Essay on Critical Thinking – Criminal Penalties

The death penalty is the sentence received by the criminal whereas capital punishment is the actual implementation of the death penalty. The death penalty has been used as an option for sentencing since the foundation of the United States. After independence, piracy, treason, murder, forgery, public securities, and federal certificate counterfeiting were made punishable by death. The death by execution was carried out during the pre-independence/ colonial period. Michigan was the first state to eliminate the death penalty in the year 1846 for all crimes except treason. Many states abolished the death penalty at the beginning of the 20^th century, however, most of them have reestablished it later. At present, almost 38 states have authorized the death penalty in the law (Imel).

There are mainly four theories of punishments. However, the reform and rehab theory seems more effective than that of the death penalty. According to historical evidence, the use of capital punishment should have reduced the rate of crime but instead, the rate of crime was increased (Imel). Reform and rehab are more focused on the reformation of the criminal, although if this method of punishment is not showing any behavioral changes in the criminal, then there is no other option than that of capital punishment.

The right to express any opinion in the public without any restraint is referred to as freedom of speech (Murray). Although, free speech in the new age is questionable since people are losing their jobs and getting convicted based on their social media posts. Free speech is the right of every citizen; however, the right of speech should be exercised responsibly as free speech can turn into hate speech, through hateful attitudes towards another community, race, or gender. The implication of the hate speech could be disastrous, the recent example of the Ku Klux Klan and Charley Hebdo is eye-opening.

The United States has started the war on illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin, LSD, cocaine, crack, etc. These drugs are being used through injection, oral ingestion, and rubbing on the skin as a cream or gel. 20% of the inmates in the United States are in prison due to illegal drug use. Anabolic steroids are the form of drugs that are being used by high school students. The consequences of using these steroids are catastrophic as steroid abuse changes the body structure such as breast development in men whereas facial hair development in women, the chances of cancer and HIV is higher, stress and depression may take over during the steroid use. Unlike illegal drugs, these steroids are not illegal, however, the use of the same should be responsible and under the medical practitioner’s supervision.

The idea of democracy was brought back by the American and French revolutions in the late 18^th century. The declaration of independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison in the year 1776. Martin Luther King Jr. developed a philosophy to establish equality amongst inhabitants of the United States, and he continued his nonviolent fight against the evil of racism, militarism, and poverty. It was illegal for a person from a different race to attend the classes with the white people until 1964, however, four African Americans successfully enrolled in the University of Alabama after the civil rights act of 1964. The influence of the utilitarian argument can be observed in the recent struggle for human rights such as the rights of women to be a part of combat operations, marriage equality for an interracial couple, and a same-sex couple.

In the year 1787, slavery in America was made illegal, however, no ban was imposed on the trade of slaves until 1808. The revolt of slaves in Richmond, Virginia was organized by Gabriel Prosser in the year 1800, but the plan of revolt was uncovered and many rebels including Prosser are hanged and the laws for slaves were tightened. Importation of the slaves in the USA was banned by Congress in 1800, although, the state of Missouri compromises the ban in the year 1820 on the southern boundary. In the year 1863, President Lincoln made all the slaves free from their slavery. Officially, in the June of 1865 the slavery ended, two months after the end of the civil war. Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to be sworn into the US Congress in the year 1870.

Work cited

Imel, Conrad. “Overview of Capital Punishment Under State and Federal Law”. Colorado Legislative Council Staff Interested Persons Memorandum, 2017, pp. 1-2., Accessed 1 Nov 2018.

Murray, Michael D. “J. B. Stoner and Free Speech: How Free Is “Free”?”. Western Speech, vol 38, no. 1, 1974, pp. 18-24. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/10570317409373805.