Capital punishment is a way of legally killing someone as a form of punishment, and the use of capital punishment has been widely debated in the American justice system. There are reasons why the American justice system shouldn’t continue using capital punishment but there are even more reasons why we should continue using capital punishment. I believe that capital punishment is something our justice system should continue using not just because of all the positive things we get out of it, but because some of the reasons that people say we shouldn’t continue using capital punishment are weak. For example, some people might say that if we execute a person, what’s the difference between us and the criminal who has committed the crime of killing another individual? Well, that’s simple; the difference is that the person who committed the crime did it illegally even though he or she knew there would be consequences. Capital punishment is a form of punishment that is done legally. Moreover, as we have seen in the past, many criminals that get jailed tend to repeat their crimes once they get out of jail. If we used capital punishment, that would make sure that criminals like serial killers would never repeat their crimes. Seeing as how often criminals are repeat offenders, capital punishment is very important. Not only do we want to make sure that the victims of these criminals get justice, we also want to make sure that our society is safe, that innocent citizens are not getting hurt. *According to geek politics, 56% of violent felons are repeat offenders and 61% of all felons are repeat offenders. So because we are not using the death penalty more often, more than half of the violent felons that are getting out of jail are committing crimes that are truly unnecessary. The way I see it is, if we know of a way to make a safer society, why shouldn’t we? Next, criminals that are murderers should be given the death penalty because the punishment should be as severe as the crime. The reason for that is because when criminals are given the death penalty for committing a crime, our society will see this, and it will give them reason to not commit these crimes. Capital punishments dissuades people in our society to commit horrible crimes simple because they will be afraid to die, they will be afraid of the death penalty. Basically, using capital punishment helps reduce crime rate in our society. The more executions there are in the justice system, the less murder’s there will be in our society.*According to the Bureau of Criminal Justice, in 1980 when there were only a couple of executions, the murder rate per 55 thousand people was very close to 200, but in 2000 when there were about 100 executions, the murder rate was cut in half. Lastly, part of the reason capital punishment is used is because justice is due to the victim and his or her family. Some people strongly believe that a person who takes another person’s life does not deserve to live. If a criminal murders somebody how do you think the family feels if the criminal get life in prison or even worse, only a couple years in prison, which can happen. Families want justice for their loved one. Imagine if one of your family members was murdered; honestly ask yourself what you would do. Would you forgive, or would you want revenge? And if you were to want revenge, what kind of revenge would you want?
Revenge, the act of an eye for an eye, an ancient practice that has been instilled in human minds since the beginning of time, is a childish way of justice. The American justice system was not meant to mirror ancient civilizations justice system’s, it is supposed to be advanced and the most sophisticated system in the world yet when it comes to capitol punishment the American government reverts to the most simplistic and quite frankly immature way of dealing with criminals and their punishments. Yes, family members of a loved one who was killed are blood hungry and maybe even rightfully so, but how is killing another person, maybe even the wrong person, going to make things better? There are multiple reasons for abolishing the death penalty in the United States and not all of them have to do with morality or religion or the sanctity of life. The death penalty in the United States currently leaves the decision of a person’s life up to only a few people. Prosecution lawyers, jurors, judges and the accused defendants lawyers simply decide the fate of another man or woman’s life. These people are responsible for the killing of another person and by definition are murderers by setting the table for an execution. Just like anything else in life, people often make mistakes and in the case of the United States death penalties, it is no different. *One hundred and thirty seven people have been sent to death row only to be exonerated years later, and those 137 people are only the ones that were fortunate to have someone stand up for them and go through appeal after appeal through the courts. In the state of Illinois since the death penalties beginning for every seven people sent to death row, one person has been found innocent. That is a staggering 12% of death row cases have in fact convicted the wrong person. How can we live in a society that allows the government to take someone’s life without complete and undeniable evidence that they have in fact committed the crime? It doesn’t make sense for the United States of America, the supposed “leader of the western world” to in sense gamble on someone’s life. *In response to recidivism among murderers according to an Indiana governmental study, murderer’s who served their convicted term had the lowest percentage of reverting to criminal activity. The argument of killing someone in order to prevent them from killing again is a stance of complete ignorance to pure statistics. Inmates sent to prison for murder often do not even have the chance for parole in most cases for 20 to 30 years which gives the convicted murderer 20 to 30 years to change and think about their actions and consequences. Sending someone to an execution is the easy way out in a society that too often takes that route. In a study done by Stuart Mill, 311 prisoners serving life sentences petitioned to the government asking to be put to death. The usage of the death penalty for those in fact guilty of the crime is in some cases the easy way out and the less painful way of dealing with the consequences of the crime. So family members who are enraged by the murder or rape of someone in their family should wish a life sentence upon an inmate rather than a quick death if they truly wanted the hate filled revenge they are looking for. So as I answer the final question posted by Rafael and I think to myself if someone in my family was in fact murdered and convicted of the crime I would much rather see the culprit rot in solitary confinement and make them feel true disgust in themselves. True revenge would be making the murderer feel as much pain and suffering as possible, and pain and suffering does not come from a needle or electric shock putting them out of their own misery, suffering comes from spending the rest of their days in a 8 foot by 8 foot cell with no one else but their thoughts of knowing they will in fact die naturally alone and in prison.
