Weosf Educofion Lfd.

(Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

Name:______________
Date:______________
Senior Debate:
apital Punishment (13)

Context
lose to 90 countries have the death penalty, but nowhere is it debated so often as in the United States where each
state can formulate its own policy according to the onstitution. 38 of the 50 states allow the death penalty as a
sentence although some, such as llinois, have recently imposed a moratorium while they study the arguments for
and against.
Motions
This House supports the death penalty
This House would take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life
Reading I
VocabuIary
-victim (n) - execute(v)
-deterrent (n) -innocent (n)
-bemoan (v) -heinous (adj)
-shaken (adj) -ambush (v)
-bait (n) -machete (n)
-pistoI (n) -combine (v)
-incaIcuIabIe (adj) -juror (n)
-repugnant (adj) -tragedy (n)

Who Speaks for the VIctIms of Those We Execute!
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/
"If we execute murderers and there Is In fact no deterrent effect, we have kIIIed a bunch of murderers. If we faII to
execute murderers, and doIng so wouId In fact have deterred other murders, we have aIIowed the kIIIIng of a bunch of
Innocent vIctIms. I wouId much rather rIsk the former. ThIs, to me, Is not a tough caII."
John McAdams - Marquette Unversty/0eartment oj Poltcal Scence, on deterrence
All over the country, news storIes bemoan and hype the countdown to executIon number 1,000. 8ut
where are the storIes regardIng the rIpple effects of the heInous crImes that these murderers were
executed for commIttIng: Who Is countIng the vIctIms:

A conservatIve estImate puts the number of vIctIms of these 1,000 murderers at 1,895. Why do we hear
so much about the kIllers and so lIttle about the vIctIms and theIr loved ones who are left behInd to
pIck up the pIeces:

A small samplIng of case hIstorIes wIll leave readers shaken.

|elvIn and LInda Lorenz, and theIr son FIchard were kIlled by Foger Stafford. |elvIn stopped on a
hIghway near Purcell, Dkla., to help what he thought was a woman whose car had broken down, but

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

Instead was ambushed by Stafford and hIs brother, usIng Stafford's wIfe as baIt. Less than a month after
these horrIfIc murders, the trIo kIlled sIx employees of a steak house In Dklahoma CIty.

n 1985, 1Jyearold Karen Patterson was shot to death In her bed In North Charleston, S.C. Her kIller
was a neIghbour who had already served 10 years of a lIfe sentence for murderIng hIs halfbrother
Charles In 1970. Joe AtkIns cut the Pattersons' phone lInes, then
entered bearIng a machete, a sawedoff shotgun, and a pIstol.
Karen's parents were chased out of theIr home by AtkIns. Karen's
mom ran to the AtkIns home nearby, where Joe then murdered hIs
adopted father, 8enjamIn AtkIns, 75, who had worked to persuade
parole authorItIes to release Joe from the lIfe sentence.
.

We must thInk about the lIves that all 1,895 murdered vIctIms
affected. Everyone had famIlIes, frIends, relatIves, coworkers,
neIghbours. The combIned loss Is Incalculable.

There Is no end to horror storIes lIke these. Jurors, who represent us,
hear about horrIfIc crImes and make tough but approprIate decIsIons.
WIth a yearly average of 15,000 murders, the fact that we are
reachIng 1,000 executIons In only a lIttle more than J0 years Is proof
that capItal punIshment has been reserved for the worst of the worst.

The attentIon gIven to the executIon of 1,000 murderers Is repugnant, especIally when the loudest
voIces thInk the death of a convIcted murderer Is a tragedy. Yet the deaths and sufferIng of countless
vIctIms Is only an easIlyIgnored statIstIc.

