Essay

Gomez 4

Andrea Gomez

D. Quintero

ENGL-1301-OBDR1

4 April 2021

Argumentative Outline

Title: Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

INTRODUCTION

Hook: More than 8,500 people have been executed in the USA since the 1970s.

Topic introduction/Background information: Although states consider capital punishment as legal punishment to alleviate first-degree murder, there is no enough evidence to guarantee to take of life.

Three-point thesis statement: The death sentence should be abolished because it causes trauma to families, it is not administered equitably, and juries sometimes overlook evidence.

Body Paragraphs (Develop Your Argument)

Claim #1 - Topic Sentence: First, the death sentence should be abolished because it causes trauma to families.

A. Major detail: Capital punishment causes trauma, stigma, and grief on the families of convicted individuals.

a. Evidence: According to a research study “When an individual enters the death raw, family members undergo extensive trauma, stigma, and grief” (Schweizer & Beck).

i. Summarize the quote: Family members of people sentenced on death row are usually depressed.

ii. Connection: Therefore, the death penalty impacts families negatively by causing them trauma, stigma, and grief hence it should be abolished.

B. Major detail: The death penalty does not bring closure to the families who win cases.

a. Evidence: According to deathpenalty.org, “Studies suggest that the death penalty does not bring closure to the afflicted families and it interferes with their healing process.” ("Sentencing Data").

i. Summarize the quote: The death penalty also has a negative effect on the afflicted families.

ii. Connection: The evidence shows that the death penalty affect all the people involved by causing trauma to the plaintiff’s and defendant’s families.

C. Transitional sentence: In brief, the death penalty affects all the people involved in the case by causing trauma.

Claim #2 - Topic Sentence: Second, the death sentence should be abolished because it is not administered equitably.

A. Major detail: Unequal administrations results in discrimination against minority groups.

a. Evidence: Adam Liptak who is a reporter at The New York Times reported that there is a study which concluded that “defendants convicted of killing white victims were executed at a rate 17 times greater than those convicted of killing Black victims.” (Liptak)

i. Summarize the quote: The death row protects white people who are the majority group in the USA.

ii. Connection: Based on the evidence presented, the death penalty should be abolished because it is not administered fairly.

B. Major detail: Unequal administration of the death penalty promotes racism.

a. Evidence: According to information from prisonpolicy.org, “Studies which examine the relationship between race and the death penalty have now been conducted in every active death penalty state. In 96% of these reviews, there was a pattern of either race-of-victim or race of-defendant discrimination, or both.” (Prison Policy Initiative).

i. Summarize the quote: The evidence indicates that judges are biased when sentencing people to the death sentence.

ii. Connection: The evidence shows that the criminal justice system is affected by racism hence it should be abolished because it does not administer justice equally.

C. Transitional sentence: In summary, the death penalty promotes racial discrimination hence it should be abolished because it is not administered equally.

Claim #3 - Topic Sentence: Finally, the death sentence should be abolished because juries sometimes overlook evidence.

A. Major detail: Judges sometimes make biased judgements in favor of white people despite of evidence presented

a. Evidence: Information from prisonpolicy.org indicates that “Of people currently on death row, 82% were convicted in cases involving white victims (Prison Policy Initiative).

i. Summarize the quote: The above evidence shows that the jury sometimes overlook evidence when convicting criminals.

ii. Connection: The evidence indicates that judges sometimes fail to analyze evidence and this often leads them to make biased judgements in favor of white people.

B. Major detail: Prosecutors influence which cases lead to death sentences.

a. Evidence: According to prisonspolicy.org, “From 1988 to 1994, 75% of defendants convicted of participating in drug trafficking under the 1988 "drug kingpin" law were white. However, of the drug trafficking cases in which the prosecution sought the death penalty, only 11% of those convicted were white, while 89% were Hispanic or black. A congressional subcommittee determined that some of the people prosecuted under the kingpin law did not really qualify as kingpins, but rather were young black men in inner-city gangs or low-level individuals who had committed crimes for the kingpins (Prison Policy Initiative).

i. Summarize the quote: The information implies that influential people are protected from the death sentence.

ii. Connection: The evidence shows that prosecutors determine which cases end up getting a death sentence regardless of the available evidence hence the death penalty should be abolished to promote fairness.

C. Transitional sentence: Briefly, the death penalty is not a fair way of issuing justice because prosecutors and judges sometimes ignore available evidence.

Rebuttal section

Rebuttal - Topic Sentence: Death penalty should not be abolished.

A. Opponent’s strongest argument: Death sentence deters crime and makes society safer.

a. Evidence: According to statistics from deathpenaltyinfo.org, “Around 2,500 prisoners currently face execution in the United States.” ("Sentencing Data")..

i. Summarize the quote: More criminals have been eliminated from society.

ii. Connection (how does your opponent’s argument make sense/why would someone believe it?): This argument makes sense because less criminals in society should result in less crime in society.

B. Your position or nature of your disagreement: The death penalty should be abolished.

a. Refutation/Evidence: According to information from amnesty.org, “Evidence from around the world has shown that the death penalty has no unique deterrent effect on crime.” (Amnesty International)

i. Summarize the quote: The death penalty does not deter crime.

ii. Connection (how does your quote help support/prove the nature of your disagreement?): The evidence presented shows that the death penalty is ineffective so it should be abolished.

C. Transitional sentence: In summary, the death penalty has not achieved the desired outcome of deterring crime hence it should be abolished.

CONCLUSION

A. Restate the importance of your issue: Abolishing the death sentence is important because it will result in a more effective and fair criminal justice system.

B. Restate thesis statement: The death sentence should be abolished because it causes trauma to families, it is not administered equitably, and juries sometimes overlook evidence.

C. Paint a picture of the world depicting what would happen if your argument is (or is not) implemented/or any last thoughts/ May be similar to hook: If the death penalty is abolished, people will get fair trials because judges will rely on existing evidence to sentence offenders.