Death Penalty

Imagine a man who commits murder once, is sentenced to a Twenty-five-year imprisonment, then gets to return to the streets after only serving fifteen-years simply because he was released for parole, and then he kills again. He is caught and imprisoned again only to be released a second time for parole. The possibility of this happening is great since one in ten death row inmates have been convicted of murder at least once in their criminal life. This means that most death row inmates have been given more than one chance to be rehabilitated in prison and after being released he continues to commit these violent crimes. Should the United States justice system continue to put violent criminals back onto our streets where they are more than likely going to commit murder again?

One case that that clearly illustrates this point is that of Arthur Shawcross. In 1973, Shawcross, one of New York's most sadistic serial killers, was convicted of the unmerciful rape and murder of two children in New York. At that time the death penalty had been declared unconstitutional, so Shawcross was sentenced to prison for twenty-five -years. After serving only fifteen-years-an inadequate prison, term given the crime-Shawcross was granted parole in 1988. Then after his release a horrific twenty-one -month killing spree began Shawcross took eleven more lives. Had justice been served twenty-four years ago, eleven innocent people would be living today; and eleven families would not have had to go through the pain and agony of losing a loved one.

Capital punishment is one of the world's oldest forms of punishment; most believe that Capital punishment is a fitting punishment for those that commit a heinous crime and I am one of those that believes' this, as one will see.

Our American history dates Capital Punishment all the way back to 2000 B.C. The first law codes were enforced by Hammurabi (the king of righteousness), of Babylon; which was just one of the many kingdoms in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi would soon rule the entire region with his laws, laws that state," 1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he cannot prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death. 2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser. 3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death." (Hammurabi's Code of Laws) Those are just a few of twenty-five different crimes, which the death penalty would be enforced by Hammurabi. But this punishment did not stop there it was also apart of the Fourteenth century B.C.'s Hittite Code (The Code of the Nesilim), in the Seventh century B.C.'s Draconian code named after the lawgiver Darco. During this time, the death penalty was the only punishment for all crimes, and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. Throughout these times death sentences were carried out by such means like impalement, crucifixion, drowning, burning alive, beating to death, brazen bull, pressing, boiling to death, and much more gruesome punishments for death. During the Tenth Century A.D. in Britain, the usual execution method was death by hanging, however; this method would not last, William Conqueror would not allow it for the act of a crime. It was not until the Sixteenth Century A.D. that Henry VIII, started to execute people again for different types of crimes, such methods that he used were hanging, beheading, burning at the stake, boiling, quartering, and drawing. In today's society, those methods would be considered cruel and unusual punishment. However, most people today would say that the way the system conducts the methods of Capital Punishment are cruel and unusual as well. Throughout modern times the way we put offenders to death has changed dramatically, we have went from using a firing squad, and the electric chair to now using lethal gas or lethal injection. Which neither lethal gas or lethal injection are cruel and unusual punishment, they are both quick and painless. If you were about to die and had the choice of gas or lethal injection would you, rather have one of those opposed to boiling to death, burning to death, hanging to death, and so on?

One of the most controversial issues today this whether the death penalty is just or unjust. Some religious people would say that the Bible has spoken about the issue, while others say that the New Testament (ethic of love) replaces the Old Testament (law).

There are many cases throughout the Old Testament which God commands usage of capital punishment. God himself was the first to take lives as a punishment. God was either directly or indirectly involved in the taking of lives, from those who threatened of harmed Israel.

The flood of Noah in Genesis 6-8 is one example of this. God destroyed all human and animal life except for that which was on the ark. Sodom and Gomorrah (Gesn. 18-19) was another example, because of the heinous sin of the inhabitants God destroyed the two cities. In the time of Moses, God took the lives of the Egyptians' first-born sons (Exod. 11) and destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea (Exod. 14). The Old Testament is abundant with references where God has taken lives. In a sense, to deal with Israel's sins and as well as the sin of the surrounding nations, God used capital punishment.

In the Jewish law code, the Old Testament also teaches that God instituted capital punishment. In Genesis 9:6, it states, "Whoever sheds man's blood by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man." capital punishment was based upon the sanctity of life.

Numerous offenses that were punishable by death were set forth by the Mosaic Law. In Exodus 21, capital punishment was commended by God, for murderers as well as premeditated murder (or what the Old Testament described as "lying in wait").

In the New Testament, does Jesus truly argue against capital punishment? No, not at all, Jesus does not argue against the principle of a life for a life. The issue that he speaks of is of our personal desire for vengeance. Jesus does not deny the power of the government and its responsibilities. Rather Jesus in speaking to individual Christians when he was speaking on the mountain, telling them to love his or her enemies and turn the other cheek.

The New Testament in other