Questions
1. Please explain this sentence: 'The combined loss is incalculable.'
Discuss the sentence in regards to victims and killers.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Explain how the article arrives at the point that capital punishment has
been reserved for the worst of the worst.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. ritical thinking: what are some arguments that you could offer against
this article? What information did the author omit or choose to leave out?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

Reading II
VocabuIary
-aboIish (v) -execution (n)
-divuIge (v) -hang (v)
-behead (v) -eIectrocution (n)
-injection (n) -precede (v)



The Death Penalty nformation enter, a research group that opposes capital punishment.
MJST EXECUTIJNS, 2005

CJUNTRY EXECUTIJNS
CHINA at least 1,770
IRAN at feast 94
SAUDI ARABIA at least 86
UNITED STATES 60
PAKISTAN 31
YEMEN 24
VIETNAM 21
JJRDAN 11
MJNGJLIA 8
SINGAPJRE 6

Tbe deatb penalty in 9
ffp://www.omnesfy.org/en/deofpenoIfy
ore than two-thirds of the countries of the world have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. While 58
countries retained the death penalty in 2009,
most did not use it. Eighteen countries were
known to have carried out executions, killing a
total of at least 714 people; however, this figure
does not include the thousands of executions that
were likely to have taken place in hina, which
again refused to divulge figures on its use of the
death penalty.

ethods of execution in 2009 included hanging,
shooting, beheading, stoning, electrocution and
lethal injection.
Where "+" is indicated after a country and it is preceded by a number, it means that the figure Amnesty nternational
has calculated is a minimum figure. Where "+" is indicated after a country and is not preceded by a number, it

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

indicates that there were executions or death sentences (at least more than one) in that country but it was not
possible to calculate a figure.
Question
I. Con you see ony copifoI punismenf frends wen you Iook of fe fwo
corfs obove7 If so, describe fem ond give feir significonce. In
wof kind of counfries does fe use of fe deof penoIfy usuoIIy foke
pIoce7
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Reading III
VocabuIary
-exonerate (v) -death row (n)
-moratorium (n) -inmate (n)
-exceed (v) -proportion (n)
-defendant (n) -denseIy (adv)
-popuIated (adj) -account for (v)
-Iynch (v) -discrimination (n)
-bIue-coIIar worker (n) -convict (v)
-white-coIIar worker (n) -attorney (n)
-retribution (n) -vent (v)

The Death Penalty
By David Chandler
http://www.progressivewritersbloc.com/DC/DeathPenalty.htm
Since 1973 over 100 people have been exonerated and released Irom death rows
around the country. The average time served by these innocent victims oI the system
was 9 years. The error rate is so high that in the year 2000 George Ryan, the
Republican governor oI Illinois declared a death penalty moratorium.
The number oI white inmates on death row (45) slightly exceeds the number oI
black inmates (42), but these numbers are way out oI proportion with the population.

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

The issue is not who commits more crime. A study in Philadelphia showed that when
black and white deIendants were convicted oI comparable crimes, black deIendants
were 38 more likely to receive the death penalty.
Even more telling than the race oI the deIendant is the race oI the victim. A study in
North Carolina showed that murders with white victims were 3.5 times more likely to
result in the death penalty than murders with black victims. Black murderers oI white
victims are most likely, and white murderers oI black victims are least likely, to
receive the death penalty. 50 oI murder victims are white, but 80 oI those given
the death penalty have white victims.
The geography oI executions is telling. The densely populated Northeast (more people,
more crime?) has the lowest murder rate nationally and has executed only 3 people
since 1976. The Western states have executed 59, the Midwest 96, and the South 735.
Texas and Virginia alone account Ior 406 oI the South's total. The states in which a
black man was most likely to be lynched in past
decades are the states that execute the most black
men today.
Hand in hand with racial discrimination is
economic discrimination. In CaliIornia in the
1980's, 42 oI blue-collar workers convicted oI
Iirst-degree murder received the death penalty,
compared to only 5 oI white-collar workers
convicted oI similar crimes. Most deIendants in
capital cases cannot aIIord to hire their own
attorney. This is clearly tied to the high rate oI
error in convictions.
There are deeper reasons to reject the death penalty.
The death penalty is based on the concept oI retribution: "eye Ior eye, tooth Ior tooth,
liIe Ior liIe." Retribution is not about protecting society. That is accomplished once
the criminal is imprisoned. Rather, it is a way oI collectively venting our anger.
Retribution is Biblical, but so is its opposite. When Jesus was asked whether a woman
taken in adultery should be stoned to death in accordance with the law oI the times, he
responded simply, "He that is without sin among you, let him Iirst cast a stone...."