People are can be very different in the way they deal with things. In my last post, I had a question about how Kevin would feel or act if one his family members was murdered. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but there is a logical one. The fact that Kevin would want the criminal to serve time in solitary confinement is totally fine, but the fact is when we put people who are committing crimes like murder, we are essentially wasting money on them. Feeding them, clothing them, and putting a roof over their heads is not free. Prisons can be a very violent place to live in, so medical costs are something you might want to include. In fact TIME Magazine found that in 1995, on average, a maximum security cell cost $75,000 to maintain each year. If people live a long time in prison, this bill will surely add up, and according to Justice for All, life without parole cases generally cost 1.2 million to 3.6 million dollars more than death penalty cases. Next, I understand that there have been cases where people have been given the death penalty, only to be proven innocent later when it’s too late. I don’t think its right to kill someone for something he or she has not done, with that being said, our justice system has its flaws but it works. It’s hard to say how many people have been given the death penalty that were innocent, but I’m positive that more people have been killed by murderers and criminals than the death penalty. Like I said before, the justice system isn’t perfect and just like innocent people have been executed, guilty people have been released. So it wouldn’t be a good idea to lighten up on the way we serve justice, because even though we might save a few innocent lives by getting rid of the death penalty, we might lose even more innocent lives because we are letting guilty people out. Moreover, the death penalty is something very serious, it’s not given to just anybody, the death penalty is reserved for the worst kind of criminals, its reserved for people like murderers and rapists. In fact, most of our country is okay with capital punishment. About 65 percent of the US population is in support of capital punishment. Also, since 1976, the total number of executions in the US is 1,158, and currently, the amount of executions every year in our country ranks 4th in the world. Compared to a lot of countries, our country is a pretty safe place to live in, so obviously our justice system is doing a good job. Even with the flaws that our justice system has, it has proven to be one of the best around. Lastly, I believe that the biggest argument about capital punishment is the possibility of executing an innocent person. But in this day and age it’s really hard to get it wrong, DNA is over 99 percent right. If someone has DNA evidence for a murder, you can almost guarantee that the person is guilty. Plus, the death penalty is not something that we take lightly in our justice system, so even if there was some sort of explanation of why they found DNA evidence, the accused person still has to be unanimously decided by the jury that he is guilty. A lot of things have to happen in order for someone to get the death penalty. According to Merriam Webster, the definition of justice is the quality of being just, impartial, or fair. But what’s fair? Fair means equality. So when someone gets murdered, putting the criminal in jail is not fair. Fair is getting equal punishment. According to this definition, putting a murderer in jail is not giving the victim justice. However, executing the murderer is.
The defense that Capital Punishment is used as deterrence is in not in fact true. Since 1982, the number of inmates on death row or scheduled for execution had nearly tripled*. Criminals who commit crimes of murder or rape are people who would have committed the crime no matter what the penalty is. These people knew the consequences of a possible death penalty and did it anyways. These are the criminals and PEOPLE that our government needs to spend time rehabilitating in a prison for the rest of their lives. Yes, that does mean more money being used by the government, but as a tax payer I would much rather my tax money go to help recovering the life of a murderer rather than helping commit another murder instead. Capital punishment is wrong on many levels but addressing the issue of DNA being the 99% positive option, people can still be executed with out DNA proof. Even after DNA has been available to prosecutors and defense teams, one and every seven death row inmates have been wrongly convicted. This correlation of the uselessness, unmoral and unsatisfactory effects of capital punishment all lead to an undeniable flaw in our law system today. We live in a country that doesn’t blink twice at killing the wrong person, doesn’t feel the need to rehabilitate prisoners or society at a whole and takes the ultimate shortcut and childish act of revenge. It is obvious that our country needs to work on the workings of our law system and it all starts with the inhumane act of murder committed by our government; also known as Capital Punishment.
