A death sentence is capital punishment in the USA, and it applies to both the federal government and the military. The capital offenses include treason and espionage. However, various other reasons including murder for hire and genocide can lead to a death sentence. Some terrorists become remorseful about their actions while others never regret them. Once the court finds the law offender guilty of the charge, it sentences them to death by hanging or execution by lethal injection. This paper will analyze whether the death penalty should be unconstitutional, as well as its pros and cons.
Constitutionality of Death Penalty
Various studies have established that the death penalty is constitutional because most criminals are not remorseful of their actions. Some criminals even write letters to the media mocking the family members and the survivors of how the deaths of their loved ones are collateral damage (Madeira 78). Therefore, they feel like it is okay for other people to be in the attacks and they do not feel sorry for their wrongdoings. Such acts of terror have a significant impact on society but the criminals see it as a regular thing. The criminals have an idea of even posting on social media and other websites on how to assemble bombs and other illegal explosives (Stephen, 65). According to the press, most terror attacks are happening, and innocent people are losing their lives because the criminals do not have anything to lose in life in case they get caught. In this case, some criminals have accomplices who get life imprisonment that knows about the bombing, the inmates meet with other terrorists while in prison and confide in cellmates concerning an additional cache of explosives intended to be in other attacks (Patti & Hesterman, 36). As a result, more terror attacks and bombs will continue occurring because of the criminals who are still alive even after knowing how to make explosives. Research shows that many other gangs of criminals look for ways to get in touch with the inmates to teach them about the explosives used when they attack specific buildings. that way, there are still high cases of terror attacks even after death penalties.
According to social media and other ways of getting information through the internet like the media, if all the criminals get the death penalty, other attacks will not take place. considering that no one will know where they are hiding or storing the other remaining explosives. The media also has a way of making the criminals do unthinkable things by sharing every detail concerning the terror attacks on the country. According to the family members of the victims, the press impresses specific terror-related ideas on other criminals instantly. It is essential to realize that such a magnitude of dispersion of news through the media has increased the scale and severity of bombing attacks. In this century, there are different methods of spreading the story that way people learn different things through social media, and learning how to make explosives and bombs can be such an easy task through the internet. Some adults train their children about grenades and other terror attack instruments that they use. Therefore, when the adult is either sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty the children take over the terror attacks trying to revenge for their family members.
Dealing with terror and avoiding the continuation of other terror attacks is crucial. When it comes to attacks, terrorists can post videos of how the explosive come to be and how other criminals can bomb buildings (Madeira, 126). An example of such a case is when Karla Faye Tucker, the first-ever female terrorist, was sentenced to death for murdering two people. Later on, media coverage consistently covered her history of how she was under the influence of drugs, and she was also a prostitute. The media always finds a way to put down all the information about the criminal. Therefore, making the death penalty constitutional will make other criminals afraid of their fate if found guilty and get death convictions. According to law enforcement, if the media stops broadcasting everything terror attacks will reduce, and no innocent person will lose his or her life mercilessly.
Pros of the Death Penalty
Death sentences can be hard for both the family members of the terrorist and for the family members of the people who lost their lives in a terror attack. research shows that the family members of the victims and the survivors of such attacks have negative thoughts about the lives of the criminals that are still alive (Madeira, 14). The family members of the victims, both survivors and the deceased, feel that criminals should be held accountable for the bombing, explosions, and other terror attacks, and they should get charged for their wrongdoings. According to courts, most criminals never express regret for their actions, some of the criminals discuss how the deaths were collateral damage to the family members of the victims that lost their lives. Some of them are usually children who had a great future ahead of them and end up losing their lives in cold blood. The survivors and family members of the victims perceive the death sentence as an affirmative action using it as a closure on the impact the bombing has on their lives and how they can move on adjusting and heal from the traumatizing event that took the lives of their loved ones.
Thinking about the survivors and the media houses broadcasts has a significant impact on the family members, their well-being, and the consequences of the capital punishments many people ask questions about how they move on with their lives. Various researches and interviews that take place with the family members of the victims reveal that such cases prompt redefinition of the closure to the family members. Media institutions conduct interviews with those who were in the attack and other legal proceedings in the courts. Moreover, reporting and interviewing the survivors have a significant impact on the family members of those who lost their lives in such a way. As such, they have a chance to talk about how they feel about the demise of their loved ones and how the survivors are lucky to have survived the attack (Madeira, 111). Interventions help in building the hearts of the family member of the victims and the city regarding the expansion of awareness and readiness to reencounter relationships among the survivors and the city affected by terror. An example of such a traumatizing case is Daniel Rollings' case has similar consequences where he murdered five university students by mutilating their bodies. Rollings was not remorseful and neither did he apologize for his action, he was only talking about how he wanted to be a superstar in criminal offenses and how people will get to know about his tremendous act. He was writing letters to the media, telling them how he wants to be known for being a cold-blooded killer. Such information should not be known to the people, and the media should only broadcast little or no information concerning the death penalty and not show the people how the penalty takes place.
