Sunday, August 10, 2014
Conclusion
I thought this class was a fun and informative class. I enjoyed all of the discussions we had in class each time and how much all of the class participated in the discussion and got everyone thinking about their points and in some instances, even getting into a small friendly debate about it. I enjoyed the thinking that the class gave us in regards to the reading and made us think about things we wouldn't normally think of. I also enjoyed doing the blog. I thought it was a good way to turn in assignments and it gave everyone enough time to do their assignments since they just had to be posted online. I thought the group discussions were enjoyable as well because the groups also had interesting things to say, even if sometimes they didn't want to say it in front of the whole class.
Major writing #3
BreAnna Montoya
Mrs. Kamri Goff
Major Writing Assignment #3
August 6, 2014
The capital punishment will always be around no matter how
much people fight against it. There are those people who always fight against
it and those who are for it. Then you have those who are okay with it depending
on the situation. There was a controversial issue in 2011 when a Georgia man
was executed for his crimes. There are those criminals who are on death row who
are exonerated due to advances in technology and evidence. The ALCU thinks
there is no place for the death penalty in a civilized country; which is why
they are against it.
There are pros and cons of the death penalty. One issue
that comes up is morality. According to Bruce Fein, JD, “The crimes of rape, torture, treason, kidnapping, murder, larceny, and perjury
pivot on moral code escapes apodictic (indisputably true) proof by expert
testimony or otherwise. But communities would plunge into anarchy if they could
not act on moral assumptions less certain than that the sun will rise in the
east and set in the west. Abolitionists may contend that the death penalty is
inherently immoral because governments should never take human life, no matter
what the provocation. But that is an article of faith, not fact. The death
penalty honors human dignity by treating the defendant as a free moral actor
able to control his own destiny for good or for ill; it does not treat him as
an animal with no moral sense.” What he is saying in this is that if people
could not act on their moral issues there would be anarchy all over the place
where people would do what they want to the criminal and become a criminal themselves.
On the other side of morality is the con issue. According
to Brian Stevenson, JD, “Ultimately, the
moral question surrounding capital punishment in America has less to do with
whether those convicted of violent crime deserve to die than with whether state
and federal governments deserve to kill those whom it has imprisoned. The
legacy of racial apartheid, racial basis, and ethnic discrimination is
unavoidably evident in the administration of capital punishment in America.
Death sentences are imposed in a criminal justice system that treats you better
if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. This is an
immoral condition that makes rejecting the death penalty on moral grounds not only
defensible but necessary for those who refuse to accept unequal or unjust
administration of punishment.” In this article, he is saying that rejecting
the death penalty is not only a moral decision but it is also unjust administration
of punishment and human beings should not be subject to that.
The next issue is on Constitutionality of the death penalty.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts is pro-death penalty and according to him, “Simply because an execution method may
result in pain, either by an accident or as in escapable consequence as death,
does not establish the sort of ‘objectively intolerable risk of harm’ (quoting the
opinion from the Court of Farmer V. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825, 842, 846 (1994))
that qualifies as cruel and unusual…Kentucky has adopted a method of execution
believed to be the most human available, one it shares with 35 other States…Kentucky’s
decision to adhere to its protocol cannot be viewed as probative of the wanton
inflinction of pain under the Eighth Amendment…Throughout our history, whenever
a method of execution has been challenged in this Court as cruel and unusual,
the Court has rejected the challenge. Our society has nonetheless steadily
moved to more humane methods of carrying out capital punishment.” In this
article, he is saying that regardless of the argument of cruel and unusual
punishment due to people thinking that its inhumane, there will always be the
death penalty and it is continually adapting the methods to be humane.
On the con side of the Constitutionality argument,
William J. Brennan, JD had this to say, “Death
is…an unusually severe punishment, unusual in its pain, in its finality, and in
its enormity…The fatal constitutional infirmity in the punishment of death is
that it treats ‘members of the human race as nonhumans, as objects to be toyed
with and discarded. (It is) thus inconsistent with the fundamental premise of
the Clause that even the vilest criminal remains a human being possessed of
common human dignity.’ (quoting himself from Furman v. Georgia, 408 US 238, 257
(1972)). As such it is a penalty that ‘subjects the individual to a fate
forbidden by the principle of civilized treatment guaranteed by the (Clause).’
