Death Penalty Essay Examples

Why it is worth broadcasting the death penalty?

In the essay “Executions Should Be Televised,” by Zachary Shemtob and David Lat, the authors openly discuss the death penalty without clearly stating their stance. They state, “Still others say that broadcasting an execution would offer an unbalanced picture – making the condemned seem helpless and sympathetic, while keeping the victims of the crime out of the picture. But this is beside the point: the defendant is being executed precisely because a jury found that his crimes were so heinous that he deserved to die” (Shemtob and Lat 81).

In an earlier passage, the authors mentioned that executions should be broadcasted, so they now refute their previous argument by mentioning that broadcasting executions could lead to the public feeling bad for the criminal (81). The public might ignore the fact that the person being executed committed a serious crime and could potentially lead to strong opposition to the broadcasting. The authors state how the public shouldn’t feel bad for the criminal because the crime was horrible and that’s what people should focus their attention on instead of feeling sympathy.

How can pathos influence people’s judgements, opinions, and stance?

The authors show how significant this piece of writing is by pointing at the use of pathos, appeal of emotions. The authors communicate how pathos can influence people’s judgements, opinions, and stance. Today, advertising is a major factor that uses pathos to persuade the audience to buy something, change their behaviors, and so on. Many commercials usually have simple messages such as “Don’t let texting blind you,” or they portray saddening images of dogs and sad music in the background, among many other strategies to build certain emotions to the audience. The authors in the passage clearly convey how emotions can impact people’s decisions and the argument they want to side with, and therefore it is very important to connect with the emotions of the audience to make a successful argument.

Why the death penalty should be open to the public?

Moreover, Shemtob and Lat mention the importance of people observing such sentencing. They state, “For the rest of us, the vague contours are provided in the morning paper. Yet a functioning democracy demands maximum accountability and transparency. As long as executions remain behind closed doors, those are impossible” (Shemtob and Lat 80).

The authors state how the people deserve to see the actions that take place during an execution and therefore such deaths should be opened to the public. Because the people are a part of this government, they should be informed of such execution. They should see for themselves such a process so they can then express their stance towards or against such a death sentence.

Why should people have input in the way our system functions?

Such a passage is important because both authors point at how people should have an input in the way our system functions. All throughout history, there has been a big gap between the officials who make laws and the people at the bottom who are just supposed to follow those laws without having a say.

For instance, through the Plessy v. Ferguson case, racial segregation was upheld by the saying “separate but equal.” African Africans had no say or input in such a case, they just had to follow it by avoiding white public facilities, and there were no exceptions. In the same way, the authors make the point that the people shouldn’t be restricted from viewing executions and instead there should be openness so people can determine whether such sentencing is lawful or unjust. African Americans too, should have been given the opportunity to regard racial segregation as lawful or unjust.

Аn opposing argument to broadcasting executions

In another passage, the authors introduce an opposing argument to broadcasting executions. They write, “Of greater concern is the possibility that broadcasting executions could have a numbing effect. Douglas A. Berman, a law professor, fears that people might come to equate human executions with putting pets to sleep” (Shemtob and Lat 81).

The authors discuss another point of view, that making executions public might bring increasing numbers of opposition to the death penalty because individuals will start connecting it to pets. Once again, the use of emotion (pathos) can cloud someone’s judgement, and not only that but such an argument coming from a doctor, increases the likelihood of people turning against the death penalty completely. This is an example of ethos where an individual’s authority, degree, and profession makes him/her credible, and as a result, people are more likely to side with that individual’s proposed argument due to their background.

The offenders being executed are also human

This passage is of great importance because it signifies the reality of all cases having a “good” and a “bad” guy. Even though there is this “bad” guy, at the end of the day he is human, and people will pay attention to all factors. This passage shows how people will step back and look at the bigger picture instead of just focusing on that little piece of information, the crime committed, even though it’s a major one.

It just shows how we’re all human and in the same way, African Africans were once treated as slaves for the longest period until government officials called for the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment. This Amendment granted all US born citizens citizenship and protection of the law because despite Africans being “criminals” and “slaves,” they were human and in the same way, people might realize that the offenders being executed are also human.