Death Penalty Summary – Flashcards

1. Introduction A. Attention Getter: God was the first to introduce the death penalty as stated in Genesis 9:6, "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." This means if anyone takes a human life, that person's life should be taken by a human. God made human beings in his own image. Capital punishment is a legal process of executing a criminal that has committed a capital crime. The expression capital originates from Latin capitalis, regarding the head. Capital punishment was originally done by severing the head.

B. Reason to Listen: Capital punishment is a very conserver's topic in the world today and the death penalty has been practiced in almost every single society with 58 nations having it and 95 counties that do not believe in it. In Western Europe and in Latin America the death penalty is not used and the USA, China, Japan, Middle East and some African states still use capital punishment to this day.

C. Expertise: I have done a research paper on this topic and have read dozen of articles about it on the internet. D. Thesis: I believe the death penalty should be legalized because of its lower costs compared to life without parole, its deterrent to crime, and honors the beliefs of the Bible. E. Preview: First I am going to tell you why its cost is lower than life without parole. Second, I will tell how the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. Lastly I will explain why it honors the beliefs of the Bible.

2. Body A. Cost 1. Since the United States is one of the many countries to still use the death penalty, cost is a major factor because the United States is in debt. 2. The cost to incarcerate an inmate is approximately 25,000 dollars a year. If sentenced 40 to 45 years that one inmate would cost a little more than one million dollars, more than a third of what it would cost of execution of the inmate. The LWOP (life without parole) is significantly more expensive, over time, that the death penalty cases.

3. The annual cost increases are based upon: prison cost, including judicial decisions and inflation rates, medical costs for LWOP sentences, injury or death to other inmates, the risk of escape, and the lack of confidence in the governors, parole boards and judges to release a violent inmate into society. Also, life without parole cases becomes more expensive due to the endless appeals to be released early. Spending money on the death penalty means reducing the resources available for crime prevention, mental health treatment, education and rehabilitation, meaningful victims' services, and drug treatment programs, which saves money in the long run.

B. Deterrent to Crime 1. The next major reason why capital punishment should be legalized is that it deters crime, studies shown in the last six years shows that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. Studies show that between three and 18 lives would be saved by the execution of each convicted murderer each year.

2. In Britain the murder rate more than double since the elimination of capital punishment in 1964. It went from .68 per 100,000 of the population to 1.42 per 100,000 of the population. In 1964 there were 300 murders and continued to rise to 565 in 1994. Prisoners being released after serving in the "life sentences" committed 71 murders between 1965 and 1998. The same statistics show that since 1997 that 65 prisoners that were released from their life sentence were convicted of a further crime, which included two murders, one suspected murder, one attempted murder, and three rapes. Since January of 1997, 304 prisoners that received life sentences actually only served ten years of them in prison.

3. During an increased use of the death penalty in the United States, there was a 26 percent reduction of murders rates. "Speeding up executions would strengthen the deterrent effect. For every 2.75 years cut from time spent on death row, one murder would be prevented, according to a 2004 study by an Emory University professor."

C. Beliefs of the Bible 1. "Thou shall not murder" is translated from the original Hebrew version of Exodus 20:13's "thou shall not kill". The word murder is defined in the dictionary as an unlawful killing which defends the argument that the death penalty defies the 6th commandment.

2. God wants to bless our nation, but he can't with criminals sitting in jail cells receiving free meals, housing, and clothing. God has given man the power to execute those who choose to take lives of the innocent. Exodus 21:12 says, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death". Jesus also was for capital punishment for a penalty for murder when he said to one of his disciples after he tried to kill a soldier "all who take the sword will perish by the sword", Matt. 26:52. Which means that if a person kills another person with that weapon, than he will be killed by that same weapon.

3. Conclusion. A. Summary: Today I have told you why capital punishment is a good thing. How its cost less than keeping them in prison, how it deterrents crime and how it honors the beliefs of the Bible. B. Final Thought: Putting a criminal in prison for life will not do the job. The laws change and people forget about the past to easy or learn to forgive. Many states that have the death penalty don't really do much to help crime anyways because there are people in the justice system that is stupid enough to put these people back into society. Fifty executions out of 18,000 murders don't really help much so there should be more laws and regulations for the death penalty. C. Tieback to Intro: If these murderers still live we give them the chance to recommit crime, waste government spending on prison cells and go against the beliefs of the bible.