(quoting C.J. Warren from the Trop v. Duells, 356 US 86, 101 (1958)) I
therefore would hold, on that ground alone, that death is today a cruel and
unusual punishment prohibited by the Clause…I would set aside the death
sentences imposed…as violative of the Eighth and Fourteen Amendments.” In
his statement, he is stating that the death penalty is cruel and unusual
punishment and he would not sentence anyone to it as he feels like it is
inhumane.
The next issue that comes up in the death penalty is
Deterrence. According to Ernest Van Den Haag, PhD, “Common sense, lately bolstered by statistics, tells us that the death
penalty will deter murder…People fear nothing more than death. Therefore,
nothing will deter a criminal more than the fear of death…life in prison is
less feared. Murders clearly prefer it to execution –otherwise they would not
try to be sentenced to life in prison instead of death…Therefore, a life
sentence must be less deterrent than a death sentence. And we must execute
murderers as long as it is merely possible that their execution protects
citizens from future murder.” What he is stating is that, if criminals and
murders have nothing to fear when they commit the crime, they will continue to
commit those crimes, whereas if they fear the consequence, they will be less
likely to commit crimes and the executions of the criminals will save more
lives because the citizens will now be safe.
On the other side of Deterrence you have the American
Civil Liberties Union who states, “There
is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively
than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not
have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws. And
states that have abolished capital punishment show no significant changes in
either crime or murder rates. The death penalty has no deterrent effect. Claims
that each execution deters a certain number of murders have been thoroughly
discredited by social science research.” The ACLU states in this article
that even though the reports state that the death penalty deters criminals,
that is not true and the criminals will still commit the crimes. The ACLU also
states that there is no credible evidence of the deterrent of crimes based on
the death penalty.
The next issue of the death penalty is Retribution. J.
Budziszewski states the following on retribution, “Society is justly ordered when each person receives what is due to him.
Crime disturbs this just order, for the criminal takes from people their lives,
peace, liberties, and worldly goods in order to give himself undeserved
benefits. Deserved punishment protects society morally by restoring this just
order, making the wrongdoer pay a price equivalent to the harm he has done.
This is retribution, not to be confused with reventge, which is guided by a
different motive. In retribution the spur is the virtue of indignation, which
answers injury with injury for public good…Retribution is the primary purpose
of just punishment as such…Rehabilitation, protection, and deterrence have a
lesser status in punishment than retribution.” In this article, he is
saying that retribution is considered just punishment for crimes that deserve
the death penalty.
On the con side of the death penalty, Raymond A. Schroth,
SJ had this to say, “Retribution is just
another word for revenge, and the desire for revenge is one of the lowest human
emotions –perhaps sometimes understandable, but not really a ratinal response
to a critical situation. To kill the person who has killed someone close to you
is simply to continue the cycle of violence which ultimately destroys the
avenger as well as the offender. That this execution somehow gives ‘closure’ to
a tragedy is a myth. Expressing one’s violence simply reinforces the desire to
express it. Just as expressing anger simply makes us more angry. It does not
drain away. It contaminates the otherwise good will which any human being needs
to progress in love and understanding.” In this, he is stating that the
execution of someone due to the death penalty will give the victims family
closure for the crime. He states it is not true and someone else’s family has
been jolted because they now have lost a son, daughter, father, mother, aunt,
uncle, brother or sister.
The next issue of the death penalty is Irrevocable
Mistakes. According to Steven D. Stewart, JD, “…No system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all
the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony
for proof. We should be vigilant to uncover and avoid such mistakes. Our system
of justice rightfully demands a higher standard for death penalty cases.
However, the risk of making a mistake with the extraordinary due process
applied in death penalty cases in very small, and there is no credible evidence
to show that any innocent persons have been executed at least since the death
penalty was reactivated in 1976…The inevitability of a mistake should not serve
as grounds to eliminate the death penalty any more than the risk of having a
fatal wreck should make automobiles illegal…” He is stating that no matter
what evidence is there, there is not a 100% guarantee that anything is correct.
On the other side of the argument, Russ Feingold, JD
states, “…Since the reinstatement of the
modern death penalty, 87 people have been freed from death row because they
were later proven innocent. That is a demonstrated error rate of 1 innocent
person for every 7 persons executed. When the consequences are life and death,
we need to demand the same standard for our system of justice as we would for
airlines,…It is a central pillar of our criminal justice system that it is
better that many guilty people go free than that one innocent should suffer…let
us reflect to ensure that we are being just. Let us pause to be certain we do
not kill a single innocent person. This is really not too much to ask for a
civilized society.” In this he is stating that no one should be sentenced
to death because there is a chance they could be innocent for the crime they
were convicted of or accused of committing.
