FREE ESSAY ON DEATH PENALTY

DEATH PENALTY

INTRODUCTION: 
I. I'd like everyone here to close their eyes for me. Now picture a young boy, your boy,
about 5 years old. Your 5 year old son is playing in a neighborhood park, when a predator
attracts his attention. The predator hits the boy knocking him unconscious and drags him
back to his apartment. There, the predator tortures batters and molests your son. For
hours he does this while videotaping him. Eventually he strangles the battered child to
death and buries the body…. But keeps the child's underwear as a souvenir.
II. This is not the first time this predator has done this to a child. He has molested
children multiple times. 
BODY:
I. Open your eyes and look at this man. This is Westley Dodd. As Randy Lerch calls him "a
real life monster". He did exactly as you pictured earlier to a defenseless little boy. 
A. At his trial.
B. Dodd's sentence
TRANSITION: I am here today to show you that the death penalty is the right way to deal
with criminals… criminals like Westly Dodd 
II. The death penalty is a topic that brings up deep emotional reactions for those on
both sides of the issue and conflict for those who are undecided how they feel. 
A. Graph: Homicide rate vs. Executions
TRANSITION: The execution of a woman in February 1998 brought a lot of controversy to the
death penalty.
III. Karla Faye Tucker
A. "Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God
made he man" (Genesis 9:6)
TRANSITION: Now that I have given you a couple of examples of people that have been
executed and told you about their crimes, I will give you some reasons as to why some
people are against the death penalty.
IV. According to Fernando Litardo, people oppose the death penalty 
for the following reasons:
1. it is wrong to take a life
2. wrongful convictions may occur
3. it does not deter crime
4. it costs more to execute then to have a life in jail sentence
5. punishment should be left to God
TRANSITION: I hope that I have shown you that the death penalty is a form of punishment
that is used to better our country.
CONCLUSION: I'd like to leave you with this quote from John McAdams
"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch
of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred
other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much
rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call."
SPEECH
I'd like everyone here to close their eyes for me.
Now picture a young boy, your boy, about 5 years old.
Your 5 year old son is playing in a neighborhood park when a predator attracts his
attention. 
The predator hits your boy knocking him unconscious and drags him back to his apartment.
There the predator tortures, batters, and molests your son.
For hours he does this while videotaping him.
Eventually he strangles the battered child to death and buries the body…. But he
keeps the child's underwear as a "souvenir."
This is not the first time this predator has done this to a child. He has molested
children multiple times.
Open your eyes and look at this man. This is Westley Dodd. As Randy Lerch calls him "a
real life monster."
This man did exactly what you were picturing a few moments ago. He killed a defenseless
little boy.
Westley Dodd was arrested and tried. At his trial he told the court "I would never
control my impulses to commit brutal sex-homicide crimes." What a great guy huh?
If this man had done this to your little boy, would you show ANY leniency?
The jury in Vancouver, Washington didn't either. He was sentenced to death on January 5,
1993. Almost 4 years after the horrific crime.
I am here today to show you that the death penalty is the right way to deal with
criminals… criminals like Westley Dodd.
The death penalty is a topic that brings up deep emotional reactions for those on both
sides of the issue and conflict for those who are undecided how they feel.
Take a look at this graph of homicide rates vs. executions. The graph shows that when
executions were taking place, the homicide rates were low. However when executions were
not taking place, homicide rates were at there highest. This tells us that a criminal
that will kill someone will think twice about it when they know that they may be killed
too.
The execution of a woman in February 1998 brought a lot of controversy to the death
penalty. I'm sure you've all heard about Karla Faye Tucker. A woman that murdered a
couple with a pick ax in Texas. She was the first woman to be executed in over 14 years.
She was very sorry for what she had done. She became a born again Christian and
apologized to the Pope, the family members of her victims and to all of America.
Many people forgave her, even I did, but I couldn't forget that she had murdered 2
people. That is why she was on death row.
Many people though that she had already paid for what she had done and did not deserve to
die. But… as the Bible says in Genesis 9:6 "Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Now that I have given you a couple of examples of people that have been executed and told
you about their crimes, I will give you some reasons as to why some people are against
the death penalty. 
According to Fernando Litardo, people oppose the death penalty for the following
reasons:
- it is wrongful to take a life
- wrongful convictions may occur
- it does not deter crime
- it is unfairly applied
- it costs more to execute then to have life in jail sentence
- punishment should be left to God
I'd like to go through all of these reasons with you.
It is wrong to take a life
I agree, but why should we give a murderer the opportunity to kill again?
Wrongful convictions may occur
Again, I agree, but that is why they are not sentenced to death right away. On average it
takes about 3 years before a death sentence is carried out.
It does not deter crime
I believe that I have proven that incorrect with the chart on homicide rates vs.
executions.
It is unfairly applied
Wasn't it unfair when Westley Dodd brutally murdered a 5 year old boy?
It costs more to execute then to have a life in jail sentence
Which would you rather do? Pay to execute a person, or pay the price of giving a criminal
the opportunity to kill someone you love?
Punishment should be left to God
If this is truly what they believe, then no crime will be punished. It means that if
someone steals, we shouldn't put them in jail
I hope that I have shown you how the death penalty is a form of punishment that is used
to better our country.
I'd like to leave you with this quote from John McAdams:
"If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch
of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers and doing so would in fact have deterred
other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much
rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call."