The Guillotine and Capital Punishment

10/16/2018

During the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, 300,000 people were arrested. Of those people, 17,000 were executed by the Guillotine. Many of those who were executed were victims of mistaken identity, or were falsely accused by their neighbors.
Today, over 30 states in the U.S. (including the military and federal government) have the Death Penalty, or Capital Punishment as part of their State Laws. Since 1976, there have been over 1,200 executions in America.
Do you believe the Death Penalty should still exist? Why, or why not? Consider possible innocent victims and consider mass murderers. Give your reasons for or against Capital punishment.

24 Comments

Belinda Lau

6/20/2017 10:03:50 pm

I believe the Death Penalty should still not exist. It is because when a person is afraid, there are more chances that they will rebel and do the opposite of what you expected out of fear. In other words, it is like when a person tells another person not to do something which then makes the person want to do what they are not suppose to even more. It is also like when Charlotte Corday killed Jean-Paul Marat, even though she knew that she would get killed by the Guillotine for killing him. However, she still did it and that proves that the Reign of Terror wasn't exactly a period of time where people are scared and won’t go against the law out of fear. Instead, it is a period of time where you kill a lot of people using the Guillotine without proving if they are actually innocent or guilty. Another reason why I believe the Death Penalty should be suspended is because the people are not given a fair trial during the time where Maximilien Robespierre was the leader. For example, during the time, when they arrested 300,000 people and of those people, they executed 17,000 people. Many of those people who were executed were victims of mistaken identity, or were falsely accused by their neighbors. This illustrates how unfair the trial is and why the Death Penalty should be stopped due to the injustice of how they decide how one is guilty or not. Another example is when Marie Antoinette is in trial and when she defended herself, there were some people who agreed with her. However, they didn’t listen and still ended up killing her for something that was not actually true. This represents how unfair the trials are and how thousands of innocent people died due to the Death Penalty. The third reason why the Death Penalty cannot remain is because there is no need to kill someone in order for them to understand their mistakes. However, if they get killed by the Death Penalty, then they would not have to suffer as much as when they are living. If a person did something illegal like killing another person, then if they get the death penalty, then they could be free of the guilt just be dying. However, if they live and go to jail, then they would understand the regret of killing someone. Once they are out of jail, there would be no one to hire him because of his record for killing someone. This would result to him suffering for his actions and learn to not do it anymore. The last reason why the Death Penalty should not be continued is because if you consider the possible innocent victims and consider mass murders, then the Death Penalty is not exactly the right way to go. If you do consider them, then the first thing I would do is wonder how to make sure the innocent victims are not involved and how to make mass murders suffer. I would come to the conclusion of putting the innocent victims in a jail until there is evidence that they are innocent, so their family will not be upset about the loss of their family member who was innocent. This would also not result into a rebellion of people who lost their family members even thought they were innocent. The mass murders would be put into jail of their life, this would result to them losing the trust of their family members, being excluded from society, having a hard time to find a job, and learning more about their regret for killing someone. This is more beneficial than the Death Penalty because if they die, then they just die, they can’t sense the regret, and they can’t suffer from surviving like the family members who are heartbroken from the death of their loved one. This is why I firmly believe that the Death penalty should not exist.

Allen Garcia link

12/6/2018 05:37:16 pm

Sylvie Nhiayi ( Period 5)

10/16/2018 07:09:48 pm

The death penalty should not be exist, because during the reign of terror some innocent people were executed by the guillotine, and a lot of people were probably scared at that time. If it was still exist then a lot of innocent people will be more scared, and they might executed someone people love. That's why I chose that the death penalty should not exist anymore, It's going to make the people scared all over again just like the reign of terror.

Febie Lin P3

10/18/2018 12:28:43 am

The Death Penalty should not exist because it is not an effective punishment to criminals. All people deserve a second chance despite the severity of the crime they've committed. Even if it means locking criminals in jail for the rest of their life, not only are they able to pay for their actions through their life sentence, but they are also given the opportunity of growth and reflection upon their past actions. People are capable to change, and the life sentence will ensure that they have more than enough time to undergo such a change under the right circumstances, which include a guiding hand or someone to help them discover the good in themselves. In addition, the Death Penalty is always a risk because a single mistake could cost an innocent person's life. Though our courts undergo an extensive process in which a person's innocence is determined through a vast collection of evidence and justification, there is no guarantee that every single case will be accurately judged. By handing out the death penalty, you run the risk of possibly ending the life of an innocent person who was unfortunate to be misjudged. Therefore, we should establish a milder approach, such as the life sentence, in place of the death sentence.

Christine Vu P.3

10/24/2018 08:02:19 pm

You say that everyone deserves a second chance, but what if they are not in the right mind? Putting them in an asylum may help, but is it actually worth taking the risk? Who's to say that they won't break out and start another massacre?

Joey Chen P.3

10/18/2018 11:27:36 pm

Depending on the situation at hand, the death penalty should still exist. Not to the extent of killing a bunch of innocents out of fear. There are some people who are unable to change, and will continue to do the same crime over and over. Of course there are innocents killed under false accusations, but there's still criminals out there that deserve to be killed for their actions. While that may sound cold, in order to get onto death row, your crime must be something terrible, like a mass shooting. Even if you're sentenced for life in prison, the families of the victims you've killed would simply want you to be dead. The scale that France took with the guillotine isn't what I mean. The death penalty should still exist for criminals who've done the worst possible crimes in world.