The next issue with the death penalty is the Cost of
Death vs. Life in Prison. According to Dudley Sharp, “Many opponents present, as fact, that the cost of the death penalty is
so expensive (at least $2 million per case?), that we must choose life without parole
(‘LWOP’) at a cost of $1 million for 50 years. Predictably, these
pronouncements may be entirely false. JFA (Justice for All) estimates that LWOP
cases will cost $1.2 million-$3.6 million more than equivalent death penalty
cases. There is no question that the up front costs of the death penalty are
significantly higher than for equivalent LWOP cases. There also appears to be
no question that, over time, equivalent LWOP cases are much more expensive…than
death penalty cases. Opponents ludicrously claim that the death penalty costs,
over time, 3-10 times more than LWOP.” In this, he is stating that life in
prison costs the tax payers and everyone else more money in the end than if we
were to just use the death penalty on those who have life without parole.
On the other side, Richard C. Dieter had this to say, “In the course of my work, I believe I have
reviewed every state and federal study of the costs of the death penalty in the
past 25 years. One element is common to all of these studies: Thy all concluded
that the cost of the death penalty amounts to a net expense to the state and
the taxpayers. Or to put it differently, the death penalty is clearly more
expensive than a system handling similar cases with a lesser punishment. It
combines the costliest parts of both punishments: lenghtly and complicated
death penalty trials, followed by incarceration for life…Everything that is
needed for an ordinary trial is needed for a death penalty case, only more so:
more pretrial time, more experts, twice as many attorneys, two trials instead
of one will be conducted: one for guilt and one for punishment, and then will
come a series of appeals during which the inmates are held in the high security
of death row.” In this instance, he is saying that if you are going to go
after the death penalty, there should be a much more extensive case before the
criminal can be put to death.
No matter what your position on the death penalty is, there
are multiple arguments for both sides of it. The death penalty will always be
there and will always be an issue among all Americans. No one will be happy
until its abolished in all states or until its legal in all states. Even with
it being legal in all states or abolished in all states, not everyone will even
be close to happy about it.
Works Cited
Baze V. Rees (US Supreme Court April 16, 2008).
Budziszewski PhD, J. (2004, August/September). Capital
Punishment: The Case for Justice. Retrieved from Orthodoxy Today:
www.orthodoxytoday.org
Cohn, S. E., & Barkan, S. F. (1994). Racial
Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites. Journal of Research
in Crime and Delinquency, 202-209.
Davis, N. (2011). Viewpoint: Death penalty should
be abolished. Retrieved from WSU Signpost:
www.wsusignpost.com/2011/09/22/viewpoint-12-5699#.U7tI8JUg_IU
Dissenting opinion in Gregg V. Georgia (Justice of
the US Supreme Court July 2, 1976).
Donohue, J., & Wolfers, J. J. (2006). The Death
Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence. The Economists Voice.
Ehrlich, I. (1975, June). The Deterrent Effect of
Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death. American Economic Review.
Fein JD, B. (2008, June 17). Individual Rights and
Responsibilitues- The Death Penalty, but Sparingly. Retrieved from ABA:
www.aba.org
Feingold JD, R. (200, April 26). National Death
Penalty Moratorium Act of 2000.
Head, T. (n.d.). Types of Executions.
Retrieved from civilliberty.about.com:
civilliberty.about.com/od/capitalpunishment/ig/Types-of-Executions
House Bill 1094 -Costs of the Death Penalty and
Related Issues (Judiciary Committe February 7, 2007).
Mocan, N., & Gittings, K. (2010). The Impact of
Incentives on Human Behavior: Can we make it disappear? The Case of the death
penalty. The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America,
379-418.
P.C. Ellsworth, S. G. (1994). Hardening of Attitudes:
Americans' Views on the Death Penalty. Journal of Social Issues, 19-52.
Reggio, M. H. (1995-2014). Racial Prejudice and
Support for the Death Penalty by Whites. Retrieved from PBS:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html
Schroth SJ, R. A. (2008, September 5). Email.
Procon.org.
Sharp, D. (1997, October 1). Death Penalty and
Sentencing Information. Retrieved from Justice for all.
Stevensen, J. B. (2004). Close to Death: Reflections
on Race and Capital Punishment in America. In Debating the Death Penalty:
Should America Have Capital Punishment? The Experts on Both Sides Make Their
Best Case.
