Amina Choudhury
Professor Stephen Clifford
English 103
Oct 13, 2014 In the essay called “The Death Penalty: Is It Ever Justified?”, Edward I. Kloch, talks about the position he takes in the subject of capital punishment. He states “I support the death penalty for heinous crimes of murder…” (489). In the essay, Kloch is addressing to the opposition his arguments. He claims that he is for the death penalty and bases his examples in the rebuttals against the opponents. Author supports his position in this subject with a sequence of facts mentioned in his essay. The strongest fact mentioned in Koch´s argument is that “in America the murder rate climbed 122 percent between 1963 and 1980” (485). Also, he says that “no other major democracies…show more content… The purpose is to prevent murderers to kill again. He restates some examples of past cases of murderers that have perpetrated more murders after or during their rehabilitation. “In a recent case in New Jersey, a man named Richard Biegenwald was free from prison after serving eighteen years for murder; since his release he has been convicted of committing four murders. A prisoner named Lemuel Smith, who, while serving four life sentences for murder ( plus two life sentences for kidnapping and robbery) in New York´s Green Haven Prison, lured a woman corrections officer into the chaplain´s office and strangled her” (485). With these facts one infer that there are no repentance for those people. Also there are some interesting facts mentioned in the article. “In 1981, ninety-one police officers were killed in the line of duty in this country. Seven percent of those arrested in the cases that have been solved had a previous arrest for murder” (485). And “in new York city in 1976 and 1977, eighty-five persons attested for homicide had a previous arrest for murder” (485-486). There are many objections about the capital punishment; however, there are two of them that are the most strongest. The first argument against the death penalty is that “an innocent person might be executed” (485). And the second objection is that “capital punishment cheapens the value of human…show more content… Death penalty can cause depression for many people those who are involved in the case and also outsiders who watch it through media. Some will give vote for death some will never support capital punishment. In Bell Tarik article, several hundred students, many from Howard University, rallied against the death penalty in front of the U.S. Department of justice last Friday, April, 12. Melissa Mitchell, State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for the Howard University Chapter of Amnesty International, said "We're here today to protest federal executions, but not only federal executions, but also to raise awareness about state executions, legal lynching’s all over the U.S. "Juveniles are at an alarming rate, more and more being sentenced as adults and once they're sentenced as adults then they are subject to the death penalty. "The death penalty is racist. It's been arbitrarily applied. Capital punishment is reserved for those without capital, and it cost more to execute someone than to put them in prison for life. "We want an immediate moratorium on all federal executions. Capital punishment is the ultimate human rights abuse. It's irreversible. Just two days ago the 100th person was released from death row as a result of DNA evidence. Most of them have been Black that have been removed from death row as a result of DNA evidence