Bruh

Resolve: The Death penalty ought to be abolished

Framework: In order for pro to win today’s round, they need to prove why the death penalty is inhumane



C1: The Death penalty is only for the worst of the worst.
The death penalty is only for commiting capital offenses. Capital offenses are the highest possible offense you can commit according to the law. Some of these include murder during a kidnapping, murder of a hostage during a hostage situation, murder for hire and murder by an escaped federal prisoner already sentenced to life imprisonment. These are serious crimes, and should have serious consequences, like they already do, if it’s not broken why fix it? Improvement in DNA and forensic science has made it nearly impossible to convict the wrong person of a capital offense resulting in death row. These advances in science, and technology have resulted in the amount of innocent people on death row to be only 4% according to the National Academy of Sciences. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 2,703 people considered to be the worst people ever to live in the US have been executed, and 2,683 were found guilty without question, and those who weren't were given compensation from the U.S government.

C2: The Death penalty is not considered cruel and unusual.
The death penalty does not violate the 8th amendment. In the 8th amendment it states that no cruel or unusual punishment is allowed. The 8th amendment says that cruel and unusual punishment is considered, torture, delibretly degrading punishment, and punisment that is too severe for the crime committed. The Death Penalty does not violate any of these. According to Cornell Law School (cornell.edu) In order to avoid violating the 8th amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the court system weighs the crime to decide what means of execution to prescribe to the guilty. In 1972 there was a famous case about the death penalty found on criminaljusticedegreehub.com The case was called ¨Gregg VS Georgia¨, the case was questioning the death penalty being banned in 1972, and attempting to reinstate the death penalty. 7 Supreme Court Judges ruled that the Death Penalty is not cruel or unusual, while only 2 Supreme Court Judges ruled that the Death Penalty was cruel and unusual. When this case was over, the death penalty was reinstated, but only for capital offenses. The Death Penalty is also not cruel and unusual, because it doesn´t take away someones right to life. When someone commits a capital crime it does not violate their right to life, as the offender has forfeited that right by committing that crime. For example if someone commits a capital offense, such as Murder for Hire, they have given up their right to life by committing said crime.

C3: The Death penalty is more humane than it used to be
Capital punishment has existed for centuries, but has not always been as humane and effective as it is today. According to crimemueseum.org Earlier execution methods included boiling the inmate to death in oil, dismemberment of the inmate, and other cruel and harsh punishments. Today the punishments are way more humane and effective. The United States is responsible for introducing new innovations in humane execution. A new modern method is lethal injection. Lethal Injection is one of the most effective, and humane ways to execute an inmate we have today. Many argue itś less humane and more painful to experience than other options. This is false, because found on lethalinjection.org, the execution method starts off by attaching a heart monitor to the inmate, then injecting the inmate with a series of drugs, that first starts off with unconsciousness, followed by a humane death by paralysis of respiratory muscles, when carried out properly, involves no pain to the inmate at all.