In the blog related to capital punishment, there were many sound arguments being made from both sides of this issue. I was impressed by the statistics that were presented by both Rafael and Kevin related to the number of people that are put to death. To go along with that they backed up these statistics by not using generic fallacies. Both sides of the argument seemed passion driven and forceful, while not attacking the individual person. To make both arguments stronger they both addressed the opposing viewpoints and tried to convince the reader to be persuaded to believe in their ideals. Both people cite credible sources such as the Merriam Webster dictionary and Time magazine helps establish the ethos of their respective sides of their argument. At the end of each post they both give a personal view of the opposing persons questions, and I felt that this helped the reader truly align with. Both bloggers seemed very in tune with what the other had to say and with that it opened up new discussion topics. I liked the fact that Rafael addressed that although there is problems with capital punishment, it for the most part works. He was able to admit that while the system does have some minor flaws, with the help of DNA testing being 99% effective the chance of misidentifying a criminal is very slim.
Rafael, I think you really did a good job of using logos in your first post. The statistics that you used, such as "56% of violent felons are repeat offenders and 61% of all felons are repeat offenders," really helped to drive your point home in that Capital Punishment should remain legal. Also, I really like how you ended your post with such a deep question. It was a really good way to "appeal to the emotions" of the reader. Kevin, you used a good counter-argument when you stated that 12% of the people on death row in Illinois were in fact innocent. Also, I liked the point you brought up when you said that "murderer’s who served their convicted term had the lowest percentage of reverting to criminal activity." Rafael, I think your strongest argument in your second posting was when you went into the topic of how much money it costs to keep a criminal in prison. I agree that the government does not need to spend anymore money than they already are. As for Kevin, your entire second posting did a very good job of countering Rafael's second post without attacking him personally. You did a good job of getting your point across without crossing over any boundaries. Overall, I honestly think that you both did a very good job in presenting your arguments. You both used very good logos to support your claims, and you both brought up significant points that the average person may not think of on their own.
Many people over look how serious this issue is in the United States. The death penalty is something that is argued about across States ever where; some think that it is right because every crime should have a punishment. But others think no matter what that this punishment is way too harsh because no man should have the power to take away life. When reading the blog about Capital Punishment I found a lot of things I felt was strong and made a lot of sense. The first blog was one of my favorites because it stated clearly what they wanted to say, they was not being around the bush, they got straight to the issue at hand. They also did not lack in facts and details supporting their views. I absolutely loved the way Kevin opened up his argument, “Revenge, the act of an eye for an eye, an ancient practice that has been instilled in human minds since the beginning of time, is a childish way of justice.” Although this might seem like a fallacy statement, it is also a powerful statement and an actually fact. Through all the good things that I found it was only one thing that I felt that the writers could have improved on, and that was making the argument personal. A lot of the time the reader wants to relate to you and hear your personal experiences and connect with the issue; how does the problem affect you? That is the only thing I felt could have been better as far as the articles go.
The capital punishment blog has several good points of evidence such as when Rafael is describing how likely felons are likely to repeat their actions or when Kevin explains how many people are actually sent to death row. Another great point Rafael made was about capital punishment vs. jail time. Why would we waste money on prisoners who are sentenced to life in prison? We will end up spending tons of money on them for no reason when we could just use the death penalty and save so much money. One Fact that I admire of Kevin’s is when he says, “In the state of Illinois since the death penalties beginning for every seven people sent to death row, one person has been found innocent.” This was a great counter to Rafael’s points because what if people executed but then once that is over they are found innocent, you can’t bring them back to life. One aspect of the blog I was looking for but wasn’t able to find was, what types of crimes are capital punishment supposed to be used on? This would help readers understand which crimes are eligible to receive the harsh punishment. Another part of the blog that wasn’t very clear was, when the statistic of the United States being fourth on the list of most executions. This is not a statistic to really help your argument for pro capital punishment. I really liked how each statement in this blog was packed with emotion which kept making me want to read on and on. Overall I believe both bloggers had a very good understanding of their topic and it showed through the amount of evidence and statistics they were able to counter each other’s arguments with.
