Capital Punishment Essays (2840 words) - Sentencing, Free Essays

Capital Punishment Essays (2840 words) - Sentencing, Free Essays Capital Punishment Putting to death people who have been judge to commit certain extremely heinous crimes is a practice of ancient standing. But in the United States, in the latter half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later turned to uphold it again in 1977, with certain conditions. Indeed, restoring capital punishment is the will of the people, yet many voices have been raised against it. Heated public debate has centered on questions of deterrence, public safety, sentencing equality, and the execution of innocents, among others. One argument states that the death penalty does not deter murder. Dismissing capital punishment on that basis would require us to eliminate all prisons as well because they do not seem to be any more effective in the deterrence of crime. Others say that states, which have the death penalty, have higher crime rates than those that do not. A nd that a more sever punishment only inspires more sever crimes. But every state in the union is different. These differences include population, the number of cities, and the crime rate. Urbanized states are more likely to have higher crime rates than states that are more rural. The states that have capital punishment have it because of their high crime rate, not the other way around. In 1985, a study was published by economist Stephen K. Layson, at the University of North Carolina, that showed that every execution of a murderer deters, on average of 18 murders. The study also showed that raising the number of death sentences by only one percent would prevent 105 murders. However, only 38 percent of all murder cases result in a death sentence, and of those, only 0.1 percent are actually executed. During the temporary suspension on capital punishment from 1972 - 1976, researchers gathered murder statistics across the country. Researcher Karl Spence of Texas A&M University came up wi th these statistics, in 1960, there were 56 executions in the United States and 9,140 murders. By 1964, when there were only 15 executions, the number of murders had risen to 9,250. In 1969, there were no executions and 14,590 murders, and 1975, after six years without executions, 20,510 murders occurred. So the number of murders grew as the number of executions shrank. Spence said: While some [death penalty] abolitionists try to face down the results of their disastrous experiment and still argue to the contrary, the...[data] concludes that a substantial deterrent effect has been observed...In six months, more Americans are murdered than have been killed by execution in this entire century...Until we begin to fight crime in earnest [by using the death penalty], every person who dies at a criminal's hands is a victim of our inaction. And in Texas, the highest murder rate in Houston (Harris County) occurred in 1981 with 701 murders. Since Texas reinstated the death penalty in 1982, H arris County has executed more murderers than any other city or state in the union and has seen the greatest reduction in murder from 701 in 1981 down to 261 in 1996 - a 63% reduction, representing a 270% differential. Also, in the 1920s and 30s, death penalty advocates were known to refer to England as a means of proving capital punishment's deterrent effect. Back then, at least 120 murderers were executed every year in the United States and sometimes the number reached 200. Even then, England used the death penalty far more consistently than we did and their overall murder rate was smaller than any one of our major cities at the time. Now, since England abolished capital punishment about released killers have murdered thirty years ago, the murder rate has subsequently doubled there and 75 English citizens. Abolitionists will claim that most studies show that the death penalty has no effect on the murder rate at all. But that's only because those studies have been focused on incons istent executions. Capital punishment, like all other applications, must be used consistently in the United States for decades, so abolitionists have been able to establish the delusion that it does not deter at all to rationalize their fallacious

Different Meanings of Hallmark

Different Meanings of Hallmark Different Meanings of Hallmark Different Meanings of Hallmark By Maeve Maddox Until recently, I attached only one figurative meaning to the word hallmark: A distinctive mark or token of genuineness, good breeding, or excellence. Here are some examples of the word used in the sense of a trait that denotes admirable excellence: The hallmark of a scholar is attention to detail. Indeed, if style, grace, intellect, and capacity for rebirth are the  hallmarks  of [a Renaissance woman], then Lois Wilson qualified in every sense. The  hallmark of an honest politician is  an innate understanding that their most sacred duty is to fulfill the responsibilities of their office.  Ã‚   Emotional intelligence is the hallmark of a good leader. Osbeck also noted a fourth writing trait- elegance- which he describes as the hallmark of great legal writing. Rereading, editing, and revising the initial draft into a good paper are the hallmarks of good writing. In each of these examples, the idea of excellence is implicit in the word hallmark. This connotation of excellence derives from the word’s literal meaning: â€Å"a mark or device placed or stamped upon an article of trade to indicate origin, purity, or genuineness.† The practice of placing marks of origin and authenticity on products made of gold or silver dates to the early Middle Ages. One such mark in England was a leopard’s head. In the 15th century, when a law required all goldsmiths to bring their wares to Goldsmiths’ Hall in London to be marked, the identifying device came to be known as a hallmark. Hallmark seems to have retained its connotation of quality and excellence until the 20th century. For example, the Hallmark Greeting Card Company was founded in 1910. Founder Joyce Clyde Hall felt that greeting cards â€Å"represented class.† Playing on the founder’s name and the goldsmith’s mark of excellence, the company adopted the name Hallmark in 1928. By midcentury, however, writers had begun using the word absent its connotation of worthiness: Do you know the hallmark of a second rater? It’s resentment of another man’s achievement.- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged (1957). Writers familiar with the word’s positive associations continue to use it to denote excellence. For others, hallmark has devolved into a mere synonym for trait or â€Å"distinguishing characteristic†: Ruthlessness, deception and devious behavior is [sic] the hallmark of the successful politician. Expression of multiple horizontally acquired genes is  a hallmark of  both vertebrate and invertebrate genomes. A Hallmark of Alzheimer’s Can Show Up in Young People Too There’s even evidence that some speakers aren’t too sure that hallmark means trait: Many researchers have also theorized that a lack of self-awareness is  a hallmark  trait of narcissists. Writers who prefer to reserve hallmark to denote â€Å"proof of excellence,† may choose from the following list for words to convey the idea of trait or characteristic: attribute feature property aspect facet peculiarity Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:When to Capitalize Animal and Plant Names41 Words That Are Better Than Good40 Words Beginning with "Para-"