Moving on after the death of a loved one is not such an easy thing although many criminals go scot-free after their offenses death penalties are considered to be the pre-eminent way. This helps the family members to be sure that the criminal is no longer in the picture. That way, the family member and the survivors of the terror attack will move on with their lives, and the story is not talked about like how it is usually on the first page of the Daily Nation or the daily news before the conviction. The death sentence will be harsh for other people who will think of committing such acts this way it will reduce the chances of terror attacks in the city, because of the fear of the conviction. This way, there will be fewer cases of terror attacks and other capital punishment cases.
Cons of the Death Penalty
According to terrors and other capital offenses, the death penalty can affect the survivors and family members of the people who lost their lives. In some cases, research shows that the death penalty affects survivors and family members, one of the negative impacts is how the closure and capital punishment is undermining the connection of how the victim's families find execution to be a less satisfactory charge (Madeira, 206). Some of the victim's family members feel that it takes a long time for one to go to the toilet than how it makes the criminals lose their lives after a lethal injection. Other people think that the death penalty is not painful enough for the law offenders, because dying while sleeping does not seem to be as painful as the way they make others suffer.
The victims are always talking of criminals being remorseful and apologizing to them for their ill doings. The media houses also cover the stories always and the quick death of lethal injection. The family members also feel like the media is at fault for always including the criminal's whereabouts and the proceedings concerning the death penalty on the daily news. The press is usually giving the family members a hard time to heal and also giving other criminals tips on what often happens and the convictions in case there is an explosion or a terror attack. The quick death of using lethal injection is not fair to the family members and survivors because they expect something close to what happened to their family members during the terror attack or explosives (Madeira, 251). According to the courts of law, many criminals are not remorseful concerning their actions. Therefore, they do not deserve to die in such an easy way, and being injected with lethal is such a natural way of death, as stated by most family members of the victims.
Criminals deserve a punishment that inflicts the same pain as that they cause others. Then maybe, they can be remorseful and regret their horrendous acts. Capital offenses do not bring closure to the survivors and the victim's family if the criminal is defiant and unrepentant. Most family members feel that slow killing death sentences should replace the current ones so the criminals do feel the pain that their loved ones felt during the attack. The media undoubtedly covers these qualities that influence the public’s opinion on whether executing the offender can give closure. In the trial of Scott Peterson having been charged and convicted in the murder of his wife and their last-born son, Peterson was not remorseful about his actions during the court's trial. He only sat still, making the jury term him as a cold-blooded killer. According to the court of law, Peterson just sat still waiting for the board to convict him. The mass media should not broadcast executions on live Television because witnessing the performance does not help the family members to cope with the loss of their loved ones.
According to the U.S. government, most criminals make their explosives, and such felonies should have strong convictions other than injections. The criminals are supposed to suffer the consequences of their actions the hard way. Additionally, other suspects are usually aware of the bombing (Patti & Hesterman, 26). Although their sentence is often life imprisonment, they have an idea of the materials that are put together to bomb a building and can, therefore, be used by other terrorists to carry out their attacks since they know what is essential. This way, the attacks will continue, and the criminals will feel like they can get fair convictions like life imprisonment. Other than that, some terrorists do not fear death, and they will proceed with attacking the country, knowing that their sentence will only be death. In this case, lethal injection is not such a hard way of dealing with such criminal offenses, and the government should think of a different approach to deal with capital offenses.
Conclusion
This paper shows the general cause and effects of terrorism that has developed in U.S. bombings and other recent terror attacks serve as a springboard to the government. Explosions and other terror attacks lead to the loss of lives and survivors living with trauma. In most cases, security professionals are usually unable to provide adequate information concerning the attack. Based on this review, issues concerning security and regulation of the attacks have emerged. The psychology of the victims’ families should also be into consideration after the attack, and the survivors should undergo therapies to check their mental state after the traumatizing events. Most survivors of explosives and other terror attacks end up being mentally unstable because of shock. Dispersion of information through the media broadcast is usually at high speed. Therefore, the media should broadcast little details on the death penalty on National Television. Most criminals find essential news concerning government punishment techniques through the press. Therefore, broadcasting death convictions should stop to ensure that the criminals get minimal information.
Works Cited
Gilbert, Patti, and Jenni Hesterman. 'Terrorism: Timothy McVeigh.' (2016).
Madeira, Jody. 'Capital punishment, closure, and media.' Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. 2016.
Sloan, Stephen. 'Placing Terrorism in an Academic and Personal Context: A Case Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing.' Social Science Quarterly 97.1 (2016): 65-74.