Steward JD, S. D. (2008, August 6). Clark County
Prosecutor Website. Retrieved from Clark County Prosecutor Website
Union, A. C. (2007, April 9). The Death Penalty:
Questions and Answers. Retrieved from ACLU: www.aclu.org
Van Den Haag PhD, E. (1983). For the Death Penalty.
New York: New York Times.
Van Den Haag PhD, E. (1983, October 17). For the
Death Penalty. New York Times. New York Times.
White, D. (n.d.). Pros & Cons of the Death
Penalty. Retrieved from usliberals.about.com:
usliberals.about.com/od/deathpenalty/i/DeathPenalty.htm
Journal #14 -The Future of Your Topic
I think the future of my topic is going to be a big debate.
There are always going to be those people who agree with the death penalty and
then there are those people who will disagree with it, no matter what the circumstances
are. I always think there will be people that are for the death penalty and
those that are against it. I don’t think there will be lots of people on one
side or the other. I think it will be a 50/50 split.
Journal #13
Saturday was a good day. My mom and I decided to get a massage
and a pedicure from Beyond Spa. It is our favorite place to go. We like to try
and go once a month, although we are not always successful with that and
sometimes it turns out to be once every 2-3 months. It was a very relaxing and
just what we needed after a long week of having a destroyed house. We also went
to my aunt and uncles house and had some dinner and played games. We are also
going over there on Sunday because we are not able to cook anything on the
stove, just what can be cooked in the Microwave.
Journal #12
This weekend has been a crazy one. Our new floors are being
installed on Monday and on Saturday, the guys came in and took up the linoleum.
It was interesting to watch them cut it in sections and then remove the
linoleum and sub floor. The subfloor was just nailed down so all they had to do
was take a crow bar underneath it and force it up. Once that part was done,
they then had to nail the leftover nails back into the floor. I am really glad
they are coming on Monday to put in the floor. We found out that we don’t have
to wait 24 hours after they are done so that is nice that as soon as they are
done with one room, we can move stuff back into it so it looks like we have a
house.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Journal 11
I graduated from Cosmetology school in August of last year. It
took me 6 years to graduate because I went to the DATC, where most of the
teachers don’t really care whether or not you graduated. I decided to transfer
to Marinello in May of 2013 and I had finished in August of 2013. I was really
grateful that I was able to transfer because I think that if I was still at the
DATC I would not have graduated. I was grateful for the teachers at Marinello who
took the time to teach me the things I still needed to learn.
Journal 10
My mom and I are getting a massage and pedicure this Saturday
for a relaxing day. We like to go to Beyond Spa in Layton. We try to get there
at least once a month, however some months are busier than others and its hard
to go. The Hot Stone massage is my favorite one. It makes all of your muscles
feel so good.
Journal #9
Monday we finished cleaning out our kitchen so we can paint
the walls and tear up the floor. We cleaned off the tops of the cupboards where
we had decorations. I talked my mom into just getting rid of the sunflowers we
had up there since they have been there since we moved in. The house looks like
its being built now because the carpet was ripped up. My step-dad was tearing
up the carpet until 3 in the morning last night so I didn’t get very much
sleep. I am excited to get the new floor. I am mostly excited because I can
roll the ball on the floor and watch the dogs run and chase it.
Major Writing #2
BreAnna Montoya
July 22, 2014
Mrs. Kamri Goff
Major Writing
Assignment #2
With the topic of Capital
Punishment, the topic is very controversial among everyone. Some people are
okay with it at all times, some people are against it at all costs and other
are okay with it depending on the crime. There was an article from September
2011which follows the execution of a man in Georgia. The article states that a
lot of people who were on death row, are being exonerated due to advances in
technology and evidence. Most people think the death penalty should be
abolished. The article references the ALCU which thinks the death penalty has
no place in a civilized country. The article is not saying that opposing the
death penalty doesn’t mean that you would deny convicted murders of punishment,
it means people think there could be something else that they could do. Based
on this article, one could determine the people who were interviewed for this
article are opposed to the death penalty.
When
people are talking about the opposite side of the forum from opposition to
support, the support has increased for capital punishment in the past few
years. There is also the issue of the mentally ill and whether or not people
support the death penalty for the mentally ill. The death penalty support has increased since 1966, which
was when supporters were outnumbered by opponents. In the 1990’s the support
was at a record high. Research has determined that most people’s attitudes
towards the death penalty are based on emotion rather than information or
rational argument. Death penalty support has risen for most of the major
felonies. No matter what someone’s stance may be, most still oppose the death
penalty for the mentally retarded.
