Connor Moser's Individual Part

Connor Moser

Professor Rosenfeld

English 115

26 November 2012    

Death Penalty Blog

Main Idea:

The death penalty has remained a highly controversial topic since the 1970’s when it was restored in California Law. In the 2012 Election, Proposition 34 was introduced to repeal the death penalty. Split on a 53% difference, Prop. 34 failed and the death penalty remained in California. On one side, proponents of the death penalty argue its purpose to punish the most heinous of crimes is necessary – but the system of execution needs to be fixed. The opponents of the death penalty argue its expense, hundred of millions of dollars a year, as well as its ethical interest in some arguments. Instead of executing criminals, opponents of the death penalty prefer to place the incarcerated in life sentences without chance of parole.

Link & Analysis:

http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21943752/california-proposition-34-voters-decide-whether-keep-states

“Proposition 34: Death penalty repeal fails” by Howard Mintz and Matt O’Brien provides a brief overview of Proposition 34 and its place in the 2012 presidential election. Representing both sides of the death penalty debate, Mintz and O’Brien explain the financial crisis posed by keeping inmates on death row and the injustice of letting the most heinous criminals live their lives unpunished. After reading, I feel that life in prison without parole is cruel punishment. Worse than being condemned to death, inmates must suffer every single day of their lives without any chance of forgiveness or escape. They are forced to live their lives in a prison – no longer a person with any value or importance in societies eyes. Without the death penalty, prisoners would be forced to this option.

Important Quotes:

“The people of California sent a clear message that the death penalty should still be implemented for those who commit the most heinous and unthinkable crimes," McGregor Scott, former United States Attorney and Co-Chair for No on Prop 34, said in a statement.

                                                      

“Natasha Minsker, manager of the Proposition 34 campaign, indicated the vote would not be the last political effort to abolish the death penalty.

‘This issue is not going away," she said Wednesday. "53 percent is not a mandate for carrying out executions. This state is clearly evenly divided on the death penalty."

“But law enforcement officials, victims' rights groups and three of California's former governors aligned against the measure, arguing that the death penalty should be preserved for the state's most heinous killers. They refuted the potential cost savings, saying the estimates were inflated and that the ponderous death penalty system should be repaired, not replaced.”

Visual Argument:

Those against the death penalty fail to see the fact that death row inmates are usually not executed because of California’s ongoing debate over the method of lethal injection. Just as this dog looks as if it should be put out of its misery, inmates sentences to life in prison without parole would be stuck in this condition for the rest of their lives – an unethical and torturous way to live.