final draft of death penalty speech

James Saling

Speech Debate 311

Group neg.c

In favor death penalty

                               The Death Penalty

                   (Remove the guilty not the punishment)

Crimes and violent acts such as murder will seemingly always be an issue in our society. So realistically there is no sure fire way to eliminate this problem. Therefore removing the death penalty from the justice system that was put in place to help have the punishment fit the crime is not an option that we should even be considering. The death penalty should not only remain but it should be a mandatory policy in all fifty United States. Furthermore it should be an automatic sentence for those that are convicted of certain degrees of murder. If they have taken a life and show no value for human life then why should their life be valued?

Recent events have shown a perfect example of this. In Las Vegas , Nevada this past week from a hotel window a man armed to the teeth opened fire on a concert crowd killing 60 and injuring hundreds. The suspect in this case had he been apprehended was responsible for the largest mass murder in U.S. history. Now think of this nearly 60 dead , hundreds injured and countless more that will be so psychologically traumatized by the whole ordeal. Can you say without batting an eyelash that this man would have deserved to be put to death had he not taken his own life before being apprehended.  He was referred to as “A very quiet , eerie kept to himself type.” This statement taken from a person who knew him as reported by the BBC online. So had he been caught how likely do you think his attorney would have pleaded insanity for this man?

In 2009 , the California Department of Corrections website reported that there are 2.2 million inmates in American prisons and close to 1.8 million of them are serving sentences that were given from plea bargains. Many suspects charged with murder take plea bargains to avoid the death penalty. Those convicted who avoid this with plea bargains can face life in prison however can potentially somehow receive appeals to possibly get paroled out of jail altogether. Additionally those who plead insanity may never see prison time and can be set free in as little as 6 months time. Now it is difficult to fathom that it would not bother the average person how a suspect cold enough to kill another human being and smart enough to fool everyone into believing they are insane could be walking the streets again in less than a year.

    74% of all murder trials in the United States never see a trial and are settled with a plea bargain. This makes the death penalty a fear for murderers who are already incarcerated but it does not work as a way to keep people from committing murder. However making capital punishment an automatic sentence for certain types of murder would certainly make it difference. Other countries are proof of that. Forensic Sciences International had done a study and their research that was done from 2006 to 2009 showed that the U.S. had five times more amount of murders committed than the country with the 2nd highest murder rate. Imagine how many more times rate we would have compared to the dozens of other countries as you go further down the list.

    There are far deeper issues to consider as well. Naturally there are two sets of families of victims when there is a murder and the murderer is given the death penalty . A report in 2007 done by a publication called “Justice Quarterly” stated that one third of inmates on death row did show remorse for the lives they affected and the crimes they committed. Quite often this one third had given the victims families their apologies and expressed regret. In quite a few cases the condemned even offered up locations of bodies of their victims before being put to death. Giving the families of their lost loved one a chance to give them their own proper burial service and providing a bit of closure to their life long pain. The person being executed can have a family as well and their family may feel like their loved one is being murdered as well. Studies like this one showed that both sides were able to heal and continue on when given support and even more so when both sides were able to be civilized and achieve a dialogue that opened the lines of communication even.

    The online information site “Owlcation” showed evidence that from the 1960s to the 1990s over 60 inmates convicted of murder that managed to be released from prison did in fact kill again. There are over 700 inmates serving time on death row. 30 of those have been convicted of 6 or more murders. Now that is only what they are convicted of. What about the ones that they may have done that they were not convicted of or confessed to. The L.A.Times Newspaper did a study and found that 12% of those on death row are guilty of murdering children. This is the type of person you want to allow to live?

    Well over 200,000 murder cases remain unsolved in the U.S. So with that staggering number catching a guilty person who has killed is seemingly a few and far between thing. NPR reported this and with legal loopholes, plea bargains and possibly parole this cannot be a type of person anyone would want to see receive freedom or live out their life in jail. Which for some can end up being a life far better than the one they were facing when they did not have shelter , meals and so on provided for them.

    Many times you will hear of a death row inmate who claims to have discovered religion and has been “Saved” as the term goes. Religious beliefs and the freedom of deciding that for  yourself are everyone’s right of course. However religious groups define the death penalty as attempting to “Play God” and are completely opposed to capital punishment. The magazine publication “Reader’s Digest” had an article that contained a paragraph with this idea. Your beliefs are your right. To disagree is mine. To say that “God would not want us playing “God” for him is , as they say in court, admissible . See if you are going to make that claim , since God is not stepping forward to speak for his/her self, then you must concede that while that statement could be true , it could also be true that god gave a person the vision and ability to invent and develop the means to executed a person guilty of murder. Only a hypocrite would deny that to be a fair argument because if you are to be respected for your beliefs and convictions then you certainly must offer the same in return. Otherwise you are basically saying “Only my way can be true. Not yours.” Kind of hard to support such an unfair policy.

    There is only one clear correct decision that can made on this subject. Although both our sides have legit arguments and strong cases when you have such a close race so to speak you must weigh the pros and cons and go to the scorecards. While either decision is difficult to make the age old saying goes, “The right ones are always the most difficult.”