Capital Punishment Debate Essay: Hints Prompts and Other Ideas

Creating an Essay Based on Capital Punishment Facts

Capital punishment is an emotionally and politically charged issue. Because of this, there is probably more rhetoric than fact available on the subject. This can make it difficult to research this topic. You will probably spend more time vetting your sources and discounting useless ones than you will taking notes and writing your paper. Unfortunately, this is a necessary step when you write about topics that tend to generate strong emotional reactions. Our recommendation is to use the following criteria when judging a source:

• Are the facts cited in the source linked to evidence?
• Is the source well written and free from an overly emotional language?
• Is the source current?

Capital Punishment Essay Prompts and Ideas

• Write a capital punishment pros and cons essay
• Is capital punishment a true deterrent for violent crimes?
• Should the United States ban capital punishment in cases involving the intellectually disabled?
• Is capital punishment in the U.S. used too frequently?
• Choose a side in the capital punishment debate and argue the merits of that point of view
• Should executions be halted in light of the many botched executions?
• Should governors be allowed to issue mass death penalty commutations?
• Write a persuasive essay for or against the death penalty for juvenile offenders
• How does mental illness impact the death penalty?
• How does socioeconomic status impact the death penalty?
• What are the causes of the disparate death penalty sentences among minorities?
• Should a convicted criminal be allowed to choose the death penalty?
• Explore the works of an anti-death penalty activist
• Explore the works of a pro-death penalty activist
• Write about an exonerated death penalty inmate

Good Death Penalty Resources

If you are having difficulty selecting death penalty sources, here are a few that we believe most students will find to be quite useful:

• Center For Death Penalty Litigation
  • This website provides a lot of information that is valuable to somebody arguing against the death penalty. The author's of the website work on behalf of condemned inmates, but the information presented is accurate.
• Find Law
  • This is an excellent resource for information on case law relating to the death penalty and many other legal issues.
• The Innocence Project
  • The website of a group who seeks to use DNA evidence to exonerate innocent men and women.
• Bureau of Justice Statistics
  • These are statistics and analyses of data collected by the BJS about capital punishment and other issues.

Some Final Advice

This is a challenging and at times emotional topic to address. Just keep in mind that reasoned arguments will get you much further than emotional ones. It is also very important to make rational arguments and to support those arguments with links to great sources. Do that, and your essay is sure to be a success. If you need additional help, just remember that Trust My Paper Is always happy to assist.