any other from of punishment. There are many sectors for the death penalty, free

council, for defense, for appeals, maximum security is all on a separate death row wing. All of
this money comes out of the daily taxpayers pocket. Clearly, we are not here to defend the crimes
these individuals have committed, but instead to create a more humane society.
1st Rebuttal/ Irrevocable Mistakes:
Abigail-

One of the biggest issues with the death penalty being legal is that it is a

permanent punishment, an irrevocable mistake. If the Jury, witnesses, law enforcement, or judge
make a mistake, this mistake will cost an innocent person their life. This persons fate is in the
hands of fallible human beings, everyone makes mistakes but if that mistake can cause another
person to die, the system isnt working. Clearly a decision that cannot be changed if proven
wrong is one that shouldnt be made in the first place. If someone is found to be innocent and
they are still alive and held in prison then we can set them free and try to redeem a terrible
mistake. But if they are found to be innocent and have been killed by our justice systems hands,
that is something we cannot vindicate.
There have been many cases where innocent people were sent to their own demise, but were
later proven to be innocent. Leo Jones was executed in Florida in 1998 for murdering a
policeman. This is a horrible crime that deserves punishment, but later Jones was found to be
innocent of this crime. Witnesses came up and said that Jones was not the one that killed the
police officer. The police officers that interrogated Lea Jones were later fired because of police
brutality. Jones was brutally beat and forced to play Russian roulette by these law enforcers.
Another similar case is the execution of Ruben Cantu. He was charged with robbery and murder.
His death penalty was in 1993, and he was later proven innocent in 2010. Cantu was convicted
and sentenced to death solely on identification by one victim, who had failed two times at

identifying Cantu from photo spreads. Cantu was only 17 when he was convicted for this crime.
Ins summation, having the death penalty legal creates for mistakes that can never be rectified.

2nd Rebuttal/ Constitutionality:

Nicole-

Death is an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality, and

in its enormity, states William J. Brennan, Justice of the US Supreme Court. This quote
perfectly states one of the reasons the death penalty is un-constitional and un-American in
principle. The death penalty is violating the 8th amendment that states, Excessive bail shall not
be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. The
definition of cruel and unusual punishment includes torture and deliberately degrading
punishment. Any form of public execution is considered a degrading punishment, all versions of
the death penalty are available for public viewing, and therefore are considered a form of
degrading punishment. An example of this horrible sentence is when the criminal took two hours
to be executed. The execution, that was supposed to only take ten minutes, stretched out to a
painful hour, and then finally ended after two torturous hours of excruciating gulps from the
victim. Josephs last words before being injected were, God forgive you all. Also this capital
punishment violates the 14th amendments. No state shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United
States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws. Killing someone, even a criminal is depriving
him or her of life and therefore a violation of the 14th amendment.
Closing statement/Morals:

Abigail-

Morals are the foundation of American society. Our founding

fathers came here to create a land of freedom and prosperity. Based upon
these morals and beliefs, ending another human beings life is wrong for our
country. Ultimately the moral question surrounding capital punishment in
America has less to do with whether those convicted of violent crime deserve
to die than with whether state and federal governments deserve to kill those
whom it has imprisoned says Brian Stevenson, Professor of law at New York
University. As you can see from traditional American values our government
does not have the right to murder another human being. If taking a life
wasnt wrong enough, the fact that we allow their death to be witnessed by
others is shameful to our core values. The practice of the death penalty is
similar to the barbaric ways of the Romans when they would crucify or
sentence people to death in the coliseum. America is a country built upon
and full of upstanding people and the death penalty does not reflect that. It
is our moral obligation to make the death penalty illegal. Sometimes we as
people must stand up and do the right thing even when it is difficult and
controversial. We understand that some people are in support of the death
penalty but we truly believe that no matter what has occurred nothing will be
solved from more people being killed. The death of someone will not bring
back another or make the world a better place. Thank you for your time.
Open Forum: Both

A single death sentence is $3 million dollars, which is $1.9 million more than the
cost of a non-death case.