overview of term 2
-power of mass media, subjective perception, censorhip
-crime and punishment, death penalty, vigilantism, life/death issues
skills learnt
-paraphrashing, summary, inference
holiday assignments
1. research on milestones (deadline: july 3rd 2007)
2. june blog task (deadline: by TErm 3, week1)
more details: http://mdmloh.blogspot.com
Go IVLE GP 8005 to do practise GP comprehension paper..
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
"The death penalty is not deterrent, it is murder." Do you agree?
According to www.dictionary.com , death penalty is a sentence of punishment by execution for certain crimes like murder.
Note: In the United States, capital punishment has been an extremely controversial issue on legal, moral, and ethical grounds. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not, in principle, cruel and unusual punishment(and not, therefore, unconstitutional), but that its implementation through existing state laws was unconstitutional. In 1976, the Supreme Court again ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, though a mandatory death penalty for any crime was. Thirty-nine states now practice the death penalty.
Deterrent is something that deters to prevent or discourage the occurrence of an action, as by means of fear or doubt
According to wikipedia, death penalty or capital punishment is used historically to punish both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent(refers to any expression designed to convey dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body). In the modern world today, capital punishment is still carried out in some countries where death penalty is reserved for punishments such as premeditated murder, espionage (spying), treason, or as part of military justice.
From the article "Crime and Causality: Do killers Deserve to Die?" It states that even if one supposes that the capital punishment is moraly justifiable, there are many good reasons to supposed it. Throughout the years, some people have been wrongly found guilty, some having been executed for offences which they never commit. Discrimination also plays a part in deciding a sentence. Being racial bias, a non-white is likely to get a heavier sentence compared to someone who is a white. Also, due to economic statue, the poor and marginalized are much more prone to execution than the rich.
There are 5 ways of executing a criminal.
1. Electric Chair where the condemmed is strapped to a wooden chair, with electrodes attached and a shock of thirty thousand watts is applied. The prisoner is literally cooked internally, and death may require mulitple shocks.
2. Gas Chamber where death is casued by exposure to cynide gas where victim die from suffocation.
3. Lethal Injection is the most widespread and humane method where poison is injected into the body to kill the criminal.
4. Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death.
5. Firing squad where it requires all members of the group to fire simultaneously, with one who will fire the lethal shot. The condemned is typically blindfolded or hooded, as well as being restrained
The principle of capital punishment is that certain murderers deserve nothing less than death as a just, proportionate and effective punishment. It is 100% effective as a deterrent to the criminal being executed; that killer cannot commit any more crimes. By setting a precedent, it act as a deterrent for others who wants to commit such similar crimes. With capital punishment in placed, it also shows that the country is tough on criminals. There will be a decrease in crime rates, having less chaos in the country as others would probably think twice before commiting a crime, thus making a country much more politically stable, presevering national security
Also, with capital punishments, by killing the criminal, it helps to bring justice for the victim and the his family members. The criminal will never ever again fatally harm anyone, thus possing no threat to the public. Moreover, it is more economically sound to execute a prisoner than to keep him in life incarceration, and also better off sentencing death penalties to criminals who are beyond rehabilitation than for him to leave off taxplayers.
However, capital punishment is murder. Execution is the act or instance of putting to death or being put to death as a lawful penalty. It is a state-sanctioned killing, and it devalues the respect we place on human life. Therefore, how can we punish someone for commiting murder, when he/she is punished by means of a death sentence? Isn't there killing of a person happening in both cases?
By sentencing someone to be put to death, it rules out possibility of rehabilitation, that they may repent of their crime, serve a sentence as punishment, and emerge as a reformed and useful member of society. Also, some victims may be wrongly found guilty, with some may have already been executed. Moreover, the methods of death penalty may go wrong, and thus delay the process of executing the criminal
Death penalty acts as a deterent to others, yet it is clear that retaliation to the death is no longer necessary to protect ourselves from murderers, and the deterrent effect of executions is very much open to question. Human should not play God by melting out death penalty. As two wrongs do not make a right, we should not just sentence a criminal for his crime, but analyse and understand what had shaped him and led him to kill others.
