Execution is one of the most famous public issues attracting much attention of officials and wide publicity (Death penalty, n.d.). The controversial attitudes to public policy related to capital punishment are widely covered in the media (Drehle, 2015; World day against the death penalty, 2015). The analysis of three articles retrieved from the official Web site of the New York Times newspaper reveals that many journalists attempt to analyze the current tendencies related to execution policy and present valid arguments though sometimes personal attitudes influence the objectivity of the material.
Baude (2015) discusses the place of the death penalty in the constitutional system of the U.S. based on the assumptions made by justices during the discussion of Glossip v. Gross case in his article “Is the death penalty unconstitutional?” The author presents the opposite views on the issue expressed by the justices in the courtroom and gives his additional remarks which sound rather valid. The journalist describes Justice Scalia’s position based on the belief that the Constitution “blesses” death penalties and mentions several arguments that prove such view to be rather ungrounded. The notions made by Justice Breyer, who believes that capital punishment contradicts the Eighth Amendment are also discussed in the article.
However, the author mentions that though Breyer’s arguments are rather well-grounded, the influence of personal moral intuition and bias is difficult to be avoided. The author presents both points of views explicitly and provides reasonable critiques for each of the opinions. The deep and thoughtful discussion given by the author helps to understand that capital punishment cannot be considered acceptable as the evidence of its obvious contradictions to the Constitution can be found.
Greenhouse (2015) explores the attitudes expressed by the Connecticut Supreme Court and the State Supreme Court in relation to repealing of the death penalty in 2012 by the State Court accompanied with repeal prospective leaving more than ten men on a death row in the article “Talking about the death penalty, court to court”. The author investigates the document reflecting the decision of the State Court and its direct appeal to the Supreme Court aimed at revealing that both individualized and automatic approaches to capital punishment are defective. The author also explores the position of the Supreme Court and analyzes the statistics showing that the number of death penalties declines every year.
Greenhouse provides clear arguments for every position described in the article and encourages the reader to see the current tendencies in the attitudes of justices and foresee the inevitable declaration of execution as unconstitutional punishment.
The Editorial Board (2016) also discusses the inevitability of the abolition of execution in the article “The death penalty endgame.” The authors describe the current trends in moving away from the capital punishment and use Ms. Walter’s case as an example illustrating the growth of popularity of abolitionist ideas. The authors’ discussion can be considered as rather well-grounded. However, there is a clear evidence of their bias, as all of the assumptions made in the article are based on the belief that capital punishment is a crime and reflect the opposite view very vaguely. The article clearly articulates the ideas of the uncivilized nature of death penalties and the need to join the rest of the world in refusing from executing people. The article helps to learn about the changes in public opinion to execution that occurred during the recent decades.
The analysis of three articles discussing the issues related to execution policy reveals that though most journalists manage to present well-grounded arguments, the influence of the authors’ bias is evident in some cases.
References
Baude, W. (2015). Is the death penalty unconstitutional? Web.
Death penalty. (n.d.). Web.
Drehle, D. (2015). The death of the death penalty. Web.
Greenhouse, L. (2015). Talking about the death penalty, court to court. Web.
The Editorial Board. (2016). The death penalty endgame. Web.
World day against the death penalty. (2015). Web.