I. Capital punishment is not justified by deterrence.
A. Statistics show that capital punishment does not deter.
B. American society rejects other punishments that might have equal or greater deterrence value.
1. Torture of inmates.
2. Punishment of the innocent.
II. Capital punishment is arbitrarily used.
A. Statistics show direct correlation between income and ethnicity and the death sentence.
1. Capital punishment is primarily limited to people of lower income brackets.
2. Majority of defendants receive poor legal counsel.
3. Majority of cases are primarily limited to minorities.
B. Mandatory death sentencing has been unsuccessful in curbing discrimination in use of the death penalty.
1. Discretion is determined by district attorney.
2. Highly influenced by victims family.
III. The principle upon which capital punishment is based, `an eye for an eye', is not accepted by American society.
A. Punishing violence with violence is not civil.
1. We do not steal from people as a punishment for theft.
2. Violates human’s right to life.
B. The bible tells us not to murder.
1. “Though shall not murder”.
2. “love your neighbor as yourself”.
Answer the following: Where did you place the most effective arguments in your paper?
Explain your reasoning. How did you address counterarguments without weakening your own premise?
I placed the most effective arguments in the first paragraph of my paper. I set it there because I want to capture my reader in the beginning. I want to keep my reader interested. Another factor is if my reader is against my paper this might convince him or her to be interested in reading more.
I addressed my counterarguments without weakeni ...