Samuel Villasenor

English II

12-8-2017

Should there be a death penalty?

Some people think that there should not be a death penalty because it is “inhumane”, it

cost more money to hold a death row inmate, ot it is not just. But others are for the death penalty

are for the death penalty because it removes the scum of the world, people think it is justice, and

it “deter” crime. One reason that there should be a death penalty because it closes a terrible

chapter in people's lives. Another reason that there should be a death penalty because it removes

the scum of the world that are just wasting space. The last reason there should be a death penalty

is because it is humane because as humans we have always removed the threats to our way of

living and that is exactly what the death penalty does it removes threats to people's way of living.

There should be a death penalty because it closes a chapter, gets rid of scum, and removes a

threat from society.

The first reason that there should be a death penalty because it closes a chapter in the

families lives. This supports my thesis because if the murder of a friend or family member was

executed then that part of your life can come to a close sure the family will never be the same

because they just lost one of the most important people in their life but they will be able to move

on because the people in the event are all dead and you would only revist that event in a

nightmare and to be able live your dream you must be able to walk through your nightmare. In

pbs.org it says in the article Does the death bring closure to a victim’s family “In your life, you
have chapters,” Petty said. “This is going to be a chapter for these families they can close. It’s

not going to be an easy chapter. For some of them it could be one of the last chapters of their

life.” When a family member is killed you are going to go threw one of the worst stretches of life

because you grew up with that person and they knew everything about you and you knew

everything about them so without them it would be hard to move on especially if the person who

killed the family member is still alive because you would still revist the day they were killed

because you still have multiple strings attached to that moment but if they were executed the

only strings attaching you to that moment is the pain and sadness you felt when you found out

that they had been killed so you will be able to close that chapter in your life.

The second reason that there should be a death penalty because it gets rid of the scum of

the world. This supports my thesis because if you were to get the death penalty you would have

to be terrible person because you have more than likely killed someone or many people, you

have rapped or kidnapped someone, or you abuse people. These are some of the worst things you

can do to people if you committing murders than you are killing someone's friend or family

member that meant alot to that person or if you rap or kidnap someone you are scaring that

person for life and they will never be the same because you have damage them not only mentally

but you damage their families emotionally. In Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty it states

“Wyoming - First-degree murder; murder during the commission of sexual assault, sexual abuse

of a minor, arson, robbery, burglary, escape, resisting arrest, kidnapping, or abuse of a minor

under 16” In Wyoming there are more things that can get you the death penalty than most states

because in most states you can only be executed if you have committed a first degree murder but

in Wyoming you can get the death penalty for things that are equally terrible as committing a
murder so there should be a death penalty because we would be removing some of the worst

people in the world.

Lastly, there should be a death penalty because it removes a threat to society. This

supports my thesis that there should be death penalty because in life we always try to keep our

way of living safe but if someone who is crazy shows up and starts to ruin how we live then we

should get rid of them before they can cause an enormous problem. Also if they are a threat us as

humans have always get rid of the threats to our way of living so us killing one more person

would not be that big of a deal. Also Robert Macy, District Attorney of Oklahoma City agrees

with this because he once said “In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and made to

watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed. The killer should not

lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable TV, family visits and endless

appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die.” So if a person had just killed

someone's kid and made the mother watch and inflicted injury upon her then killed her why

would that person be allowed to lie in prison where they can live a somewhat normal life no they

should not be allowed to have such a luxurious deal they deserve the worst penalty possible

death.

]. But others may say that there should not be a death penalty a death penalty because it

cost more money to hold a death row inmate then it does to hold someone for a life sentence in

prison. Some people may think this is a good reason not have death penalty because taxpayers

would have to pay more taxes so the government can hold a death row inmate. However this is

irrelevant when talking about the death penalty because the death penalty is there to have justice

and clean up the streets of the worst calibur so money should not matter when we are trying to
obtain justice and have safe streets because having those two things are priceless. And David

Muhlhausen, PhD and Joseph M. Bessette, PhD said in 2016 “Rather, the capital punishment

system is a filter that selects the worst of the worst...” So the claim that the death penalty cost

more money is irrelevant because when it comes to someone getting the death penalty it is the

worst people in this country that are getting this judgement not random people so it doesn't

matter if it cost more because we are getting rid of someone truly evil with the death penalty.

