1053: 4 P

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PPChpt15_Death.Penalty.pdf

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12/8/13

Consider Ethics: Theory, Readings, and Contemporary Issues

Third Edi(on Bruce N. Waller

Chapter 15

The Death Penalty

The Death Penalty •  In effect in the U.S. and remains a fiercely debated topic

•  Arguments for: –  RetribuIon –  Symbolic or expressive funcIon –  Deterrent for future crime

•  Arguments against: –  Sends the wrong message –  Cruel, unusual, and dehumanizing –  Administered arbitrarily or in a biased manner –  Based on a flawed system – leads to execuIon of innocents

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The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

•  Stephen B. Wright – Criminal law professor and human rights proponent

– President of the Southern Center for Human Rights

– WriQen extensively on why the U.S. should abolish the death penalty

– The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

The Death Penalty Should be Abolished -‐ Wright

•  Abandoning the death penalty in the U.S. is inevitable, as so many other naIons have done so

•  Most Americans support the death penalty, but do not understand its realiIes

•  Assessing the death penalty should not be based on abstract theories. Instead, we must analyze the states that employ it and assess those results.

The Death Penalty Should be Abolished -‐ Wright

•  CriIcisms of the Death Penalty – Human rights violaIon

•  Undermines the United States standing in the global community as a moral authority

– Arbitrary and unfair inflicIon •  Race •  Class •  Poverty

–  Innocent people are executed wrongly •  DNA tesIng •  The number of people exonerated in recent years

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The Death Penalty Should be Abolished -‐ Wright

•  CriIcisms of the Death Penalty – conInued – Prosecutorial DiscreIon

•  Decision-‐making role is taken from juries, even though they are the fact-‐finders in our system

– Racial Bias – IneffecIve assistance of counsel

•  Bad lawyering leads to execuIons – More capital sentences for the disadvantaged

•  Weakest and most troubled members of society

The Death Penalty is Morally LegiImate

•  Louis P. Pojman (1935-‐2005) – Philosophy professor – Argued that the death penalty is morally permissible, because of:

•  Its ancient roots •  Its biblical Ies •  Its deterrent effect •  RetribuIon

– Why the Death Penalty is Morally Permissible

A Defense of the Death Penalty -‐ Pojman

•  Support for the Death Penalty – RetribuIon

•  Three proposiIons: –  The guilty deserve to be punished –  Only the guilty deserve to be punished –  The guilty deserve to be punished in proporIon with the severity of their crime

•  Appeals to our natural insInct for vengeance, while allowing for the restraint required in civilized society

•  Reminds us that there are consequences for our acIons

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A Defense of the Death Penalty -‐ Pojman

•  Support for the Death Penalty – conInued – Deterrence

•  Deters would-‐be criminals from killing innocent people •  StaIsIcs cannot tell us how many potenIal criminals were actually deterred by the death penalty

–  However: »  Criminals generally do not try to kill their captors, because of fear of the death penalty

»  Criminals refrain from carrying deadly weapons during some kinds of crimes, because of fear of the death penalty

»  Criminals have transported vicIms to non-‐death penalty states to avoid execuIon