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Alan Keyes vs Barack Obama debate on Death Penalty

References

BBC News. (2010). Korean killer gets death penalty. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8011560.stm.

BBC News. (2010). South Korea court rules death penalty legal. Retrieved May 4, 2010, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8536355.stm.

FreeLawAnswer. (2006). Do you think that the death penalty should be legal?? why or why not?. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.freelawanswer.com/law/2636-2-freelawanswer.html.

Helium. (2002). Should the United States ban the death penalty? Retrieved May 9, 2010 from http://www.helium.com/items/1688403-death-penalty.

Hinton, P. (2009). The pros and cons of the death penalty. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://americanaffairs.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_pros_and_cons_of_the_death_penalty.

JCB. (2005). Why the death penalty shouldn’t be abolished. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/why-the-death-penalty-shouldnt-be/.

Pearson Education. (n.d). Political statistics - the death penalty worldwide. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777460.html.

The Gale Group. (2007). Death penalty should not be abolished. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from http://socialissues.wiseto.com/Articles/FO3020630192/.

The Korea Herald. (2009). South Korea: warning issued over death penalty resumption. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.asiapacificforum.net/news/south-korea-warning-issued-over-death-penalty-resumption.html.

United Press International. (2010). South Korean court upholds death penalty. Retrieved May 5, 2010, from http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2010/02/25/South-Korean-court-upholds-death-penalty/UPI-80131267119879/.

Death Penalty should be legal or illegal ?

Death penalty is one of the main issues in all over the world. People still argue and debate about use death as a capital punishment. Some countries agree about removed the death penalty to rectify the society’s in right order but others argue that it is invasion of one’s right. According to the figures (2007), 137 countries removed the death penalty byt the global moratoriumvote, but 51 nations are not. It indicated which countries still permitted and abolished as well as the year when it held. For example, the death penalty remained in Afghanistan, Swaziland and Japan whereas Australia (1984), Germany (1949) and Canada (1976) outlawed.

However, the punishment of the death penalty should not ban and illegal. It must keep and retain to protect citizens from cruel criminals. South Korea is one of the countries that the execution is a legal form. The court explained the society should change first before the country took the abolition of the death penalty unavoidably. The death punishment could be only one way to punish offenders for victim's family and relatives. It should treat executing criminals and protect citizens' ordinary life.

Last year, there was a case related to the death penalty in South Korea. A South Korean man, Kang Ho-sun kidnapped and killed eight women during two years between 2006 and 2008. There was office workers, karaoke bar workers and university students included in victims. In 2005, he killed and burned the death body of his wife and mother-in-law. Although the capital punishment is permitted form in South Korea, it has not carried out since 1998 when Dae-jund Kim became a president. The murderer gets the death penalty from the court but it has not executed during last one year. In fact, there are approximately 58 offenders on death row in prison. When this kind of criminal happens, people will rekindle on the capital punishment issue again. According to Yonhap news agency (2009), the organization of Seoul's human rights watchdog has expressed to reconsider and resume the death penalty. Also the commission insisted the National Assembly and the government to recommend use death as a punishment. "Prevention of vicious crimes and security of the people can be achieved not by the death penalty but by scientific investigation and tightened public security" (The Korea Herald, 2009).

The execution punishment makes sure that offender will not do any criminals behaviour again and controls other potential offenders. The death penalty could help mitigate victim’s family and relatives’ affliction. When the murderer injures to victim and he does not feel any guilty about what he did. It is impossible to imagine that victim’s family and relatives’ suffer and lose mind of precious person. Therefore, it is definitely necessary to punish the murderer as a same way in which victim’s experienced and pained.

In addition, the United States of America (USA) is another county where the death penalty is acceptable form of punishment. The convicted result is generally known that USA applies the execution to capital criminals and high grade offenders. There is a case that concern about the standard of the death penalty. Stanley "Tookie" Williams who was a powerful street gang prisoner killed four people. During his life in prison, he got effects from religious conversion and self-accepted of his fault and violence. Also it influenced him to write the number of books to support peace. Williams was even recommended the Nobel Peace Prize for five times and the Nobel Literature Prize for four times. He did not recognize his guilt before, but it changed hime to feel sorry and worried victim’s closest people. There has not been happened like Williams before. Although his work could be valued highly to reduce the sentence, the court did not modify the judgment. Williams was dead after five years imprisonment on December 13 in 2005 by lethal injection. As a result of retaining the sentence of the capital punishment to Williams is a way of showing and highlighting people to obey the rule and defend potential other criminals.

The death penalty is a reasonable choice. In prison, offenders offered free rent, free foods, free schooling and free health care by spending with nation’s tax. Some anti-death penalty people concerned about these financial problems. But why do we need to worried and take care of offenders’ life in prison? Some people may think it is too barbaric, but there is no choice except the capital punishment. The tax could used for own country in other better ways, for example, welfare, education or improve life style.


To sum up, the death penalty is essential to lead the society on the right way. It would help to reduce the number of criminals and protect people’s life from risky situations. As mentioned before, if someone aggressively kills other people, then it seems right that put the murderer to death. In this way, it could closure painful of the victim’s family and friends. Therefore, the capital punishment should permit and keep as a legal form for people and the country.