Should the Death Penalty be legal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Should the Death Penalty be legal - Essay Example Those who are against the use of capital punishment do not think that the government should be given the authority to subject any of its people to death. They also say that this practice is overtly costly, racially partial and does not realize the intended result. The vast majority of Americans consider the death penalty to be neither cruel nor unusual, quite the opposite; they think it’s a fair and just punishment. They not only accept but stridently insist that the â€Å"ultimate punishment† be sustained for several reasons which will be thoroughly covered in this paper. It will also take into account the opponents’ logic concerning why it should be ended in an effort to show an inclusive summary of the contentious death penalty debate. History of Punishment Historically speaking, the justification for punishing offenders has been to â€Å"avenge the crime, to protect society by imprisoning the criminal, to deter that person and other potential offenders from the commission of crimes and to obtain reparations from the offender† (Wolfgang, 1998). All through the history of civilization, this rational has not altered appreciably. The four fundamental reasons humanity punishes criminals can be classified by two basic motivations. One is to obtain the desired outcome which includes protecting society, deterrence and seeking compensation. The other, retribution or vengeance involves reprimanding those who have committed a crime on society. For thousands of years people have subscribed to retribution as validation for using the death penalty which can be found in the Biblical reference ‘an eye for an eye.’ In other words, aggressive actions against society must be confronted with an aggressive punishment (Olen & Barry, 1996: 268). This use of any type of punishment is humanity’s method of striking back at a person or persons who have disturbed the ethical and emotional sensibilities of a society. The ‘eye for an eye’ justification continues to be used by many people and nations today. Those who embrace this viewpoint are undoubtedly correct when they state that capital punishment assures that the offender will not be able to commit another transgression against society. The death penalty is the definitive preventative measure (Olen & Barry, 1996). Opponent Position Persons who oppose use of the death penalty think that all life no matter how despicable should be considered of value and that putting a person in prison for life without the opportunity for parole is sufficient punishment. Opponents also believe that revenge as justification is wrong and in the end more harmful to the values of society than is the crime of murder itself. Additionally, opponents think that banning the death penalty will â€Å"allow opportunities for confronting those who had been hurt most and possibly encourage remorse or reconciliation (and) suggest those that have killed be made to service the commun ity as a way of partially making amends† (Olen & Barry, 1967: 272). According to opponents the death penalty is morally and ethically objectionable in modern society. Some are against it based on religious reasons referring to morality as the primary issue; however, differing religions and the faithful within those religions have conflicting opinions. For example, Christians who live in America overwhelmingly support it while Christians in Europe tend to oppose it. Legal Interpretations The U.S. Supreme Court has maintained that use of the death

The Impact of Social Media in US Elections Research Paper

The Impact of Social Media in US Elections - Research Paper Example The 2012 US election is one of the areas of evaluation of the impact of media in the electoral process (Campaign tech panels 2012). The 2008 United States presidential campaign coincided with a period when social media were gaining fame globally. Barrack Obama extensively used Twitter and Facebook to reach voters. In 2008, President Barrack Obama’s campaign team successfully used the internet and social network solicit funds and effectively link up with campaign volunteers (Learmonth 16). Despite the fact that experts have no certainty on the extent to which social media impact the U.S election, they accept that opinion on across the social web sites influence election outcomes. The 2008 elections occurred at a time when social media was gaining fame in the society and becoming one of the most prominent aspects in communication and advertising (Metaxas & Mustafaraj, p.473). It offered a unique opportunity to evaluate the usefulness and the success of the different media platfo rms(Dylko, Beam, Landreville, & Geidner, 2012). However, for social media presence to be effective, it relies on access to the internet. According to American Life Project, the access to internet increased and by 2008 over 46% Americans were using the internet, email or text messaging to obtain news about the campaigns. Likewise, the same number shared their views and mobilized others. In specific reference to social networking, only 10% used the established social sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Compared to the 2002 elections, the 2008 elections registered an increase in social networking. While commenting on the increase, in social media use, Peter Daou, an internet advisor for Hilary Clinton states that virtually every platform including the social media was employed, in public dialogue. The social media, in both the 2008 and 2012 elections, was used to introduce stories into the public, which affected consciousness and had a direct impact on the news presented by the mass me dia organizations (Williams & Gulati, 2013 p. 64). The blogs and other social format helped set the agenda for the media and the discussion surrounding the elections. The findings of the day before elections indicate that the Obama campaign was more active in the social media than McCain. In fact on Facebook, Obama has over 2.3 million supporters against 620,359 followers for McCain. In addition, on twitter, Obama had over 100, 000 followers against a mere 4,603. Likewise, on You Tube, there were over 18 million views for Obama against two million for McCain (Gayo-Avello, 2011). The following on social media was reflected in the election results as Obama won the elections. Even on the traditional media platform, Obama enjoyed massive success with over 160,000 mentions against over 140,000 for McCain. The findings indicate that the Obama campaign used the media effectively in the 2008 elections which led to success in elections (Learmonth, 2009). The social media is useful both in fa cilitating and distributing the campaign message. It also offered a platform for engagement on the message presented. According to Learmonth (2009), the coverage of issues was similar regardless of the platform. In fact, the issues covered in the traditional media were reflected on the social media and vice versa. The finding indicates that information transfer between the traditional media and the social media