Rafael brings up a good point that capital punishment should be instill because it will encourage more people to not commit a murder, robbery or a felony. He brings up in the beginning of his argument that most convicted criminals will perform another felony or another act when they get out prison. Kevin brings up that in capital punishment that it is immature to do an eye for eye. That people who are sentenced to death are usually not going to be killed for years and that a person who murders another person should be sentenced to life in prison. They should not be just killed off in fact that they should suffer by rotting in prison along for the rest of their lives. In the later argument, Rafael brings up a good that DNA testing is right and it cost millions of dollars to have a life sentence on a prisoner. But Kevin brings a point that the government should not be the one to decide on who should be killed. In fact what is the point of murdering more people? Overall, I felt the Kevin won the argument because he used a great deal of pathos and logos in the argument. Rafael used a good deal of logos in the argument but I felt that saying it is okay to kill more people just did not click with me. Even though DNA testing is right 99 percent of the time there are several cases of murder back before DNA testing that are still being investigated.
Capital punishment is a way of legally killing someone as a form of punishment, and the use of capital punishment has been widely debated in the American justice system. There are reasons why the American justice system shouldn’t continue using capital punishment but there are even more reasons why we should continue using capital punishment. I believe that capital punishment is something our justice system should continue using not just because of all the positive things we get out of it, but because some of the reasons that people say we shouldn’t continue using capital punishment are weak. For example, some people might say that if we execute a person, what’s the difference between us and the criminal who has committed the crime of killing another individual? Well, that’s simple; the difference is that the person who committed the crime did it illegally even though he or she knew there would be consequences. Capital punishment is a form of punishment that is done legally.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, as we have seen in the past, many criminals that get jailed tend to repeat their crimes once they get out of jail. If we used capital punishment, that would make sure that criminals like serial killers would never repeat their crimes. Seeing as how often criminals are repeat offenders, capital punishment is very important. Not only do we want to make sure that the victims of these criminals get justice, we also want to make sure that our society is safe, that innocent citizens are not getting hurt. *According to geek politics, 56% of violent felons are repeat offenders and 61% of all felons are repeat offenders. So because we are not using the death penalty more often, more than half of the violent felons that are getting out of jail are committing crimes that are truly unnecessary. The way I see it is, if we know of a way to make a safer society, why shouldn’t we?
Next, criminals that are murderers should be given the death penalty because the punishment should be as severe as the crime. The reason for that is because when criminals are given the death penalty for committing a crime, our society will see this, and it will give them reason to not commit these crimes. Capital punishments dissuades people in our society to commit horrible crimes simple because they will be afraid to die, they will be afraid of the death penalty. Basically, using capital punishment helps reduce crime rate in our society. The more executions there are in the justice system, the less murder’s there will be in our society.*According to the Bureau of Criminal Justice, in 1980 when there were only a couple of executions, the murder rate per 55 thousand people was very close to 200, but in 2000 when there were about 100 executions, the murder rate was cut in half.
Lastly, part of the reason capital punishment is used is because justice is due to the victim and his or her family. Some people strongly believe that a person who takes another person’s life does not deserve to live. If a criminal murders somebody how do you think the family feels if the criminal get life in prison or even worse, only a couple years in prison, which can happen. Families want justice for their loved one. Imagine if one of your family members was murdered; honestly ask yourself what you would do. Would you forgive, or would you want revenge? And if you were to want revenge, what kind of revenge would you want?
Revenge, the act of an eye for an eye, an ancient practice that has been instilled in human minds since the beginning of time, is a childish way of justice. The American justice system was not meant to mirror ancient civilizations justice system’s, it is supposed to be advanced and the most sophisticated system in the world yet when it comes to capitol punishment the American government reverts to the most simplistic and quite frankly immature way of dealing with criminals and their punishments. Yes, family members of a loved one who was killed are blood hungry and maybe even rightfully so, but how is killing another person, maybe even the wrong person, going to make things better? There are multiple reasons for abolishing the death penalty in the United States and not all of them have to do with morality or religion or the sanctity of life.