There is more than just opposing and
supporting the death penalty. Some will say it depends on your race as to
whether or not you are sentenced to death. There has been little research to
investigate this difference. There is data from the 1990 General society survey
that states whites supported the punishment as its associated with prejudice
against blacks. People are always going to pull the race card when it comes to anything
but especially capital punishment.
Sometimes
people think the death penalty saves lives, which can be true in the event of
serial killers, however sometimes that is not always the case. There has been
some recent interest, at this time in 2006, as there were lots of papers
written during that time and currently. The article assesses the time series
evidence, comparing the homicides and executions in the US and Canada and
within the US between executing and non-executing states. It analyzes the
judicial experiments, and the execution and homicide rates since 1934.
Sometimes
people are not smart enough to think about the consequences of committing their
crimes. People will argue that those who commit the crime, are not thinking
about the consequences and therefore should not be punished to death. Decades
of research shows that criminal behavior responds to incentives, non-economists
think that humans are not rational enough to make decisions about benefits
engaging in crime. Research should not be driven by personal beliefs. It states
that Mocan and Gittings provide evidence that people react to incentives
induced by capital punishment. Research found that the deterrent effect of the
death penalty show strong feelings which could be due to political,
ideological, religious or personal beliefs. The article also states do not mean
that capital punishment is good or bad.
There
are people out there who talk about the legitimacy of the death penalty, which
is a very old argument, it could even be as old as the death penalty. The
philosophical and moral arguments, whether they be for or against it, have
remain unchanged since the beginning of the debate. There is one issue that has
been outstanding is the subject of increased investigation; due to the
objective nature and dominant role it has played in shaping the cases against
the death penalty.
The
history of the death penalty goes as far back as 18th century BC. The
Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death penalty for 25 different
crimes, although murder was not one of them. The first death was recorded in 16th
century BC Egypt where someone was accused of magic and ordered to take his own
life. The first recorded execution in English American colonies was 1608 when
George Kendall of Virginia was killed for supposedly plotting to betray the
British to the Spanish.
There
are multiple ways that people used to be executed when the death penalty first
became a sentence in 18th Century BC. The rulers decided how people
would be executed like, boiling them in oil, throwing them in snake pits,
dragging them under boats, flaying them, poisoning them, burying them alive,
drawing and quartering them, etc. The way people are currently executed for the
death penalty is less gruesome, the most common is lethal injection. Very few
use the gas chamber and the electric chair anymore.
There
are pros and cons to every subject out there. The people who are against the
death penalty think the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. .
They think its premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being. 13,000
people have been executed since colonial times. The 1930’s, The Depression Era,
saw a historic peak in executions.
There
are a lot of different opinions when it comes to the death penalty. Its hard to
think of what every single person will think of the death penalty as each
person is either for or against the death penalty and they have their own
reasons. Someone could be against it because they had a crime committed against
them and the crime that was committed against that person could mean the
punishment of the death penalty. Then there is the person who had a family
member sentenced to death for the crimes they may have committed and they feel
like it is wrong to put someone to death for a crime.
Works Cited
Cohn, S. E., & Barkan, S. F. (1994). Racial
Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites. Journal of Research
in Crime and Delinquency, 202-209.
Davis, N. (2011). Viewpoint: Death penalty should
be abolished. Retrieved from WSU Signpost:
www.wsusignpost.com/2011/09/22/viewpoint-12-5699#.U7tI8JUg_IU
Donohue, J., & Wolfers, J. J. (2006). The Death
Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence. The Economists Voice.
Ehrlich, I. (1975, June). The Deterrent Effect of
Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death. American Economic Review.
Head, T. (n.d.). Types of Executions.
Retrieved from civilliberty.about.com:
civilliberty.about.com/od/capitalpunishment/ig/Types-of-Executions
Mocan, N., & Gittings, K. (2010). The Impact of
Incentives on Human Behavior: Can we make it disappear? The Case of the death
penalty. The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America,
379-418.
P.C. Ellsworth, S. G. (1994). Hardening of Attitudes:
Americans' Views on the Death Penalty. Journal of Social Issues, 19-52.
Reggio, M. H. (1995-2014). Racial Prejudice and
Support for the Death Penalty by Whites. Retrieved from PBS:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html
White, D. (n.d.). Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty.
Retrieved from usliberals.about.com:
usliberals.about.com/od/deathpenalty/i/DeathPenalty.htm
Monday, August 4, 2014
Thesis Statement
Capital punishment is good and bad in this world now days
because there are people that commit such horrific crimes that deserve to be
put to death.
