Capital Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Capital Punishment - Essay Example While this is just one way in which the disputants talk past each other in the capital punishment debate, this particular disagreement helps to explain other aspects of the capital punishment dispute. Proponents of capital punishment speak the language of local option and states' rights not only because this insulates the pro-capital punishment orientation of most state governments from federal review, but also because states and localities are the levels of government that usually hold power over ordinary criminal justice decisions. State legislatures, local prosecutors and judges, and the particular values of specific communities are supposed to shape criminal justice outcomes. National government and constitutional values have little direct influence on most punishment decisions. If the availability of death as a criminal punishment were a garden-variety choice of punishment option, state and local power over them would be consistent with an important American tradition. If on the other hand, one regards capital punishment as a fundamental moral and political question, the national government and constitutional values are the appropriate vehicles for decisions. The p... ed nations and even the importance that the proponents of the penalty attach to it are powerful evidence that the death penalty is an issue of transcendent importance, one that is principally moral and political. (Gary, 783-805) There are certain reservations from some corners of public discussions as regards to the unreliable evidences that caused capital punishment but consequently proved false. It is hard to believe how prosecutors can admit evidence from unreliable sources. In some cases witnesses have later recanted or disavowed their testimonies claiming that they had only made their statements under pressure or coercion from prosecution and law enforcement. These false testimonies proved to be the condemning evidence in many cases. Lastly, most of the people charged in capital cases ca nnot afford defense attorneys. The appointed defense counsels in several cases have exhibited incompetence. Some of them did not even look for or missed important evidence that proved the innocence of their clients. In other instances, defense lawyers failed to conduct adequate pretrial investigations, talk to possible witnesses, obtain relevant police reports, or seek pretrial investigative funds. Michael Mello, a renowned capital punishment defense attorney in Florida from 1981-1995, has said "there is today a desperate (albeit difficult to quantify) shortage of competent capital post-conviction defense lawyers" (David, 1037-48). The Supreme Court in the Furman decision ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional because it is a "cruel and unusual" punishment. Some allusions to racial discrimination appeared in the opinions, but more evidence seems called for.  

Chaotic and Non-Chaotic Evil Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Chaotic and Non-Chaotic Evil - Assignment Example An idle man summons a window glass vendor whom he had seen from six stories below. He goes on to ask for a tinted glass. Afterwards, the idle man kicks the vendor and drops a vase on the vendor. Evil is shown through the planned chaotic actions of the idle man. The mess created by the broken pieces of glass presents a chaotic situation. In this case, the chaotic acts of the idle man are accompanied by evil. A situation where evil exist without evil is depicted when the wanderer went on a quest to discover the unpardonable sin. On his return, he finds a lime-burner who leaves the kiln for him to take care of overnight. The wanderer had realized that his quest was a wrong move and having nothing to share with the villagers, ends up burning himself. The wanderer had set off without any intention of committing evil although his mission was already an evil one. His intentions were not to cause affliction to anyone as he even thought that he would be commended for a job well done on his return. Later on, he burns himself thus resulting in an evil act. Evil without the presence of chaos it is depicted here because as soon as the wanderer sets off to seek the unpardonable sin, he already had committed an evil deed without his knowledge ( Iversen 89). He had not planned to commit the evil deed through his action of burning himself shows that he, later on, realized he had committed an evil thus r esulted to killing himself. The renegade of Avignon story is about a treacherous man who had planned on committing evil for long. His action led to the death of his wealthy friend who had accommodated him and given him. The planned actions of the treacherous friend set his friend to fail in order to take all his property and left him for dead. This is a situation where evil exists accompanied by chaos. The following are more examples of instances where evil and chaos prevail. The first five are hypothetical typologies while the latter three are historical cases depicting evil at its peak.     Ã‚