PHI 210 (Assignment 1.2: Conflicting Viewpoints Essay – Part II)

RUNNING HEADER: DEATH PENALTY 2

Institution: XYZ UNIVERSITY

Instructor: Dr.

Student: MY

Assignment 1.1: Conflicting Viewpoints Essay – Part I

Date: 10/15/2018

PLEASE REVIEW INSTRACTOR COMMENT ON HIGHLIGHTED POINTS

Full Instructor comment

This was a well written and thoughtful essay about the death penalty and some of the pros and cons.  Open the rubric and the paper and click on the yellow highlighting to go over my feedback.  The key issue here is that this paper has very specific steps to go through that require you to use procon.org and ask those assigned questions from Peter Elbow's believing game article we read. You instead wrote a more general essay that doesn't quite fit the grading rubric. When we build on this in week 4, be sure to download my assignment model from Week 4 Instructor Insights, and that will help you to be sure you go through the required steps. Again, your work is very good, just make sure that you are answering the required elements.  Keep up your good start to the quarter!

The issue of death sentence has been an issue of thorough debate for a couple of years. Different groups have been emerging with different views on the issue. The debates usually revolve on how legitimate it is to take away the lives of people. In many cases, people are convicted with committing some of the most heinous crimes in the society. In this assignment, the main issue discussed is the issue of capital punishment which has been legalized in some countries (Barber, 2014).

In the United States, more than 4000 people have been executed for the last 30 to 40 years. Most of the cases have been as a result of lethal injection. Many instances of crime subject the penalty cases to the victims. These may include; espionage, treason and other crimes which are categorized by the authority bodies. According to the laws governing the sentence, it is argued that the death penalty is a critical tool used to preserve law and order in the society. It deters crimes and the cost implication is less as compared to life imprisonment (Derrida et al 2014). The argument is that the victims are honored and their families are consoled from the grief when a suspect is sentenced with death penalty.

On the other hand, the argument is that the capital punishment has limited effect on the crime. It therefore gives the government some power to take the lives of other people which is a social injustice. In most cases, the argument is that those who are sentenced with death penalty are usually people who have no capacity to hire lawyers to represent them in the court.

In my view, the death penalty is an act that is not right. (Instructor Comment “good strong opinion”) It contradicts with the teaching and the belief that God gives and takes life and no one should do so. In the event a person is executed with death penalty, contradiction usually arises on whether a human being is supposed to take another person’s life. According to the pros and cons, there are arguments that are valid while others are contradicting. 2nd Instructor Comment (Here, you want to use the website to list three arguments in favor of the death penalty). In an instance that happened in US during President Trump regime where two police officers were killed, the statement made by the president stated that if the death penalty was exercised on the suspects, the state would be sure that such people will never kill more people, and this would act as a deterrent. (3rd instructor comment So, one argument for it is that it is a deterrent. Now ask the believing game questions). This is expressed in a different way whereby the death penalty is discouraged. Pope Francis in one of his quotes stated that death penalty is unacceptable. (4th Instructor Comment Ok, I think you are doing one pro and one con, which gets you off track). According to his argument, death penalty acts as a contradiction from God’s plan for the individuals. It is believed that the charge violates the life and the dignity of the human person. Death penalty in real sense doesn’t render justice to the victim but instead it fosters vengeance (Parks, 2012). 

The issue of death penalty can be viewed to have numerous advantages. It can be argued that the penalty reduces the expenses by the government on criminals who are murdered. (4th Instructor comment: Ok, this could be another premise). In this case, the government need not spend for criminals. On the other hand potential criminals are likely to be deterred to commit heinous crimes as they witness death sentence to criminals. On the other hand, death penalty can be has been criticized. The penalty can lead to punishment of innocent people. Since the death penalty is not reversible, once a person has been charged with death penalty, even if the person is declared to be innocent, it is not possible to reverse the dead person to life. Death penalty should be discouraged in all manners possible to retain the dignity and respect for human life

Reference

Barber, N. (2014). The death penalty. London: Franklin Watts.

Derrida, J., Bennington, G., Crépon, M., Dutoit, T., & Kamuf, P. (2014). The death penalty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Parks, P. J. (2012). The death penalty. San Diego, CA: ReferencePoint Press.