In Class writing 07/23
If I had the time to advocate for something it would be to
advocate for better pay for middle class workers. I think middle class workers
do not get paid enough to do the job that others don’t want to do. The upper
class looks at the jobs they are supposed to do and gives it to the middle
class workers because they know that middle class workers will not say no
because they need the jobs to pay for their bills and to support their
families. The upper class looks at the middle class as the “ants” from A Bugs Life and the ants do all the work
while the grasshoppers come in and take credit for everything. The higher ups
in the companies will take credit for the ideas that the workers come up with
because they want the credit for something even if they didn’t have anything to
do with the idea.
To help advocate this, I would talk to the CEO’s and Vice
Presidents of the companies and tell them how the workers feel when it comes to
appreciation for idea. That the workers do not like to come up with ideas, and
have someone else take credit for them because they think that is not fair. I
also would let them know that the workers do not feel like they should have to
do an assignment that was specifically assigned to someone else above them and
that it was assigned to them because that person it was originally assigned to
felt like they didn’t have time, or they didn’t want to complete the project.
Journal #8
Work has been really crazy right now. I work at ADP. We
mostly do benefits however we still do payroll and other benefits. We are just
starting our annual enrollment period again and during that time, it gets
really busy, which is fine because the day goes by faster.
Journal #7
The end of the month of August is my birthday. I enjoy my
birthday weekend because my mom and I go shopping at Swiss Days in Midway every
year. We go on Friday because it’s not as busy, even though there are lots of
moms with strollers there. After we go to Swiss Days, we usually go shopping in
Park City. This year my mom found another outlet mall she wants to go to down around
American Fork. I am excited to go to some new stores. We usually get lunch
after we go shopping. Last year we went to City Creek and it was pretty cool.
We decided to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I really like that place.
Journal #6
This weekend has been a crazy one. We are getting new floors
installed on the 11th so this Saturday we cleaned out the living
room, kitchen and family room. We started at 8 and it took us until about 11 to
finish moving everything out. We had to move the fridge out so we moved the
food into a cooler and then moved the food back into the fridge. Once we
finished, we went to RC Willey and paid off the floor. While we were there, my
mom and I talked my step-dad into buying a new table to match the wood floor. Then
we decided to get a new dryer…and a new freezer. All of our stuff is coming on
the 16th. We will not be living like we have no furniture. It was
interesting to eat dinner last night without the table. We had to eat on the
floor.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Major Writing #1
BreAnna Montoya
July 7, 2014
Mrs. Kamri Goff
Major Writing
Assignment #1
Davis,
Nathan (2011) Viewpoint: Death penalty should be abolished. http://www.wsusignpost.com/2011/09/22/viewpoint-12-5699#.U7tI8JUg_IU.
This
article is following a controversial execution of a man in Georgia in 2011. The
article sates that a lot of people who were on death row, are being exonerated
due to advances in technology and evidence. Most people think the death penalty
should be abolished. The article references the ALCU which thinks the death
penalty has no place in a civilized country. The article is not saying that
opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean that you would deny conviced murders of
punishment, it means people think there could be something else that they could
do.
Ellsworth, P. C. and Gross, S. R. (1994), Hardening of
the Attitudes: Americans' Views on the Death Penalty. Journal of Social Issues,
50: 19–52. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1994.tb02409.x
This article states that the death penalty support has
increased since 1966, which was when supporters were outnumbered by opponents. In
the 1990’s the support was at a record high. Research has determined that most
peoples attitudes towards the death penalty are based on emotion rather than
information or rational argument. Death penalty support has risen for most of
the major felonies. No matter what someone’s stance may be, most still oppose
the death penalty for the mentally retarded.
Cohn, Steven F. Barkan, Steven E. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency May 1994 vol. 31 no. 2 202-209 http://jrc.sagepub.com/content/31/2/202.short
This article states that whites
more than blacks support the death penalty. There has been little research to
investigate this difference. There is data from the 1990 General society survey
that states whites supported the punishment as its associated with prejudice
against blacks.
Donohue,
John and Justin J. Wolfers. "The Death Penalty: No Evidence For
Deterrence," The Economists' Voice, 2006, v3(5,Apr), Article 3. http://www.nber.org/papers/w11982
This
article talks about whether or not the death penalty saves lives. There has
been some recent interest, at this time in 2006, as there were lots of papers
written during that time and currently. The article assesses the time series
evidence, comparing the homicides and executions in the US and Canada and
within the US between executing and non-executing states. It analyzes the
judicial experiments, and the execution and homicide rates since 1934.
