Running Head: THE DEATH SENTENCE 1 THE DEATH SENTENCE 7 The Death Sentence Brandy Vaughn GEN 499: General Education Instructor: Valencia Williams 17 October 2016 The Death sentence Introduction The death penalty is applied to people who commit capital offences that warrant a serious sentence. Crimes carrying a death penalty include; murder, robbery with violence, some forms of sexual assault, and the jury is free to determine whether the death penalty is applicable or not, depending on the evidence presented the severity of the crime and whether the offender is a first-time or repeat offender. On the other hand, Primary and Remedial Rights are rights and freedoms that` arise when a person breaches his primary rights. For example, the family of a person who dies at work is entitled to compensation, court injunctions call for a specific action from a person, company towards the complainant. For example, the court may demand that a media house spreading unconfirmed rumors makes a public apology to those involved and desist from such behavior in future. It is known that people are unaware and uninformed about the Primary and remedial Rights, their applicability in the law and the process they go through before their award. Additionally, the death sentence is also an unpopular sentence that many countries refrain from awarding. The research will show the reasons for that. However, the death penalty is expensive and time consuming to carry out, and many countries have distanced themselves from it. Therefore, it is ineffective in stopping capital crimes. Cohen-Cole, E., Durlauf, S., Fagan, J., & Nagin, D. (2009). Model uncertainty and the deterrent effect of capital punishment. American Law and Economics Review, 11(2), 335-369. The article focuses on the fact that the capital sentence, such as the award of a death sentence is not always successful in deterring criminals from capital offences. That is because the criminals recognize the severity of their situation as well as the risk of the action but still choose to commit the crimes. Additionally, a majority of the people who commit such crimes are hardened criminals who have come within inches of losing their lives while at work. Some of the can be hired mercenaries willing to do just about anything for money, and therefore, will risk their lives for the right price. Additionally, there is also the fact a majority of these criminals are mentally incompetent and may receive psychological help problems such as drug use and bizarre behavior. Therefore, they may not recognize the impact of the sentence awarded to them. Some may even wish for the sentence and commit the necessary crimes so as to receive the punishment. For the punishment to be effective, many clauses ought to be added. For the wrong ...

1. Running Head: THE DEATH SENTENCE
1
THE DEATH SENTENCE
7
The Death Sentence
Brandy Vaughn
GEN 499: General Education
Instructor: Valencia Williams
17 October 2016
The Death sentence
Introduction
The death penalty is applied to people who commit capital
offences that warrant a serious sentence. Crimes carrying a
death penalty include; murder, robbery with violence, some
forms of sexual assault, and the jury is free to determine
whether the death penalty is applicable or not, depending on the
evidence presented the severity of the crime and whether the
offender is a first-time or repeat offender. On the other hand,
Primary and Remedial Rights are rights and freedoms that` arise
when a person breaches his primary rights. For example, the
family of a person who dies at work is entitled to compensation,

2. court injunctions call for a specific action from a person,
company towards the complainant. For example, the court may
demand that a media house spreading unconfirmed rumors
makes a public apology to those involved and desist from such
behavior in future. It is known that people are unaware and
uninformed about the Primary and remedial Rights, their
applicability in the law and the process they go through before
their award. Additionally, the death sentence is also an
unpopular sentence that many countries refrain from awarding.
The research will show the reasons for that. However, the death
penalty is expensive and time consuming to carry out, and many
countries have distanced themselves from it. Therefore, it is
ineffective in stopping capital crimes.
Cohen-Cole, E., Durlauf, S., Fagan, J., & Nagin, D. (2009).
Model uncertainty and the deterrent effect of capital
punishment. American Law and Economics Review, 11(2), 335-
369.
The article focuses on the fact that the capital sentence, such as
the award of a death sentence is not always successful in
deterring criminals from capital offences. That is because the
criminals recognize the severity of their situation as well as the
risk of the action but still choose to commit the crimes.
Additionally, a majority of the people who commit such crimes
are hardened criminals who have come within inches of losing
their lives while at work. Some of the can be hired mercenaries
willing to do just about anything for money, and therefore, will
risk their lives for the right price. Additionally, there is also the
fact a majority of these criminals are mentally incompetent and
may receive psychological help problems such as drug use and
bizarre behavior. Therefore, they may not recognize the impact
of the sentence awarded to them. Some may even wish for the
sentence and commit the necessary crimes so as to receive the
punishment.
For the punishment to be effective, many clauses ought to be