Irene Yang Per.1

10/19/2018 01:22:37 am

I think the Death Penalty should not exist because your basically killing innocent people without any evidence that they are guilty. These innocent crime are probably scared and confused on why they are being beheaded. These death penalty are putting innocent lives at risk and the more people dying, the more grief and hatred are shown towards the government. Either way, you would not know who is innocent and isn't and judging of how they look or assume they violate the law is truly wrong and that 3000,000 people that is probably a quarter of them were innocent being killed. I think they should have a second chance where the can rethink the action they made and maybe it can help change what they used to be. In stead of giving them a death penalty, they should deserve a hard labor for life.

Fiona Tran P.1

10/19/2018 03:39:13 am

I believe that the death penalty should not be allowed or should be illegal. As a human , we all can make mistakes and just because of one incident it should not have to cost us our life. Take Carlos DeLuna , for example , he was executed in 1989 for a conviction in Texas but after he was executed people had second thoughts on if he was innocent or not. The possibility of him being innocent is 50/50 but the people who had executed and judged him in the incident will never know because they did not give him a chance. If anything, if he wasn’t convicted for a crime the judge & people who had executed him could be sued for that ; is also a crime for an innocent person to be murdered for something that he/she never convicted. Therefore, in my belief I feel as though the death penalty should never exist in modern day and we should not have to worry about it. There are new and better ways for us to serve time and consequences for our actions.

Evelyne Gong P.2

10/19/2018 05:45:46 pm

The Death Penalty should not exist because by changing the attitudes of people who are being put in jail, this won't be an effective punishment for them. It will only make them have the same attitude and want to things that are against the law. In fact, the Death Penalty encourages criminals to continue to go against the law, but it makes it harder for the government, the courts, and police to keep things under a controlled environment. The Death Penalty is a capital punishment that is unlawful and immoral in principle. By embodying the Death Penalty on the innocent, it takes away their freedom and how they live life because the Death Penalty will forever haunt them, making them live their life in fear and not freedom and happiness. The Death Penalty doesn't give justice to victims, it creates pain and suffering for the victims and for others who have been in jail for many years. There should be second chances given to innocent victims, while for lesser sentences for mass murders, but they would have to reflect on their actions and how they should change their attitude on life. The Death Penalty should not exist, but there should be a milder approach on sentencing criminals and even innocent victims.

Melody Sanchez per 1

10/22/2018 03:46:54 pm

I believe that the death penalty should not exist because it’s a very severe punishment. Also the death penalty has been around since the time of the guillotine where a lot of people were killed and punished for their acts even innocent people were killed. I think it's time for change a lot of things are changing and a lot of things have changed since then so I think this could be one of the changes that's should be made. In conclusion we should remove the death penalty and make it illegal so that people that are sentenced to death penalty can have a different punishment.

Rustom Dee

10/22/2018 08:40:32 pm

I believe that the death penalty should not be legal because it's cruel and inhumane, we should spend resources on rehabilitating criminals rather than out casting them from society and making them fear their impending death everyday. Additionally having that penalty implemented isn't beneficial, giving out death penalties in the first place uses a lot of money, more money than just giving them a life sentence. There also have been cases where death penalties were rescinded because the accused were innocent effectively wasting resources and everyone's time.To add to this, the penalty isn't even effective as a deterrent to murder. After survey criminologists in 2009, 88% of them believed the penalty was an unsuccessful as a deterrent. So in conclusion the death penalty should be abolished because it inefficient, ineffective, and cruel.

Andre Uriarte

10/23/2018 09:39:40 am

The death penalty should be legal, to an extent. There is an old saying that the punishment should fit the crime and in the case a murderer should be in death row. A rapist should be on death row. Serious life threatening crimes should be punishable by death because this inhuman acts can ruin people families and life’s. If we had a government that can actually do something right they should see that these crimes can be punishable by death.

Timothy Chu P.1

10/23/2018 04:41:57 pm

As humans, we are all equal. It is not up to us whether a life of another of our own kind be brought to an end. Therefore, no matter how wrong he/she may be, it is not the right thing to kill your own as a death penalty of his/her crime.

Timothy Chu P.1

10/25/2018 04:25:12 pm

"Even the guilty have a right to life." (Mary Meehan). Humans don't have the right to play God, and I believe a state doesn't encourages respect for life when it engages in premediated killing.

Allen garcia p.2 link

10/23/2018 05:59:32 pm

Theresa Zhou p.1

10/24/2018 05:27:37 pm

The Dealth Penalty shouldn’t exist because at that time the guollotine of terror took a lot of innocent people without any evidence of why they were taken. We cannot always conclude that someone is a murder right away because innocent people can change their personality if they are put in death. Also the Death Penalty is a hopeless punishment when you are just putting the person to a deep coma in the end. We are also doing the same thing the criminals did back then. No matter if you are in Death Penalty and in prisons you still have the same pain, nothing changes troughout the time. They are making the law so complicated to the government and the court. In conclusion I believe that the Death Penalty shouldn’t exist because death is never the answer to decide what to do with the criminals.

