On Texas Death Row

Citation:"Offenders on Death Row." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. N.p., 27 Sept.
     2010. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/
     offendersondrow.htm>.

                              
On 10/04/2001 in Mesquite, Stroman murdered                        On 2/4/2000 in San Antonio, Weathers entered
  a 49 year old Middle Eastern male convenience                      a bar and demanded money from the adult a bar
store employee during an attempted robbery.                           and demanded money from the adult. The bartender
                                                                                      refused and Weathers shot him, resulting in his death.



On 02/17/2007 in Harlingen, Texas, EMT
 found victim not breathing and with no vital
signs. While EMT personnel attempted to care
 for the child, they cut off the victim's shirt and
 found purple and green bruises on her entire torso,
head, face and right shoulder. The subject was
arrested and transported to the Cameron County Jail.


This site provides me with information about all offenders on death row in Texas. If you will go through a few of the offenders, you can see that all of them were murderers. They either killed their children, strangers, co-workers, spouses, and bartenders. All of these people took someones lives. I believe they should receive the same curtousy they gave to their victims. The pictures above are just a few examples of people on death row and what they did to receive capital punishment. It is overwhelming to see how many people are actually on death row in Texas alone, yet it is somewhat relieving. The chart on the website will provide you with the offenders name, birthdate, gender, date of offense, the offense, and the date they were given the death penalty. I will use this information to show that people who are given the death penalty are the ones who truly deserve it, murderers.
 

Is the Death Penalty for You?

Take this poll and see if you are for or against Capital Punishment!

http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ActiveWebSurvey/Applied/004_DeathPenalty.asp


Citation: Ethics Updates - Ethics Surveys:The Death Penalty
http://ethics.sandiego.edu/ActiveWebSurvey/Applied/004_DeathPenalty.asp - 8/3/2007

Death Penalty Polls and Graphs

Citation:"Quick Poll Results on the Death Penalty." Smartgirl-Survey Archives. SmartGirl
     tm, n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2010. <http://www.smartgirl.org/speakout/archives/
     deathpenalty/resultdeathpenalty.html>.

In this website, you will see different polls on the death penalty. The one depicted above was asked to over 900 people from the ages 8-50. As you can see, most people say that the death penalty depends on the crime that is committed. I believe that as well. If the crime is heinous enough, there should be no doubt that the government or a jury would object to using capital punishment. I will use this information to show that most people agree with my thesis.

Color and the Consequences

Citation: Dieter, Richard C. "The Death Penalty in Black and White: Who Lives, Who Dies,
     Who Decides." Death Penalty Information Center. Death Penalty Information
     Center, 2010. Web. 5 Oct. 2010. <http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/
     death-penalty-black-and-white-who-lives-who-dies-who-decides#The%20Raw%20Data>.

This graph represents who is most likely to receive the death penalty depending on the race of the victim and the race of the defendant. Yes, most people could say that the death penalty has an effect on people of different skin color, but they do not say what the degree of their crime was. The murders in this graph could have been hate crimes. It basically describes that a nonblack defendant that kills a black victim is less likely to be given the death penalty, and a nonblack victim and black defendant is more likely to receive the death penalty. I believe the degree of the assailants crime should be the only thing that could effect the degree of their punishment. I will use this information to show that race has an effect in the decision making of a defendant who could receive the death penalty.

The Beginning

The first controversial issue I choose to talk about would be the death penalty in the United States. I believe that the death penalty is a necessity for the criminal-filled world we live in. There are currently thirty-five states, including Illinois, that obtain capital punishment. Of course not all states use the death penalty even though they could. It is true that keeping a prisoner alive in jail is more expensive than giving lethal injection or electrocution. People ask, "Why do we kill people, who kill people to show people, that killing people is wrong?" I can answer, I do believe a person who takes another persons life should not be saved from execution because the victim was not saved from his death. The murderer did not show mercy against the victim, so why should the government show mercy on the assailant? It is true that the person would have to spend everyday in jail reflecting and imagining about what he or she did and how it effected their lives, but they would also have eternity in hell to regret their actions.