Abstract
This paper takes a look at the history of the debate for and against the death penalty. Included is a discussion on whether or not the death penalty is it too harsh.

From the Paper
"Should there be a death penalty? Is the death penalty to harsh of a punishment? Some may disagree; some may say that the death penalty is not harsh enough. Most don't even take the time to think about it. As of right now thirty-eight states have the death penalty. Almost seven hundred fifty people have been executed since the re-institution of the death penalty. The death penalty can range in age; you could be as young as eighteen years old or as old as ninety to be sentenced with it. There are many different ways of execution. Some are gas chambers, hangings, electrocutions, and the most popular one being lethal injection."

Tags:abolitionists, debate, history, issues, execution, killing, Karla, Faye, Tucker, electric, chair, capital, major, anti-terrorism, death, penalty, punishment, act, opposing, pro

Abstract
This paper explores the pros and cons of the death penalty without taking either side.

From the Paper
"One of the big issues which opponents of the death penalty is that of race. A report from Amnesty International found that the use of the death penalty in the United States was racially biased. In some areas, the death penalty was reserved solely for non-white defendants. The report cited instances of bias against minority defendants at every step of the judicial process, and showed that the judicial system seemed to valued white life over black. Defendants were far more likely to be executed for the murder of a white victim as opposed to a black victim, but the color of the murderer seemed to have no bearing."

Tags:crime, race, gender, constitution, human, rights

Abstract
An argumentative paper against the death penalty. The author provides reasons based on age, race, DNA and methods of execution as to back up his argument.

From the Paper
"The statement goes as follows: If someone killed one of my family members, I think that he/she should be executed. I would even start the lethal injection myself. (There is no doubt who the murderer is because eyewitness accounts are supported by physical evidence including DNA.) I completely disagree with everything said here. To begin with I don't necessarily believe that they should be executed, even though most of society is on an eye for an eye state of mind. Further more I wouldn't start the injection myself, besides who is to say that it would be an injection, there are more methods of capital punishment. I also believe that convicting someone by eyewitness accounts is completely insubstantial evidence."

Tags:capital, death, dna, evidence, injections, lethal, punishment

Abstract
The paper brings to light many theories on life and death and the good of the the whole versus the good of an individual to attempt to understand the practice of capital punishment. The writer looks at sources that defend capital punishment, opposing them with statistics that claim that incarceration is no more expensive than execution. In summary, the writer finds that Americans are split on whether or not they support capital punishment.

From the Paper
"Criminal punishment is justified by one of two competing moral theories. Utilitarianism, which seeks to maximize happiness for all, justifies criminal punishment on one of three goals: general deterrence, specific deterrence, and rehabilitation. Each will theoretically reduce crime. General deterrence holds that criminals are punished because "it is believed that [their] punishment will cause other people to forgo criminal conduct in the future" (Dressler 5)."

Tags:execution, incarceration, criminal, humane, prison

From the Paper
"Texas, the US state with the highest rate of executions, spends approximately $2.3 million on each case (three times the cost to incarcerate an individual for 40 years) (Death Penalty Focus). The cost of executing Ted Bundy was at least $6 million (Buehler 1998). The comparable figure for Florida is $3.2 million per capital trial. And in California, a study has been conducted which concludes that the state would save $90 million per year if it were to abolish the death penalty (Death Penalty Focus)."

Tags:chair, controversy, crime, death, electric, execution, injection, lethal, murder, penalty

Abstract
This paper is an argument in favor of the death penalty. It uses several different sources to support the author's argument that the death penalty saves lives, and does not unjustly take the life of someone who has committed a violent crime.

From the paper:

"Execution is forever. So is murder. Therefore, execution is the appropriate punishment for the murder of an innocent victim. If we apply the ?Golden Rule? to the situation (do unto others, as you wish done to yourself), we see that execution is inevitably the correct step for us to make (Shell, 120). A person?s right to live is lost when one intentionally takes an innocent life, everyone has the right to one life, his own. If he unlawfully takes the life of another he, eo ipso, loses his own right to life. Every person who can understand the nature and effects of his acts is responsible for them, and should be blamed and punished accordingly, if he could know that what he did was wrong."

Tags:death, penalty, capital, punishment, execution, murderer, lives, convict

Abstract
The paper takes a wide-ranging look at human rights around the world today, showing the key themes and issues currently affecting the international community. The introduction explains key terms necessary for the paper and gives a history of the development of human rights. The paper focuses on Japan as a case-study (though numerous other examples are cited where applicable). The author of the paper goes undercover in Japan to show that, despite "successes" in improving human rights in countries such as South Africa, shocking human rights violations still occur today worldwide even in developed countries and these need to be exposed and then dealt with.