ReplyDeleteThe death penalty in the United States currently leaves the decision of a person’s life up to only a few people. Prosecution lawyers, jurors, judges and the accused defendants lawyers simply decide the fate of another man or woman’s life. These people are responsible for the killing of another person and by definition are murderers by setting the table for an execution. Just like anything else in life, people often make mistakes and in the case of the United States death penalties, it is no different. *One hundred and thirty seven people have been sent to death row only to be exonerated years later, and those 137 people are only the ones that were fortunate to have someone stand up for them and go through appeal after appeal through the courts. In the state of Illinois since the death penalties beginning for every seven people sent to death row, one person has been found innocent. That is a staggering 12% of death row cases have in fact convicted the wrong person. How can we live in a society that allows the government to take someone’s life without complete and undeniable evidence that they have in fact committed the crime? It doesn’t make sense for the United States of America, the supposed “leader of the western world” to in sense gamble on someone’s life.
*In response to recidivism among murderers according to an Indiana governmental study, murderer’s who served their convicted term had the lowest percentage of reverting to criminal activity. The argument of killing someone in order to prevent them from killing again is a stance of complete ignorance to pure statistics. Inmates sent to prison for murder often do not even have the chance for parole in most cases for 20 to 30 years which gives the convicted murderer 20 to 30 years to change and think about their actions and consequences. Sending someone to an execution is the easy way out in a society that too often takes that route.
In a study done by Stuart Mill, 311 prisoners serving life sentences petitioned to the government asking to be put to death. The usage of the death penalty for those in fact guilty of the crime is in some cases the easy way out and the less painful way of dealing with the consequences of the crime. So family members who are enraged by the murder or rape of someone in their family should wish a life sentence upon an inmate rather than a quick death if they truly wanted the hate filled revenge they are looking for.
So as I answer the final question posted by Rafael and I think to myself if someone in my family was in fact murdered and convicted of the crime I would much rather see the culprit rot in solitary confinement and make them feel true disgust in themselves. True revenge would be making the murderer feel as much pain and suffering as possible, and pain and suffering does not come from a needle or electric shock putting them out of their own misery, suffering comes from spending the rest of their days in a 8 foot by 8 foot cell with no one else but their thoughts of knowing they will in fact die naturally alone and in prison.
People are can be very different in the way they deal with things. In my last post, I had a question about how Kevin would feel or act if one his family members was murdered. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, but there is a logical one. The fact that Kevin would want the criminal to serve time in solitary confinement is totally fine, but the fact is when we put people who are committing crimes like murder, we are essentially wasting money on them. Feeding them, clothing them, and putting a roof over their heads is not free. Prisons can be a very violent place to live in, so medical costs are something you might want to include. In fact TIME Magazine found that in 1995, on average, a maximum security cell cost $75,000 to maintain each year. If people live a long time in prison, this bill will surely add up, and according to Justice for All, life without parole cases generally cost 1.2 million to 3.6 million dollars more than death penalty cases.
ReplyDeleteNext, I understand that there have been cases where people have been given the death penalty, only to be proven innocent later when it’s too late. I don’t think its right to kill someone for something he or she has not done, with that being said, our justice system has its flaws but it works. It’s hard to say how many people have been given the death penalty that were innocent, but I’m positive that more people have been killed by murderers and criminals than the death penalty. Like I said before, the justice system isn’t perfect and just like innocent people have been executed, guilty people have been released. So it wouldn’t be a good idea to lighten up on the way we serve justice, because even though we might save a few innocent lives by getting rid of the death penalty, we might lose even more innocent lives because we are letting guilty people out.
Moreover, the death penalty is something very serious, it’s not given to just anybody, the death penalty is reserved for the worst kind of criminals, its reserved for people like murderers and rapists. In fact, most of our country is okay with capital punishment. About 65 percent of the US population is in support of capital punishment. Also, since 1976, the total number of executions in the US is 1,158, and currently, the amount of executions every year in our country ranks 4th in the world. Compared to a lot of countries, our country is a pretty safe place to live in, so obviously our justice system is doing a good job. Even with the flaws that our justice system has, it has proven to be one of the best around.
