Journal Entry 5

Frankie Cudney

English 1000

Journal Entry 5

“The death penalty and the media has affect on it”

            This next source I looked into was also a book. This book didn’t talk specifically about the death penalty but on all cases regarding the judicial branch. A chapter in the book is dedicated to unusual and cruel punishment and talks about the death penalty and it’s flaws. In the Constitution it prohibits performing cruel and unusual punishments on individuals. This chapter talks about how the death penalty walks the line when it comes to this amendment. Many changes have been made and revised regarding is amendment specially regarding the death penalty. Pardons have been made to allow capitol punishment when necessary.  Congress debated back and forth on how to regulate this act and where to set the boundaries. Many members of congress voted against the act all together in 1975 but the poll ended up coming out to be in favor of allowing the death penalty. It started out that all 50 states had permission and power to sentence the death penalty if ever needed. Since, a few dozen states have banned executions as a form of punishment ruling it out to be cruel and unusual punishment.

            This book really talks down the death penalty and discusses no positive outcomes from it. In other sources I have researched, the author tries to play devils advocate and show both sides of the case, explaining why people would be for or against capitol punishment. In this book, the author just talks about how since the beginning when our government was being formed, people were against the death penalty and couldn’t agree on how to deal with it, and how this is still the case today.

            Seeing such a negative spin on the death penalty and reading form someone’s viewpoint that sees no good to come from it, I feel I know where I stand with capitol punishment and how I feel about it. Although I believe it should be more regulated than it is and that the fact that there are so many wrongful people persecuted, I still view the death penalty as a necessary evil. I believe that as a country that is so big and has so many issues when it comes to heinous crimes, our government needs to have the power to rule out execution for when it is needed. I can see both sides to the debate and while reading all of my other sources I went back and forth on the issue, however, after reading the authors points on the death penalty and talking about only the negatives I couldn’t help but think about the certain benefits that come from it.

            My next step will be to look into the specific benefits from the death penalty being legal at the federal level. I would like to know how regulated the death penalty is and just who is allowed to rule it out and carry out the process of executing a convict. My reasoning for wanting to know this is because know that I have discovered I feel the death penalty is a necessary evil, I need to look into how loose of a system it is and try and learn more about when and how it is considered to be used.