The Death Penalty
By; Zane Reavley
Claim 1
Counter claim
Claim 2
Counter Claim
Claim 3
Counter Claim
Claim 4
Rebuttals
The death penalty must be available for the "most unspeakable crimes." The obvious question is who determines if a crime is "most unspeakable?" The authors suggest that killing 100 children is unspeakable (I'd use a stronger adjective), but are they suggesting that killing five children is somehow less unspeakable? Is there an unspeakable threshold, something like any combination of X children and Y adults (all "innocent," of course), that once crossed leads to the death penalty? May I suggest that all murders are unspeakable and that this is not a productive argument?
Law enforcement shootings. No argument is presented by Messrs. Shellenberger and Vatz as to why police officers should be treated differently than, for example, fire fighters, teachers or nurses. A murder is the death of a fellow citizen, and while some deaths invoke more public emotion than others, rule by law requires that we set emotion aside, to the best of our imperfect abilities, when judging and punishing.
Citations
List of 10 Biggest Death Penalty Pros and Cons." Green Garage. 2015. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
"A Death Penalty Rebuttal, Point by Point." Baltimoresun.com. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.