Lastly, I believe that the biggest argument about capital punishment is the possibility of executing an innocent person. But in this day and age it’s really hard to get it wrong, DNA is over 99 percent right. If someone has DNA evidence for a murder, you can almost guarantee that the person is guilty. Plus, the death penalty is not something that we take lightly in our justice system, so even if there was some sort of explanation of why they found DNA evidence, the accused person still has to be unanimously decided by the jury that he is guilty. A lot of things have to happen in order for someone to get the death penalty.
According to Merriam Webster, the definition of justice is the quality of being just, impartial, or fair. But what’s fair? Fair means equality. So when someone gets murdered, putting the criminal in jail is not fair. Fair is getting equal punishment. According to this definition, putting a murderer in jail is not giving the victim justice. However, executing the murderer is.
In my first post I tried my best to avoid the cliché argument of the morality of capital punishment, but in response to Rafael’s last post I feel obligated to identify how immoral the act of taking life is. The dictionary defines murder as “the killing of another human,” why does the government get to decide who’s life is worth and not worth taking? The problem with capital punishment is that it is another easy road taken by our government in their unwillingness to try and rehabilitate criminals. People tend to forget that prisoners are human just like you and me and should be given the chance to rehabilitate. It should be the United States government’s desire to rehabilitate its citizens. In cases where life in prison is the outcome of a trial, rehabilitation should still be perused. Spending a life in prison can make a prisoner come to realizations about his life and decisions they have made. This hope for sorrow or rehabilitation is the goal for other countries around the world, why can’t our law system do the same for us? Countries such as Sweden and other European countries do not practice capital punishment yet have lower crime rates. Rafael even addresses the truths that the government does kill INNOCENT people year after year that were on death row. How can a government, or its people be satisfied with a law system that tries to justify the killing of an innocent person? It even goes to show that Rafael identifies that the United States is Fourth in the world for the most executions. I was not aware that was a prize the US truly coveted. I want a government that works for true peace in society not take bragging rights in murdering the most people. The truth is that everyone deserves to his or her right to live their lives no matter what crimes they have done in the past, life is too rare to be killing off.
ReplyDeleteThe defense that Capital Punishment is used as deterrence is in not in fact true. Since 1982, the number of inmates on death row or scheduled for execution had nearly tripled*. Criminals who commit crimes of murder or rape are people who would have committed the crime no matter what the penalty is. These people knew the consequences of a possible death penalty and did it anyways. These are the criminals and PEOPLE that our government needs to spend time rehabilitating in a prison for the rest of their lives. Yes, that does mean more money being used by the government, but as a tax payer I would much rather my tax money go to help recovering the life of a murderer rather than helping commit another murder instead.
Capital punishment is wrong on many levels but addressing the issue of DNA being the 99% positive option, people can still be executed with out DNA proof. Even after DNA has been available to prosecutors and defense teams, one and every seven death row inmates have been wrongly convicted. This correlation of the uselessness, unmoral and unsatisfactory effects of capital punishment all lead to an undeniable flaw in our law system today. We live in a country that doesn’t blink twice at killing the wrong person, doesn’t feel the need to rehabilitate prisoners or society at a whole and takes the ultimate shortcut and childish act of revenge. It is obvious that our country needs to work on the workings of our law system and it all starts with the inhumane act of murder committed by our government; also known as Capital Punishment.
In the blog related to capital punishment, there were many sound arguments being made from both sides of this issue. I was impressed by the statistics that were presented by both Rafael and Kevin related to the number of people that are put to death. To go along with that they backed up these statistics by not using generic fallacies. Both sides of the argument seemed passion driven and forceful, while not attacking the individual person. To make both arguments stronger they both addressed the opposing viewpoints and tried to convince the reader to be persuaded to believe in their ideals. Both people cite credible sources such as the Merriam Webster dictionary and Time magazine helps establish the ethos of their respective sides of their argument. At the end of each post they both give a personal view of the opposing persons questions, and I felt that this helped the reader truly align with. Both bloggers seemed very in tune with what the other had to say and with that it opened up new discussion topics. I liked the fact that Rafael addressed that although there is problems with capital punishment, it for the most part works. He was able to admit that while the system does have some minor flaws, with the help of DNA testing being 99% effective the chance of misidentifying a criminal is very slim.