From the Paper
"At least the Japanese of Korean and Chinese ancestry blend in to the Japanese population at large but human rights violations can be far worse for those who do not. An unofficial but widely accepted racial-pyramid stereotyping exists amongst Japanese society at large. Japanese, naturally, are at the top of the ethnic groups. It could be argued that an inferiority complex with whites (particularly European and American) still exists but this has gradually eroded with Japan's economic ascension and the increasing crime and disorder in Western cultures. After Westerners follow Asians (first Chinese, then Koreans and finally other Asians) who Japanese look down upon as inferiors and finally blacks (except, paradoxically, musically and athletically gifted blacks whom the Japanese detachedly admire)."

Tags:capital, death, imprisonment, punishment, racism, row, xenophobia

Abstract
This essay discusses capital punishment, particularly the hanging of Iraq's ex-president Saddam Hussein. It begins with a background of capital punishment and a biography of Saddam Hussein. It then explores, in detail, the pros and cons of hanging Hussein. The essay utilizes varying political, religious and personal opinions and tries to come to a conclusion as to whether capital punishment in general (and Hussein's hanging in particular) can ever be seen as valid.

From the Paper
"'Capital punishment' is the execution of a person who has been convicted in a country's court of law, usually for offences deemed to be of the highest order. The first death penalty laws date back to the 18th century BC in the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. The Middle Ages brought with them a peak in the rate of executions. In England, for example, it was possible to be put to death for any of 222 different reasons. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was that of Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Capital punishment laws varied from colony to colony. The New York Colony instituted the Duke's Laws of 1665. Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishment theorized that there was no justification for the state taking one's life and gave abolitionists in America an authoritative voice and renewed energy. The death penalty was briefly abolished in the United States in 1972 by the Supreme Court but then reinstated in 1976. In modern times, the vast majority of democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished capital punishment, but the United States, most democracies in Asia, and almost all totalitarian governments retain it."

Tags:capital, death, execution, hanging, hussein, iraq, penalty, punishment, saddam

Abstract
This paper examines the death penalty in the context of the execution on December 30th 2006 of Iraq's ex-president Saddam Hussein. It begins with a brief background of the death penalty (including its history and varying methods used globally) and a brief biography of Saddam Hussein (with an emphasis on his crimes). The pros of executing Hussein are then detailed with reference to how it may act as a deterrent and to how it may be seen as a form of retribution and punishment for his crimes. The paper also looks from the other side at Hussein's execution, paying attention to capital punishment cons such as its possible arbitrariness, wrongful convictions, cruelty and ineffectiveness. The paper tries to be original in that as well as covering all the usual perspectives and attitudes to the death penalty, Hussein's case is presented fairly without prejudice and with a range of varying political (conservative versus liberal), religious (Christian versus Islamic) and personal opinions (including the views of people from all over the world and the authors).

From the Paper
"The 'death penalty' is also known more formally as 'capital punishment' and is the execution of a person who has been convicted in a country's court of law, usually for offences deemed to be of the highest order (known as 'capital crimes' or 'capital offences'). It has probably been around since the apparatus of society needed for it to exist (citizens, the state and courts) has been around. Indeed, the first death penalty laws date back to the 18th century BC in the code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for twenty-five different crimes. Methods for execution included crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive and impalement. Historical records show that various primitive tribal communities likely used something similar to the death penalty too. Contrary to popular belief, there was not necessarily a greater rate of executions per capita in such times than at other times. Pre-medieval times were characterized by small communities and members of the community were often reluctant to put to death other members because it would weaken the community and the most heinous crimes such as murder were usually crimes of passion anyway. Financial compensation and isolating the perpetrator of the crime were usually considered sufficient punishment."

Tags:hanging, iraq, terrorism

Abstract
This paper takes a wide-ranging look at human rights around the world today, showing the key themes and issues currently affecting the international community. The introduction explains key terms necessary for the paper and gives a history of the development of human rights. The paper focuses on two case-studies (though numerous other examples are cited where applicable): South Africa and Japan. South Africa is used as an example of a developing country whose human rights issues have been identified internally by the South African government as well as externally by the international community and then acted upon to some degree of success. The author of the paper goes undercover in Japan to show that, despite apparent "successes" such as in South Africa, shocking human rights violations still occur today worldwide even in developed countries and need to be exposed and then dealt with.

From the Paper
"The word "apartheid" was used as the National Party's political slogan in the 1940s but the policy of "separate development" extends back to the beginning of white settlement in South Africa in 1652. When the Afrikaan Nationalists came to power in 1948, the social custom of apartheid became institutionalized under South African law. The 1950 Population Registration Act categorized all South Africans into three racial categories: Bantu (black African), white or Colored (if mixed race); with a fourth category, Asian, added later mainly for Indians and Pakistanis. The system of apartheid was developed by a series of laws in the 1950s. The 1950 Group Areas Act allotted races to different residential and business sections in cities. The Land Acts of 1954 and 1955 restricted nonwhite residence to specific areas and limited ownership of land."

Tags:africa, apartheid, capital, execution, japan, punishment, racism, south