Research Paper on:
Opposition to the Death Penalty

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
is what Governor George Ryan did before leaving office in the state of Illinois (PG). Some called it a political ploy, but while the death penalty is state implemented in  that it is governed by state law, not too long ago the death penalty was deemed unconstitutional. In 1972, there was an outright overturn of all state  death penalties by the Supreme Court (Tucker 18). Today, laws vary. There is capital punishment in many states, but even the states that have it usually use it with  caution. Still, the concept of the death penalty is problematic. It is barbaric and many other countries have already done away with it. Amnesty International as well as many nations  criticize the United States for allowing it to be used. The death penalty makes murderers of everyone. As citizens of the nation, it is almost as if one is  endorsing the penalty by allowing it to persist. Jurors on capital cases are not allowed to be excused and are not necessarily off of a capital case due to a  distaste for capital punishment. Jurors are also required to serve and so it becomes a true philosophical dilemma for people required to be involved with the law when a capital  case comes forth. Citizens are faced with ethical dilemmas that they would not come close to had the death penalty not been in force. Therefore, allowing the death penalty is  detrimental to society. It prompts people to have to make moral decisions, but the decision of life and death is really not up to them exactly. In order to properly  decide a case, jurors must put their ideas about the death penalty aside. The state therefore asks people to make decisions about a case with the knowledge that if they