3. added. For the wronged, the death of the wrong-doer may bring
closure, but it will not deter another person from committing the
same crime. Therefore, before the award of such a sentence, it
is necessary to enforce parameters in which the sentence can be
carried out as well as other measures to ensure the effectiveness
of the sentence. For instance, in the case of robbery with
violence, the accused should compensate anyone he harms, pays
for all legal and medical fees as well as other costs as
determined by the court before the sentence is carried out.
Donohue, J. J., & Wolfers, J. (2009). Estimating the impact of
the death penalty on murder. American Law and Economics
Review, ahp024.
The death penalty ought to deter people from committing capital
crimes that are likely to result in death sentence as a
punishment. Premeditated murder, for instance, may get a death
sentence from the judge. However, there are concerns that the
death sentence does not deter people from committing the crime
as a majority of the criminals who murder others are certified as
clinically insane; therefore, they are not in their normal human
senses when committing such crimes. In countries where the
death sentence is given, the murder and capital crime rates
remain unaffected by the harsh punishment was given. The
executions have to be planned in advance; however, the number
of prisoners awaiting their execution remains high as new
rulings are made. That is because the capital offenders are on
the rise, meaning that the sentence is not a deterrent to would-
be offenders. Therefore, something needs to be done to ensure
that the sentence acts as the deterrent it was meant to be.
Additionally, Human Rights’ Activist groups are also
condemning the sentence arguing that everyone has a right to
life and at no one time, should be someone’s life be taken away
by another. That is because taking away someone’s life leaves
the family and relations in anguish and does not solve the
problem it was meant to solve. Therefore, the sentence is
ineffective and should not be in use in the current times.
Manski, C. F., & Pepper, J. V. (2013). Deterrence and the death

4. penalty: partial identification analysis using repeated cross
sections. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 123-141.
The author’s of the above article argued that the sentence was
not a deterrent enough for capital violations, for example,
murder and theft with viciousness. That is because the offenders
are hardened and may not care much for their lives. When a
person sets out to commit grave crimes such as the ones
mentioned above, he realizes that anything can go wrong and he
can be nabbed in the process or lose his life. Therefore, using
the sentence to deter people from committing such crimes is
ineffective as the criminals are already reconciled that they
could lose their lives in the process, yet find it a risk worth
taking. However, in some instances, the sentence has helped
reduce the cases of homicides and capital crimes in a state. The
correlation between the sentence and the number of crimes
committed is strongest in states where the sentence is carried
out alongside other harsh punishments. For instance, some years
ago required families and associates of people that received the
death sentence to watch while the guilty party was executed.
That caused suffering to the families and acted as a deterrent to
mentally sane people would not want their families and friends
to witness such gruesome actions.
The article shows that a lot more needs to be done before the
death penalty deters capital crime as it should. There are also
concerns that the sentence is too weighty on the families of the
offender but does not sufficiently keep would-be offenders from
committing crimes. There is a need to ensure that the sentence
deters people from the offences committing the offences it
needs to prevent.
Conclusion
The death penalty is the harshest sentence that an offender can
get because it takes away his life. It was meant to deter people
from committing capital crimes, but it seems that it is
insufficient as these crimes are on the increase in various parts
of the world. Also, governments are unwilling to execute those
that receive the sentence as Human Rights activists want the

5. sentence done away with. There are concerns that the sentence
harms the family of the offender and it does not give the
offender a chance to rectify his behavior. Additionally, the
sentence is ineffective as a majority of the capital offenders are
mentally unstable; therefore, they don't welcome the reality of
the sentence. Therefore it is ineffective in fulfilling its purpose.
References
Cohen-Cole, E., Durlauf, S., Fagan, J. & Nagin, D. (2009).
Model uncertainty and the deterrent effect of capital
punishment. American Law and Economics Review, 11(2), 335-
369.
Donohue, J. J., & Wolfers, J. (2009). Estimating the impact of
the death penalty on murder. American Law and Economics
Review, ahp024.
Manski, C. F., & Pepper, J. V. (2013). Deterrence and the death
penalty: partial identification analysis using repeated cross
sections. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 29(1), 123-141.