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

Most oI the nations oI the world have rejected the death penalty and see it as
barbarous. They have come to realize that capital punishment does not serve the best
interests oI society.
Questions
1. The author of the first articIe used emotion to make the case for the
death penaIty. What device did this author use? Why do you think
the authors picked different argumentative methods?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Why did George Ryan caII a moratorium on the death penaIty for
IIIinois in 2000? Why is 'exoneration' an important argument for
those who wish to aboIish the death penaIty?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
3. ExpIain one of the raciaI, geographic, or economic-cIass arguments
against the death penaIty. Use the exampIes given in the articIe.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Arguments
Summary: s it ever justifiable to execute criminals?

ffp://www.idebofe.org/debofobose/fopic_defoiIs.pp7fopicID~I0o


!ros Cons

The principle of capital punishment is that certain
murderers deserve nothing less than death as a just,
proportionate and effective punishment. There are
problems with the death penalty, but these are with its
implementation rather than its principle. urderers forgo
their rights as humans at the moment when they take
away the rights of another human. By wielding such a
powerful punishment as the response to murder, society
is affirming the value that is placed upon the right to life of

Execution is, in simplest terms, state-sanctioned killing,
and it devalues the respect we place on human life; how
can we say that killing is wrong if we sanction killing
criminals? ore importantly, the whole principle is
outweighed by the proven risk of executing innocent
people. 23 innocent people were executed in the USA in
the 20th century. The avoidable killing of an innocent
person can never be justified, in any circumstances.

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W

the innocent person. any more innocent people have

been killed by released, paroled or escaped murderers
than innocent people executed.
apital punishment is 100% effective as a deterrent to
the criminal being executed; that killer cannot commit any
more crimes. As a deterrent to others, it depends on how
effectively the death penalty is applied; in the USA where
less than 1% of murderers are executed, it is difficult to
assess the true effect of deterrence. But for example, a
1985 study (Stephen K. Layson, University of North
arolina) showed that 1 execution deterred 18 murders.

Higher execution rates can actually increase violent crime
rates. alifornia averaged 6 executions a year from 1952
to 1967, and had twice the murder rate than the period
from 1968 until 1991 when there were no executions. n
New York, from 1907 to 1964, months immediately
following an execution showed a net increase of two
murders - an average over a 57-year period.
f and when discrimination occurs, it should be corrected.
onsistent application of the death penalty against
murderers of all races, and in cases where the victims
were of all races, would abolish the idea that it can be a
racist tool. This could be done by making it mandatory in
all capital cases.

mplementation of the death penalty, particularly in
America, can suffer from social or racial bias and in fact
be used as a weapon against a certain section of society.
n the USA nearly 90% of those executed were convicted
of killing whites, despite the fact that non-whites make up
more than 50% of all murder victims.
Opponents of the death penalty prefer to ignore the fact
that they themselves are responsible for its high costs, by
causing a never-ending succession of appeals. Prisons in
many countries are over-crowded and under-funded, and
this problem is made worse by life sentences or delayed
death sentences for murderers. Why should the taxpayer
bear the cost of supporting a murderer for an entire
lifetime?

apital punishment costs more than life without parole.
Studies in the US show that capital cases, from arrest to
execution, cost between $1 million and $7 million. A case
resulting in life imprisonment costs around $500,000.
Different countries and societies can have different
attitudes towards the justifiability of executing mentally
incompetent or teenaged murderers. f society is against
such executions, then in cases where they happen it is a
problem with the implementation of capital punishment.
For opponents to seize on such cases is to cloud the
issue; this is not an argument against the principle.

Defendants who are mentally incompetent will often
answer "Yes" to questions in the desire to please others.
This can lead to false confessions. Over 30 mentally
retarded people have been executed in the USA since
1976.
Some criminals are beyond rehabilitation; it may be that
capital punishment should be reserved for serial killers,
terrorists, murderers of policemen and so on.
By executing criminals you are ruling out the 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.


I. CircIe your posifion on fe mofions Iisfed obove: pro / ogoinsf
Z. Wrife fe free besf poinfs fof you con find from fe orficIes
fof supporf your posifion.

Weosf Educofion Lfd. (Z0I0) | Senior Debofe

S
Y
W
%

. On o seporofe piece of poper, wrife o 4 minufe opening speec

fof defends your posifion. Procfice reoding if ond fime yourseIf.

4. Coose Ib vocobuIory words ond wrife senfences for fem.

**Bonus question. Think about how this picture couId be used as an
exampIe of the arguments by David ChandIer in the third articIe.
ExpIain your thinking on the Iines beIow.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________