Pros of the Death Penalty in the U.S.
One of the benefits of the death penalty in the United States is its deterrent impact. According to Rigby and Seguin (2021), the dread of suffering the death penalty might deter people from committing significant crimes, hence improving public safety. Furthermore, Jones (2022) contends that the death sentence delivers a feeling of vengeance equal to the seriousness of some crimes. He argues that administering the ultimate penalty ensures that criminals confront the consequences of their acts and that justice is fulfilled (Jones, 2022).
Equally, the death penalty offers some protection against future damage by permanently eliminating dangerous people from society. Finally, another often-mentioned benefit of the death sentence in the United States is that it provides closure to victims’ families (Jones, 2022). In this scenario, the execution of the culprit may bring a feeling of justice and closure to the bereaved relatives.
Cons of the U.S. Death Penalty
One of the most serious issues with the death penalty is the possibility of false convictions. Numerous incidents have revealed the criminal justice system’s fallibility, with innocent people put to death. The irrevocable nature of the death penalty exacerbates the problem, posing serious ethical and moral considerations.
As per Jouet (2022), given the irreversibility of execution, the likelihood of false convictions should be lowered. However, there have been several situations where people who were condemned to death were subsequently exonerated owing to fresh evidence or advances in forensic technology. Such incidents highlight the criminal justice system’s frailty and the possibility of irrevocable mistakes.
Another disadvantage of the death penalty in the United States is its moral consequences. According to Robinson and Moody (2019), regardless of the seriousness of the crime committed, the death sentence breaches the fundamental right to life and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. As a result, society should seek more compassionate solutions that respect the dignity of people.
Professor Judd on Herzog’s Into the Abyss
One of the painful topics discussed in Werner Herzog’s documentary Into the Abyss is the importance of Charles’ teardrop tattoos, which generally represent the number of people one has slain. Prof. Judd (2023) argues that in Charles’s instance, the teardrops symbolize the loss of his brother Jeremy and his recently departed sister, Trista. This component dives into Charles’ family’s complicated relationships and the unfortunate events surrounding their lives.
Charles’ teardrop tattoos are a visual landmark that has a lot of emotional weight for him. They become a physical reflection of his sadness and a method for him to commemorate his loved ones’ memories (Herzog, 2011). The teardrops question the usual idea of such tattoos in this setting, demonstrating how personal experiences and tragedies may disrupt mainstream notions. The documentary focuses on the terrible consequences of jail and crime inside Charles’ family through his tale (Prof. Judd, 2023). In essence, several of Charles’ male ancestors were imprisoned at various times, implying a cycle of illegal activity and its repercussions.
The topic of Charles’ teardrop tattoos relates to Herzog’s bigger issue of the ramifications and rippling effects of violent actions on people and their families. The film encourages viewers to consider the intergenerational effects of crime and jail, the fragility of life, and the lingering pain that may influence the lives of those left behind. Furthermore, Charles’ personal past defies conventional assumptions and expectations. His claim that everyone anticipated him to be the first in his family to die, rather than Jeremy, demonstrates the complicated web of events that surround those involved in crime and jail (Prof. Judd, 2023). As such, it emphasizes the need to comprehend the nuances of human experiences and the necessity for empathy and compassion while dealing with the effects of violence and loss.
Barnaby Norman’s Essay on Herzog’s Into the Abyss
Barnaby Norman’s essay “Time of Death: Herzog/Derrida“ examines Werner Herzog’s film Into the Abyss and its relationship to Jacques Derrida’s works on time and death. In his article, Norman investigates the link between the punctum and death in Werner Herzog’s film Into the Abyss. The depiction of Michael Perry, a convicted killer on death row, in the film highlights problems regarding the temporal structure of the photographic image and its relationship to death. According to Norman (2013), Derrida’s deconstructive discourse emphasizes how the single, as illustrated by the punctum, defies simple classification and undermines standard signifying systems. Norman’s interaction with Derrida’s theories broadens our knowledge of the temporal and existential elements covered in Into the Abyss.
The article opens with a discussion of the film Into the Abyss, which tells the tale of Michael Perry, a convicted murderer condemned to death in Texas. Norman highlights the film’s complex nature in reconstructing Perry’s crimes and going beyond his execution. According to Norman (2013), Perry’s death is essential as an abyss shaping the narrative. As such, the article establishes the groundwork for a dialogue between the film and Derrida’s theories, notably regarding expectation and witness.
Norman then discusses the opening act of the video, which includes a tour of the execution chamber and the surrounding region. According to Norman (2013), these scenarios provide an unclear temporal zone, producing doubt regarding the time of occurrences. As a result, Norman relates this to Roland Barthes’ idea of the studium and punctum in photography, describing how the film breaks the tranquillity required for the punctum to appear (Norman, 2013). As such, the outcome of the analysis of Roland Barthes’ investigation is an image portraying a convicted man awaiting execution and the immanence of death as the new punctum.
Norman analyzes Jacques Derrida’s piece “The Deaths of Roland Barthes,“ in which Derrida muses on Barthes’ exceptional clarity in the aftermath of his death. Derrida underlines the uniqueness of Barthes’ ideas and their link to death via a study of his texts. Derrida investigates the punctum as a completely heterogeneous feature that haunts the image, distorting its meaning and exposing it to an underlying structural haunting. As a killing force, the punctum breaks the image’s coding, preventing meaning from entirely saturating it.
Norman agrees with Derrida, stressing the significance of the punctum in opening up the temporal as narrative (Norman, 2013). Norman proposes that by perceiving the punctum as more than itself, it can infiltrate the studium field, mobilizing and pluralizing itself, and eventually repeating death as a pervasive force inside the picture (Norman, 2013). Norman illustrates the complex interaction between the punctum, death, and narrative in Herzog’s film via his engagement with Derrida’s concepts. Consequently, the punctum has the capacity of repetition and replacement, contributing to its position in the picture as the force of death at work.
References
Herzog, W. (2011). Into the Abyss [Film]. Warner Bros.
Jones, B. (2022). Death penalty abolition, the right to life, and necessity. Human Rights Review, 1-19. Web.
Jouet, M. (2022). Death penalty abolitionism from the Enlightenment to modernity. American Journal of Comparative Law, 1(1), 1-51. Web.
Norman, B. (2013). Time of death: Herzog/Derrida. Oxford Literary Review, 35(2), 205-220. Web.
Prof. Judd. (2023). Into the Abyss: Werner Herzog documentary (2011) [Lecture notes].
Rigby, D., & Seguin, C. (2021). Capital punishment and the legacies of slavery and lynching in the United States. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 694(1), 205-219. Web.
Robinson, M., & Moody, L. (2019). Capital Punishment, international law, and human rights. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 14(2), 298-319. Web.