Christine Vu (3rd Period)

10/24/2018 07:58:41 pm

I believe that the Death Penalty—although it may not always be the right decision—is necessary for our country. However, the order should be executed to a certain extent. About 60% of Americans support the Death Penalty which leaves a large number of 40% who have second thoughts about the subject. Like many people believe, second chances should be given to most criminals. Keyword: most. There are people out there who are not always right in the head; this leads them to commit dangerous acts. Hopefully, they are captured and apprehended by the police which takes them to court. Here is where the Death Penalty is absolutely necessary. The Judicial Branch's job is to insure that justice is delivered to all lawbreakers to protect the country. If we were to grant these people an asylum who's to say that they won't escape? Each execution deters the number of potential murders and provides some reassurance to the family and friends of the victims of their crimes. But for all that, the Death Penalty is always carefully given out. For example, in 2018 eighteen inmates have been sentenced in opposed to the ninety-eight in 1999. Now, there may be a chance that putting these dangerous people in an asylum or having them meet a therapist would help them, there is always a chance that they may revert back into who they once were. That is a chance that is not worth taking for the safety of the people of America.

Queenie Wu P2

10/24/2018 08:15:37 pm

The Death Penalty shouldn't exist because it's inhumane, even to those who committed the worse crimes possible. To the criminals who may deserve it or not, it's still not right and isn't fair to those who could possibly be innocent. There should be a different approach to take care of those who committed serious crimes, because mistakes could be made and an innocent life could be taken away because of that. The government is capable of making mistakes, which shouldn't be the reason as to why an innocent life gets taken away. The death penalty would just make more space in prisons for others to spend their time, which is pointless because in the end, death penalty or not, their lives are already taken away. Therefore, the death penalty shouldn't exist and a different approach should be taken in replace of that.

Isaak Zenteno P.3

10/25/2018 10:38:40 am

We should not have the death penalty because I believe in second chances and redemption for yourself.

Aiden Hofmann P.1

10/25/2018 10:23:08 pm

Should the death penalty exist? Many people have many different opinions when it comes to this topic. In my opinion I believe that the death penalty should not exist. Their are a lot of reasons that the penalty should not exist. For one, it is not right to kill anyone no matter what they have done or have not done. According to the ten commandments, it clearly states "Thou shalt not kill." If we use the death penalty on a person that clearly violates one of the ten commandments. Another reason that the death penalty should not exist is because their really is no "humane" way to kill another person. What I mean by this is, killing someone is killing someone. There is no other way to say that statement. The final reason I believe that the death penalty should not exist is because there is no way to bring a person back to life. For example, what if they kill someone who was innocent. That person would have died for no reason at all and their is no way to go back in time and fix that mistake that the government has made. It is for these reasons and many more that I believe that the death penalty should not exist.

Melissa Chea (Period 3)

10/25/2018 11:13:13 pm

The topic of the death penalty is one of the largest debates that we will ever come to face in the world. There have always been punishments that seem too harsh even for some of the most dangerous criminals. For example, our death penalty is much like the guillotine during the French Revolution. Although I believe that it is important that people are punished for there criminal acts, punishment by death is a very cruel choice. The death penalty has been seen by many as a form of revenge to the criminals inflicted by the victims. Although these victims of very serious crimes should be able to achieve closure, revenge is not the right way to do so. The death penalty is permanent, meaning that there is no going back for the wrongfully accused or the mentally disabled. Statistics have shown that the death penalty is often aimed towards those who are poor or even to people of color. This just proves that the death penalty, or Capital Punishment should not be legal.

Wilson Lin P.1

10/25/2018 11:19:58 pm

I believe that the Death Penalty should not exist. One reason is that killing anyone also means taking their rights away and I believe that everyone should be born free. There could be some people that are innocent and it would be a murder or a crime if you kill them when they shouldn’t be. People that are innocent could they could be kill because the government thinks that they committed a crime when they haven’t did anything wrong. If they don’t let the prisoner defend themselves, they should just keep them in jail instead of killing them. I believe that Instead of killing them they should get a different punishment like making them stay in jail for a while. It is not right to take people’s life away and there is no point of killing them. In conclusion I believe the death penalty should not exist because killing them is not the right way to solve the problem.

Esaelis

11/30/2018 01:14:38 pm

I don’t believe in it because why not just throw them into jail instead of making it a show?. It can also damage people mentally, they were just killing people who obviously did something wrong but like they don’t have to make it a show and kill them! They can get some other type of punishment like if the problem wasn’t that big they could of thown them in jail or given them time to fix it.

Esaelis Romero

12/3/2018 08:38:28 am

I believe it should still exist but only for people who killed other people because they killed someone and are dangerous to other innocent people! But if it wasn’t murder they should only be thrown in jail cause they can learn to not do it again and that it is wrong. Also rapist and pedophiles should be sent to the guillotine cause they can’t fix their mistake they actually scar someone mentally.

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