Policy and Rebuttal Model - Essay Example

The CBS report, which drives home to us the inhumanity of capital punishment, demonstrates the urgent need to create and implement a comprehensive policy that will ban the Death Penalty throughout the United States.

Credibility Statement:

            My passionate conviction that all forms of life merit humane treatment, has made me do an in-depth study on all the facets of the Death Penalty and confirmed my belief that Capital Punishment has no place in a civilized society.

Thesis Statement:

            There is an urgent need for the crafting and implementation of a ‘Comprehensive Abolition of The Death Penalty Act,’ which will make the Death Penalty illegal throughout the United States. I am confident that my presentation will convince you of the rightness of my stand on this issue.

Preview of Main Points:

            My argument will focus on countering the mistaken perception of two-thirds of the U.S. population who support the Death Penalty (according to the 2009 October Gallup Poll). This majority wrongly believes that the Death Penalty (1) serves as a deterrent to crime (2) is more cost-effective than other forms of punishment (3) employs humane methods of execution.  

Transition:

            I will consecutively address each of the above myths regarding the Death Penalty.

Body.

Main Point 1:

            The most prevalent myth about the apparent efficacy of the Death Penalty is that it serves as a deterrent to crime. On the contrary, in a study by Radelet and Lacock, in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, the results from a survey of the world’s leading criminologists have conclusively proved through empirical research that the death penalty does not add deterrent effects to those already achieved by long imprisonment. Executions do not lower homicide rates. An overwhelming majority of 88% of the surveyed criminologists rejected the deterrence argument in favor of the Death Penalty.

Transition:

            Other supporters of the Death Penalty are misled on spurious economic grounds.

Main Point 2: 

            Many adherents of the Death Penalty mistakenly assume that it is cheaper than alternative forms of punishment. In fact, the enforcement of the Death Penalty imposes prohibitive costs on the State exchequer. According to the Final Report of the Death Penalty Subcommittee of the Committee of Public Defense, submitted by the Washington Bar Association in 2006, the costs of the Death Penalty, due to sentence reversals, long-drawn-out appeals, and the higher costs of capital case trials, makes the Death Penalty a higher financial burden to the public exchequer.

Transition:

            In addition to the myths surrounding the deterrent effect and monetary costs of the Death Penalty, another misconception is based on the methods of execution.

Main Point 3:

            There is a widespread mistaken belief that the Death Penalty is implemented by employing humane methods of execution. This is patently false. Almost all the States which authorize the Death Penalty use lethal injection as the method of execution. Inexperienced technicians or orderlies carry out the procedure. As pointed out by the DPIC website, the injection of the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, clogged needles, and the difficulty in finding usable veins can all result in extreme pain. There can be no doubt that the Death Penalty is a cruel, inhuman form of punishment.

Conclusion.

Summary of Points:

            The Death Penalty has no place in a civilized society. It does not serve as a deterrent to future crime; it imposes prohibitive costs on the State exchequer; it is a cruel and inhumane form of punishment.

Restatement of Thesis:

            The Death Penalty must be abolished throughout the United States of America. It is essential that the ‘Comprehensive Abolition of The Death Penalty Act,’ which will ban the Death Penalty, be introduced at the earliest and become a part of the American legal system.

Closure:

            There is a pressing need to mobilize support for the implementation of the ‘Comprehensive Abolition of the Death Penalty Act.’ The public needs to be informed about the evils of the Death Penalty and disabused of the prevalent misconceptions regarding capital punishment. Let us come together in this battle to abolish the Death Penalty, which is a blot on the face of our incomparable legal system, and help establish a just society for all.