Naci
Mocan & Kaj Gittings, 2010. "The Impact of Incentives on Human
Behavior: Can We Make it Disappear? The Case of the Death Penalty," NBER
Chapters, in: The Economics of Crime: Lessons for and from Latin America, pages
379-418 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. http://www.nber.org/papers/w12631
This
article states that decades of research shows that criminal behavior responds
to incentives, non-economists think that humans are not rational enough to make
decisions about benefits engaging in crime. The article also states that
research should not be driven by personal beliefs. It states that Mocan and
Gittings provide evidence that people react to incentives induced by capital
punishment. Research found that the deterrent effect of the death penalty show
strong feelings which could be due to political, ideological, religious or
personal beliefs. The article also states do not mean that capital punishment
is good or bad.
Isaac Ehrlich 1975 The
Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death American
Economic Review, vol. 65 no. 3, June 1975. http://www.nber.org/papers/w0018
This
article talks the legitimacy or propriety of the death penalty which is an
argument that can be as old as the death penalty itself, which also includes
completely abolishing it. The philosophical and moral arguments, whether they
be for or against it, have remain unchanged since the beginning of the debate. There
is one issue that has been outstanding is the subject of increased
investigation; due to the objective nature and dominant role it has played in
shaping the cases against the death penalty.
Donohue,
John and Justin J. Wolfers. "The Death Penalty: No Evidence For
Deterrence," The Economists' Voice, 2006, v3(5,Apr), Article 3. http://www.nber.org/papers/w11982
.
This
article talks about whether or not the death penalty saves lives. There have
been multiple papers on this issue showing substantial deterrent of effect of
capital punishment. There are various approaches that have been used to asses
that which the paper discusses, testing the inferences. They analyze the
effects of judicial experiments provided by Furman and Gregg decisions and
assess the relationship between execution and homicide rates in state panel
data in 1934.
Reggio,
Michael H. History of the Death Penalty 1995-2014 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html
.
This
article talks about the history of the death penalty and goes as far back as 18th
century BC, where the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon codified the death
penalty for 25 different crimes, although murder was not one of them. The first
death was recorded in 16th century BC Egypt where someone was
accused of magic and ordered to take his own life. The first recorded execution
in English American colonies was 1608 when George Kendall of Virginia was
killed for supposedly plotting to betray the British to the Spanish.
Head,
Tom. Types of Executions http://civilliberty.about.com/od/capitalpunishment/ig/Types-of-Executions/
.
This
article goes through the different types of capital punishment and the
different ways people are executed. It states the rulers decided how people
would be executed like, boiling them in oil, throwing them in snake pits,
dragging them under boats, flaying them, poisoning them, burying them alive,
drawing and quartering them, etc. The way people are currently executed for the
death penalty is less gruesome, the most common is lethal injection. Very few
use the gas chamber and the electric chair anymore.
White,
Deborah. Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty. http://usliberals.about.com/od/deathpenalty/i/DeathPenalty.htm.
This
article talks about the pros and cons of the death penalty. Most people who are
against capital punishment think the death penalty is the ultimate denial of
human rights. They think its premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human
being. 13,000 people have been executed since colonial times. The 1930’s, The
Depression Era, saw a historic peak in executions.
Journal #5
Coco had 15 puppies on Memorial Day. The last 2 left on
Monday and it was a very sad time for me because I get so attached to the
puppies. The last 2 that were left were both girls. My cousin Noah wanted to
pick out a name for one of the dogs and he chose Alayna. Since we couldn’t remember
which was name Alayna originally, we called one Alayna 1 and Alayna 2. They
were so cute and loved everyone. They went to a mom and daughter in Boise
Idaho. They have a 5 acre yard they can run around in with collars that don’t let
them get out of the yard. I am glad they went with someone who has a yard for
them to run around in.
Journal #4
This weekend was a fun weekend. We went to Wicked and the
Rodeo on Saturday. Wicked was awesome because I have never seen it before and I
enjoyed it. I wish I could have watched it again that night. I will definitely
be seeing it when it comes back to Utah again. The rodeo was a blast as well.
We had very good seats which always makes things better. During the bull
riding, a man’s hand got stuck in the holding area and he was drug around for a
couple of seconds before he got his hands free.
