Death Penalty

- Wrongful conviction - Threats were not only through messages but also someone has shot the car once Matt has driven and another one was attempting to break in their house. Not only the convicted person but also their family's life changes too. They had to sell the house and move away. She also talks about the sadness and ignorance of people7s atittude towards internet that they could be so careless about hurting someone. Was there every a time where you doubted Matt’s innocence? Can you tell us why or why not? She said that she knew the very second that I heard about he was not involved in such a crime, but at the same time, there were some thoughts made her confused and emotional. Later, they had a private visit with Matt, he told them what happened on the day, there were many truth and facts which could reainforce his innocence. Why do you want the death penalty to be ended? A civilized country which is the place we are supposed to be living - she says. Nobody has rights to tak...

 Today, I am going to introduce the interview with a person who is a mosther of death row inmate. A Mother’s Grief: Interview with Mary Stennett Sellers, Mother of Death Row Inmate Matthew Puckett who was convicted for murder and executed by the state of Mississipi in 2012. Mary Stennett Sellers was the mother of him.  - "Before Matt's arrest, did you believe in the death penalty? (Arpin, Jamie, 2019)" She answers that she has never really thought of the death penalty because it was irelevet from her life and she had never thought if she is for or against it. Although she sometimes sees the report of the execution of criminals, she never really registered. She has thought of the victim's family's feelings but did not have any idea of thikng about the convicted's family.  - "When a person is imprisoned — even more so when they are put on death row — people view their families as somehow responsible as well. Did you experience that? In what ways? (Arpin, Ja...

  5 pm Execution witness arrive. Any people such as journalists, victim's family, or the prisoner's family/loved ones are allowed to watch the execution. They enter the room and told to be quiet.  6pm - 8 pm It is a time for the last walk for the prisoner. Times are different depending on the state. They have to walk from the death hoouse to the execution room. Most of the prisoners manage to walk by their own feet for a few steps, they are still srounded by 5 guards. 15 minutes before.. This is the time when the lethal injection is being prepared.  Minutes before.. The curtains between the room for execution and the witness room are drawn, and the prisoner is allowed to give their final statements. "But not all States allow long - or any time at all. Kentucky grants two minutes, while Pennsylvania only allows inmates a written statement - the time for talking is done. (Mirror, 2020)" Time for execution The straps on the chair are put around the prisoner, and their li...

 8 pm  This is the time when all visitors banned from now. Chaplain and guards are the only people who are around. It is the time when also staff in the execution chamber have to test the equipment. In the US, lethal injections are used for execution. They make sure that straps on the guerny can hold the prisoner.  10:30am Final lunch. Although it is still in the morning, the prisoner has been awake for 6 hours. They get to have a last lunch. They are given simple prison food.  3:30 pm Dressing for execution. The kind of clothes they are given to wear is smarter than usual prison clothes. Before, they put the clothes on, they have time to shower as well. 4:00 pm This is the time for the final meal. Unlike the other meals, the prisoners can write down what they like to eat. Furthermore, there is a budged for how much they can be spent. Some states have the budget for $15. The final meal is the first meal they get to choose in decades because they had been in prison fo...

 9 pm  Now the prisoner is inside the death house, they will be watched until their execution. In the death house, the prisoner has their own cell with a toilet, bed, desk and shower. Many guards say that this is the time when prisoners are desperate to take their own life. Many of them cannot sleep and rest that night, rather, they use the time to reflect on their lives. 4:30 am This is the time of final wake up call. Most prisoners are woken up this early so that they have time for any last minute petitions for a stay of execution or solving other legal issues. After than they get to spend time with their loved ones and their family. There is also a desk and a phone in the cell, and many of them speand this time writing down messages and calling someone. However, the guard dials the numbers. Reference https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/countdown-execution-final-24-hours-18832619

I am sure that a lot of people now know that the moethods of executions. But what about the process of the execution? Where are the sentenced ciminals actually get executed? Do they get to know the date? What about their family? Do they face the execution of their own family? Let's go deep into this toppic. - Final 24 hours of death row inmates in the U.S. - Death row inmates spend an average of 20 years in prison, waiting for the execution date. When it is their final hours until the execution day, they have to follow a very specific routine and spend time with a terrifying precision.  "Dr Allen Ault, former director of corrections, Georgia, has presided over five executions. He said: "The policy book prescribes a schedule that's hour by hour and even minute by minute - everything you do with the inmate, everything you do in the executin chamber, the way you handle witnesses and the victim's family. "The routine you go through is exactly the same." (Lav...