Therefore i agree to a large extent that the death penalty is not deterrent, it is murder.
According to www.dictionary.com , death penalty is a sentence of punishment by execution for certain crimes like murder.
Note: In the United States, capital punishment has been an extremely controversial issue on legal, moral, and ethical grounds. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not, in principle, cruel and unusual punishment(and not, therefore, unconstitutional), but that its implementation through existing state laws was unconstitutional. In 1976, the Supreme Court again ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, though a mandatory death penalty for any crime was. Thirty-nine states now practice the death penalty.
Deterrent is something that deters to prevent or discourage the occurrence of an action, as by means of fear or doubt
According to wikipedia, death penalty or capital punishment is used historically to punish both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent(refers to any expression designed to convey dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body). In the modern world today, capital punishment is still carried out in some countries where death penalty is reserved for punishments such as premeditated murder, espionage (spying), treason, or as part of military justice.
From the article "Crime and Causality: Do killers Deserve to Die?" It states that even if one supposes that the capital punishment is moraly justifiable, there are many good reasons to supposed it. Throughout the years, some people have been wrongly found guilty, some having been executed for offences which they never commit. Discrimination also plays a part in deciding a sentence. Being racial bias, a non-white is likely to get a heavier sentence compared to someone who is a white. Also, due to economic statue, the poor and marginalized are much more prone to execution than the rich.
There are 5 ways of executing a criminal.
1. Electric Chair where the condemmed is strapped to a wooden chair, with electrodes attached and a shock of thirty thousand watts is applied. The prisoner is literally cooked internally, and death may require mulitple shocks.
2. Gas Chamber where death is casued by exposure to cynide gas where victim die from suffocation.
3. Lethal Injection is the most widespread and humane method where poison is injected into the body to kill the criminal.
4. Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death.
5. Firing squad where it requires all members of the group to fire simultaneously, with one who will fire the lethal shot. The condemned is typically blindfolded or hooded, as well as being restrained
The principle of capital punishment is that certain murderers deserve nothing less than death as a just, proportionate and effective punishment. It is 100% effective as a deterrent to the criminal being executed; that killer cannot commit any more crimes. By setting a precedent, it act as a deterrent for others who wants to commit such similar crimes. With capital punishment in placed, it also shows that the country is tough on criminals. There will be a decrease in crime rates, having less chaos in the country as others would probably think twice before commiting a crime, thus making a country much more politically stable, presevering national security
Also, with capital punishments, by killing the criminal, it helps to bring justice for the victim and the his family members. The criminal will never ever again fatally harm anyone, thus possing no threat to the public. Moreover, it is more economically sound to execute a prisoner than to keep him in life incarceration, and also better off sentencing death penalties to criminals who are beyond rehabilitation than for him to leave off taxplayers.
However, capital punishment is murder. Execution is the act or instance of putting to death or being put to death as a lawful penalty. It is a state-sanctioned killing, and it devalues the respect we place on human life. Therefore, how can we punish someone for commiting murder, when he/she is punished by means of a death sentence? Isn't there killing of a person happening in both cases?
By sentencing someone to be put to death, it rules out possibility of rehabilitation, that they may repent of their crime, serve a sentence as punishment, and emerge as a reformed and useful member of society. Also, some victims may be wrongly found guilty, with some may have already been executed. Moreover, the methods of death penalty may go wrong, and thus delay the process of executing the criminal
Death penalty acts as a deterent to others, yet it is clear that retaliation to the death is no longer necessary to protect ourselves from murderers, and the deterrent effect of executions is very much open to question. Human should not play God by melting out death penalty. As two wrongs do not make a right, we should not just sentence a criminal for his crime, but analyse and understand what had shaped him and led him to kill others.
Therefore i agree to a large extent that the death penalty is not deterrent, it is murder.
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