2008 Woodie Awards
Death Penalty: Justice Served or Legalized Murder
Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: Opinions
PRO
Convicted murderer Donald Beardslee, 61, was executed by the state of California on Jan. 19.
His execution, the first in three years in California, has once again opened the debate on capital punishment.
Capital punishment is legal in 38 states, including California. Beardslee is only the eleventh person to be executed since the death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978.
He got what he deserved. Beardslee was convicted in 1981 for killing two young women. People who commit barbaric crimes should be punished accordingly.
California may have the most people on death row, but Texas holds the record for executions. In fact, Texas conducts 38 percent of the executions in the country. Since 1993, Texas has executed 256 death row inmates.
In extreme cases, capital punishment is the only way that justice can be served and satisfied.
For example, John Wayne Gacy was convicted in 1980 in Chicago of torturing and murdering 33 young boys and men. He was sentenced to death.
On May 10, 1994, he was executed by lethal injection in Statesville Penitentiary , Illinois. Gacy's execution by the state of Illinois was proportionate to the crime.
Most people who oppose capital punishment argue that imposing the death penalty can lead to the execution of innocents. The Bedau-Radelete study proved how uncommon such mistakes are. The study showed that in the 20th century, out of more than 7,000 state executions, only 23 might have been erroneous.
There is no guarantee that such an error could not occur in the future. However, according to the Bedau-Radelet, such and error is rather rare.
Those who oppose the death penalty also argue that it violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In October 1994, Marilyn Hall Patel, a California judge, ruled that capital punishment did violate the constitutional law. However, her opinion was based mainly on the execution by gas chamber because of the trauma the committed undergoes.
Convicted murderer Donald Beardslee, 61, was executed by the state of California on Jan. 19.
His execution, the first in three years in California, has once again opened the debate on capital punishment.
Capital punishment is legal in 38 states, including California. Beardslee is only the eleventh person to be executed since the death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978.
He got what he deserved. Beardslee was convicted in 1981 for killing two young women. People who commit barbaric crimes should be punished accordingly.
California may have the most people on death row, but Texas holds the record for executions. In fact, Texas conducts 38 percent of the executions in the country. Since 1993, Texas has executed 256 death row inmates.
In extreme cases, capital punishment is the only way that justice can be served and satisfied.
For example, John Wayne Gacy was convicted in 1980 in Chicago of torturing and murdering 33 young boys and men. He was sentenced to death.
On May 10, 1994, he was executed by lethal injection in Statesville Penitentiary , Illinois. Gacy's execution by the state of Illinois was proportionate to the crime.
Most people who oppose capital punishment argue that imposing the death penalty can lead to the execution of innocents. The Bedau-Radelete study proved how uncommon such mistakes are. The study showed that in the 20th century, out of more than 7,000 state executions, only 23 might have been erroneous.
There is no guarantee that such an error could not occur in the future. However, according to the Bedau-Radelet, such and error is rather rare.
Those who oppose the death penalty also argue that it violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In October 1994, Marilyn Hall Patel, a California judge, ruled that capital punishment did violate the constitutional law. However, her opinion was based mainly on the execution by gas chamber because of the trauma the committed undergoes.