This issue is important to address because it is about cleaning up this country and getting

rid of the truly evil people in the world today. To do this we would need to bring back the death

penalty in all states and have what gets someone the death penalty as clear as possible so there

are no loopholes. Also only have someone get the death penalty if we have irrefutable evidence

that it was that person who commited a crime. So there should be a death penalty because it

closes a chapter in families lives, it gets rid of the scum in this country, and it removes a threat to

our society. This needs to be addressed because there are too many bad people that are allowed

to live that don’t deserve that honor. Finally there should be a death penalty because it gets rid of

the evil people.

“​Does the death penalty bring closure to a victim’s family?” By Laura Santhanam,​ Apr 25, 2017:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/death-penalty-bring-closure-victims-family

This source is about if the Death penalty really brings justice to the victims families. Also

the source talks about what the families victims go through and that most families have an easier

time coping with the killer in jail with no parole rather them gating the death penalty. This relates

to my topic because one of the main reason that some people would support the death penalty is

because they think that the family will feel better and get justice if the person is killed. This goes

against my argument saying that there should be a death penalty because in the article one of the

families actually becomes worse after the killer was killed and one person in the family

committed suicide. Petty said it won’t offer closure, but “will close chapters for these families.”

This supports my claim that there should be a death penalty because after a family member's

death you will never receive closure because that person was one of the most important people in

your life and you will always deal with that pain but it will close a chapter in your life and you

will be able to move on and think less about the appearance and start to move on.

“A just society requires the death penalty for the taking of a life: Agree” By 2000 - 2012

Michigan State University Comm Tech Lab and Death Penalty Information Center

https://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/node/10
 This source talks about the death penalty and how people who have done terrible things

to people deserve no less than to exuctued and no longer be given the chance to do another

unthinkable act again. This source relates to my topic because it talks about how we should have

a death penalty because its says how some criminals should no longer deserve to live because of

the unthinkable things that they had done. This helps my position because it further my point on

how there should be a death penalty because some people who do terrible things do not deserve

to have life in prison they should be killed. "In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and

made to watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed. The killer

should not lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable TV, family visits and

endless appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die." This supports my case that

there should be a death penalty because Robert Macy, District Attorney of Oklahoma City

explains how the killer can have things okay in prison and could eventually get out and start

killing people again so they do not deserve the chance to do so.

“​Does the Death Penalty Deter Crime?” By​ 2017 The Trustees of the University of

Pennsylvania

https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/does-death-penalty-deter-crime

This source talks about how there is no evidence to show that the death penalty either

deters criminal activity or doesn’t deter criminal activity. This source relates to my topic because

people who want the death penalty main argument is that the death penalty helps deter criminal

activity. This will help my argument because in the text it states “​One cannot study the impact of

executions when they are hardly ever imposed,” This shows that the only way to see if the death
penalty deters criminal activity is to have the death penalty and execute people that have done

terrible unthinkable things to see if that makes killing and mass killings less likely to happen.

“Does death penalty bring closure for loved ones?” By ​Public Affairs​, UC Berkeley, MAY 22,

2015

http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/05/22/opinion-does-death-penalty-bring-closure-for-loved-ones/

and ​http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/20/opinions/marsh-tsarnaev-forgiveness/index.html

This article is talking about the boston bombing and if the victims families would get

closure if the bombers would get executed and they use examples from texas where there is a

death penalty and Minnesota does not have a death penalty. This article relates to my topic

because it says that only 15% of people wanted the people to be executed and some wanted them

to take the death penalty off of the table. ​ “​A pol​l in April found that only 15% of Boston

residents said they wanted Tsarnaev to receive the death penalty.” This goes against my

argument that there should be a death penalty because many of these people who were in this

horrific event do not want for the man to be executed.

“​Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty” by ​The Bureau of Justice Statistics, ​Capital

Punishment 2012​, (pub. May 2014)

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/crimes-punishable-death-penalty

This article is talking about what acts will get you the death penalty in each individual

state. This relates to my topic because it shows you what type of person you have to be if you
were going to get the death penalty. “​Wyoming​ - First-degree murder; murder during the

commission of sexual assault, sexual abuse of a minor, arson, robbery, burglary, escape, resisting

arrest, kidnapping, or abuse of a minor under 16.” This shows that you have to do some pretty

scummy and terrible things in order to get the death penalty.