Ryan Maziarz

Mr. Bayardi
Honors CHS Religion 12
1 January 2018
Reflection Paper
This quarter I decided to do a project on the Death Penalty. I made a video to help

explain the death penalty, and to further research how the church views the death penalty and

which states it still applies in. The project was impactful to me because it showed how relevant

even in today's world the death penalty is, and how horrible it is all over the world.

The death penalty is defined as the punishment of execution, administered to someone

legally convicted of a capital crime. What this means is that if someone does a capital crime such

as serial murder or rape, they will be tried in court to receive the death penalty instead of going

to prison for life. There are five different ways that the death penalty can be executed. 1290

people have been executed by lethal injection, 158 have been by electric chair, 11 have been by

the gas chamber, 3 have been by hanging, and 3 have been by a firing squad. The death penalty

is legal and in fact very popular in the early 1900s. The reason for the death penalty was to instill

fear in criminals, criminals were becoming content with spending time in prison because they

was the possibility of escaping or getting out. With the death penalty being implemented, it

showed that the government was not joking with the crimes anymore. The death penalty gives an

alternative punishment for the worst of the worst criminals. The idea was hope that criminals

would second guess their actions, and not end up committing the grave crimes. The death penalty

is still in effect today, but with newer and larger prisons it is not as popular in America as it used

to be. Although the same is not true for other parts of the world. Especially in third-world
countries. They do not have the resources needed to extend or build new prisons. The best way to

punish the worst criminals is by getting rid of them entirely.

The church views on the death penalty are very self-explanatory. Of course, the death

penalty is wrong because it directly violates the human dignity of the person. The church views

this wrong because God made every human in his image and likeness, and he is the only one

who should determine when it is someone's time to leave the world. The church also believes

that there are other means to use in determining the punishment for a certain crime. The church

likes the use of prisons, and in some cases insane asylums for the worst criminals, the church

never believes that killing is the answer. In the presentation I had Mr. Summers explain why the

church believes what it believes and why. Mr. Summers said that the only reason the death

penalty would be valid would be if there was no other option. The church would view this as

self-defense because releasing the criminal would have devastating effects to the community,

and to the people that live there. The good news is that the death penalty is becoming less used in

America in the recent years because other options are becoming available. This is good because

it is saving lives, and getting rid of the bad criminals.

The death penalty, although it is not as popular it is still present. There have been 26

states where the death penalty has been used. There are 23 states that still implement the death

penalty. Most of the states that still use it are the north eastern states. The top three states that

have used the death penalty are Texas Illinois, and Florida. One survey that shows that the death

penalty is declining says that since 1990 the use of the death penalty has declined by 75%.

Another fact I discovered is that out of the recent 153 death penalty cases, only 20 have had

DNA evidence. Which is horrible because it means that most cases base their decision on the
story and the person's alibi. This is unfair, and seems to be cruel to the criminal receiving the

punishment because there is no DNA evidence presented.

This project really helped to change my mind set on the death penalty and how it should

be executed. At first, I did not know a lot about the death penalty and whether or not it was still a

problem today. I thought that it was more 1800's to 1900's and it was only a select few who had

committed the gravest of murders. After my research, I realized that it was a huge epidemic, and

a huge issue in the 1990's. I also learned that the cost of a death penalty trial and the execution

afterwards was almost 8 times as expensive as a non-capital crime. This blew my mind because I

thought that it would be easier and cheaper to sentence someone to the death penalty. I thought

that the reason it was popular was because it was cheap. This information really shocked me,

because to me no matter how badly a person screws up they should not face death themselves.

Although the circumstances for every crime are different, some may seem like the criminal does

not deserve to live because of their crime. At the end of the day it is up to God to decide, and to

make that choice on behalf of the person. I do not believe that it is right to let a court decide on

whether or not a person may continue to live.

In conclusion, I feel that the death penalty should be outlawed, but the use of a special

prison should be implemented. Instead of killing them I believe that if our government built a

new kind of prison that isolated the capital crime criminals it would be a lot better. That way the

criminals get a very severe punishment, but they do not lose their lives. I feel that in the end

building this "super prison" will save money and save lives. Another thing is that some have

mental illnesses and if there was a doctor that could help them it would possibly save the person

entirely. I am very glad that I completed this project and did all the research on the death penalty

and church's views. My outlook on the death penalty has completely changed.