In Class Writing 07/28/2014
Capital Punishment does well because those who commit crimes
horrific enough should be put to death. It may end one life, but it will save
many others.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Journal #3
I haven’t written a journal in a while, but I decided to
write about what has been going on. Our chocolate lab, her name is Coco, had 15
puppies on Memorial Day. Our house has been crazy because of all the puppies we
had. We had 10 girls and 5 boys. We named most of the dogs. They have all gone
to good homes. We named the smallest one smalls. He is our favorite. He has
always been the smallest and he just loves to run around and play with Coco. We
sold the last 2 girls last week to a mom and daughter in Idaho. They are both
pretty big girls. We named one Alayna and we can’t remember which girl it is,
so we decided to just call them both Alayna. They are leaving on Monday and I
am going to be super sad when they leave.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
In Class writing 07/09/2014
Facebook 150 friends
Pinterest 438 followers
Linked-In None
MySpace about 100
Twitter about 50
I have more followers on Pinterest than anything and I think
it is because they like the pins that I pin and I think it’s the fact that you don’t
have to talk to the person. I think Facebook is good for connections because
even though you may not know the person, people are always posting things,
whether it be about jobs or news things or whatever may come to their mind. I
think Facebook is also good for good debates because everyone always has an
opinion about something and sometimes people will agree with you, and sometimes
they will disagree and the good debate about something comes from the other
side of the arguments. I remember getting in a debate on Facebook with a friend
and her boyfriend about the men that were on motorcycles attacking a man and
his wife in New York. She said she thought it was fine because they were
cutting off the motorcycles in a group. I was on the other side where I said
they didn’t need to attack them for doing it, because it could have been a
mistake and they were harassing them through the city. To this day, we still
have not discussed that issue, but we have talked about other things. I do have
a LinkedIn account but I don’t ever use it because I just have not found a
reason to use it.
Friday, June 27, 2014
In class writing 06/25/2014
Identity List EDentity
List
1. Nice 1.
Post-a-holic
2. Kind 2.
Love Pictures
3. Friendly 3.
Always online
4. Social Butterfly 4.
Lots of friends
5. Love animals (dogs mostly) 5.
Social
6. Hard worker 6.
Instagram
7. Stern 7.
Facebook
8. Willing to help 8.
Twitter
9. Love sports 9.
Pinterest
10. Not up for excuses 10.
E-mail
The words I chose to define me are nice, kind, friendly,
social butterfly, love animals (dogs mostly), hard worker, stern, willing to
help out, love sports, doesn’t put up with excuses. Most of these are phrases,
but I feel like that is okay because it’s hard to bring them down to just
words. I feel like I can be stern about something mostly when it comes to work.
I also don’t put up with excuses about why someone was late or didn’t come to
work. I have always thought that if you are adult enough to have a job, you are
adult enough to have a job, you are adult enough to come into work, both on
time and every day you are expected to be there. I know some times things come
up and that is understandable when it happens 1-2 times, but I don’t like the
ones who do it every other week, or even every week.
The Edentity words I chose for myself was post-a-holic, love
pictures, always online, lots of friends, social, Instagram, Facebook, twitter,
Pinterest. I chose these words because they all have to do with me being
connected to the “outside” world, mostly just away from my family. I also
included love pictures because I love to take pictures and post them. I am
definitely social when it comes to online and being on Facebook. I love to like
people’s stuff that I really do think is cool. I don’t like something just be
nice to them. I put Instagram because that is where all of my pictures go. It doesn’t
matter what the picture is of, I will still post it because I love it. I also
included Pinterest because I love all of the things that are on there.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Journal #2
Today in class we discussed our identity and e(dentity). It was a very interesting discussion today in class because we learned about others in the class and what they thought was their identity and their e(dentity). It took a lot of thinking to think about my own as well. It was interesting to see what I thought of myself.
Journal #1
The first day of class was on Monday. I had already taken this class fall semester 2013, however I got a C- and did not get the C to pass it. This class is set up differently than the one I took in Fall 2013 and I do like the way this one is set up. It does not seem that we have as many assignments as my other class did, which is fine because it makes the class seem more relaxed.
About Me!
A little about me. I have 5 brothers and 1 sister. They are all step siblings. I am the very middle of all of them. 3 older brothers and 2 younger brothers and 1 younger sister. We have a chocolate lab and 2 papillions. The Papillions are named Zoe and Jasmine. Jasmine is one of Zoe's babies. My favorite color is pink, I love dogs. I work and go to school full time. I received my cosmetology license in August of 2012, which took 6 years to get, due to the first school I went to, was not that great of a school. I am not working in a salon currently, however I am doing friends and families hair. I love doing hair and I hope to be in a salon some day.
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