Capital punishment actually has a longer history than people imagine. Historical records show that people in the most ancient times even utilized methods of punishing criminals or wrongdoers.   “A life for a life” has been one of the most basic concepts for dealing with crime since the start of recorded history"(crime museum, 2021). Today, I am going to introduce some of the early forms of capital punishment and examples. Early forms of death penalty was made to punish the criminal slowly, so the person can feel the pain until they breath their last. Types of tourtures were different depending on what kind of crime they committed. For examples, law breakers were " put to death by stoning, crucifixion, being burned at the stake, and even slowly being crushed by elephants"(crime museum, 2021). Some other methods in the ancient times were, bites by snakes, devouring by animals, tearing apart by animals and trampling by horses. Later, the soceities started to realize that th...

 PART 2 - Government support for maintaining the death penalty According to nippon.com, the Ministry of Justice claims that the death penalty should not be abolished in Japan, which is why Japanese government has not signed " the second optional protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" (nippon.com 2015).  Although there has been political activism claiming the abolition of death penalty, a cross-party parliamentarians group was inaugurated to promote the abolition of capital punishment. This parlimentary league has been a vocal opponent of executions in Japan, and they have been promoting the implementation of a lifelong incarceration penalty as an alternitive. Opinions that emaphasize the rights of victim's family's feelings attracted a lot of people to support the death penalty in Japan. Although crime rates such as murders are decreasing to the lowest level every year, there are still many murders that involve killing children or young...

Today, I am going to be talking about the death penalty in Japan.  Japan is one of the countries that hold capital punishment as a legal penalty. So then, why is the systme like? How much of the population support the penalty? What are some of the opinions that Japanese people have? PART 1  According to nippon.com a poll conducted by the Cabinet Office, 80% of the Japanese population have answered that they support the death penalty. The rest, 20% of the people, most of their opinions of being against were that if there was a mistake in the judgement, it cannot be undone. Some reasons for maintaining the death penalty were the victim's family should be able to feel some sort of closure. However, when the system of life sentencing without parole was introduced, 31% answered that the death penalty should be abolished while 52% said that it should be continued. From the result you can see that there is a low support on abolition of the death penalty in Japan. Furthermore, to the...

Welcome to the Part 2 of "Why are some people against the death penalty?" Today, I am going to explain the details of these opinions.  1.  There is racial and economic discrimination in application of the death penalty. 2.  Application of the death penalty tends to be arbitrary and capricious. Many cases are biased. 3.  The death penalty involves medical doctors, who are supposed to preserve life. But they have to be involved in the act of killing. 4. There are many religious reasons for some people to oppose the death penalty. 1. There is racial and economin discrimination in application of the death penalty. → Many convicted criminals are biased.  All five of the prisoners executed since 1977—one shot, one gassed and three electrocuted—were white. This looks like a morbid kind of affirmative action plan, making up for past discrimination against blacks. But the five were not representative of the death-row population, except in being male. About 99 percent of ...

Hello, Last time, I discussed the opinions of supporters of the death penalty. Today, I am going to talk about some other reasons such a punishment is being opposed by many people. In the previous blog, we became clear with tha fact that.. - Death penalty will not give any closure to the victims' families. - It does not have any crime detterent effect. - It actually costs more money to execute a person than putting them in prison. Then, what are other reasons for some people not supporting it?? ↓ 1.  There is racial and economic discrimination in application of the death penalty. 2.  Application of the death penalty tends to be arbitrary and capricious. Many cases are biased. 3.  The death penalty involves medical doctors, who are supposed to preserve life. But they have to be involved in the act of killing. 4. There are many religious reasons for some people to oppose the death penalty. (Meehan, Mary: America, The Jesult Review, 1982) I am going to explain these facts in...

  There are mainly 3 opinions which the majority of the supporters have: 1. Execution is the only way criminals can compensate their victim(s). 2. It has deterrent effect on crime. 3. It is cheaper than life sentence. Hello, today, I am going to be explaining if these facts are actually true. 1. Execution is the only way criminals can compensate their victims(s). False. Actually, "many f amily members of murder victims have become increasingly outspoken over the years in their opposition to the death penalty(death penalty information centre, date unknown)". It is because even after the execution, they have not felt any sense of closure or compensation. At the end, most of the families have answered that they do not feel relived by executing the criminal. 2. It has deterrent effect on crime. False. There are no clear evidences that crime rates have decreased nor increased by having the system. It is true that many people/government claim that death penalty has such an detteran...

Death penalty is internationally a controversial topic. Many countries have abolished the system while it still remains in some countries including Japan. Then, what are the supporters' opinions? Why do they support it if a lot of people consider it inhumane? There are mainly 3 opinions which the majority of the supporters have: 1. Execution is the only way criminals can compensate their victim(s). 2. It has deterrent effect on crime. 3. It is cheaper than life sentence. Today, I will go deeper into these opinions and explain if they are really true and rational.  1. "Executing is the only way criminals can compensate their victim(s)." By saying this, when a person kills someone, they should deserve the equal amount of punishment. One should not exist when they took someone's life. Therefore, as an compensation and as the criminal's own responsibility, they should be executed. Furthermore, the execution relieves the victim's family as well. Being aware that th...