ReplyDeleteRafael, I think you really did a good job of using logos in your first post. The statistics that you used, such as "56% of violent felons are repeat offenders and 61% of all felons are repeat offenders," really helped to drive your point home in that Capital Punishment should remain legal. Also, I really like how you ended your post with such a deep question. It was a really good way to "appeal to the emotions" of the reader. Kevin, you used a good counter-argument when you stated that 12% of the people on death row in Illinois were in fact innocent. Also, I liked the point you brought up when you said that "murderer’s who served their convicted term had the lowest percentage of reverting to criminal activity." Rafael, I think your strongest argument in your second posting was when you went into the topic of how much money it costs to keep a criminal in prison. I agree that the government does not need to spend anymore money than they already are. As for Kevin, your entire second posting did a very good job of countering Rafael's second post without attacking him personally. You did a good job of getting your point across without crossing over any boundaries. Overall, I honestly think that you both did a very good job in presenting your arguments. You both used very good logos to support your claims, and you both brought up significant points that the average person may not think of on their own.
ReplyDeleteMany people over look how serious this issue is in the United States. The death penalty is something that is argued about across States ever where; some think that it is right because every crime should have a punishment. But others think no matter what that this punishment is way too harsh because no man should have the power to take away life. When reading the blog about Capital Punishment I found a lot of things I felt was strong and made a lot of sense. The first blog was one of my favorites because it stated clearly what they wanted to say, they was not being around the bush, they got straight to the issue at hand. They also did not lack in facts and details supporting their views. I absolutely loved the way Kevin opened up his argument, “Revenge, the act of an eye for an eye, an ancient practice that has been instilled in human minds since the beginning of time, is a childish way of justice.” Although this might seem like a fallacy statement, it is also a powerful statement and an actually fact. Through all the good things that I found it was only one thing that I felt that the writers could have improved on, and that was making the argument personal. A lot of the time the reader wants to relate to you and hear your personal experiences and connect with the issue; how does the problem affect you? That is the only thing I felt could have been better as far as the articles go.
ReplyDeleteThe capital punishment blog has several good points of evidence such as when Rafael is describing how likely felons are likely to repeat their actions or when Kevin explains how many people are actually sent to death row. Another great point Rafael made was about capital punishment vs. jail time. Why would we waste money on prisoners who are sentenced to life in prison? We will end up spending tons of money on them for no reason when we could just use the death penalty and save so much money. One Fact that I admire of Kevin’s is when he says, “In the state of Illinois since the death penalties beginning for every seven people sent to death row, one person has been found innocent.” This was a great counter to Rafael’s points because what if people executed but then once that is over they are found innocent, you can’t bring them back to life. One aspect of the blog I was looking for but wasn’t able to find was, what types of crimes are capital punishment supposed to be used on? This would help readers understand which crimes are eligible to receive the harsh punishment. Another part of the blog that wasn’t very clear was, when the statistic of the United States being fourth on the list of most executions. This is not a statistic to really help your argument for pro capital punishment. I really liked how each statement in this blog was packed with emotion which kept making me want to read on and on. Overall I believe both bloggers had a very good understanding of their topic and it showed through the amount of evidence and statistics they were able to counter each other’s arguments with.
ReplyDeleteRafael brings up a good point that capital punishment should be instill because it will encourage more people to not commit a murder, robbery or a felony. He brings up in the beginning of his argument that most convicted criminals will perform another felony or another act when they get out prison. Kevin brings up that in capital punishment that it is immature to do an eye for eye. That people who are sentenced to death are usually not going to be killed for years and that a person who murders another person should be sentenced to life in prison. They should not be just killed off in fact that they should suffer by rotting in prison along for the rest of their lives. In the later argument, Rafael brings up a good that DNA testing is right and it cost millions of dollars to have a life sentence on a prisoner. But Kevin brings a point that the government should not be the one to decide on who should be killed. In fact what is the point of murdering more people? Overall, I felt the Kevin won the argument because he used a great deal of pathos and logos in the argument. Rafael used a good deal of logos in the argument but I felt that saying it is okay to kill more people just did not click with me. Even though DNA testing is right 99 percent of the time there are several cases of murder back before DNA testing that are still being investigated.
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