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Persuasive Outline Speech

Purpose statement: My purpose is to persuade the audience

to oppose the death penalty/ No to death penalty.

Audience analysis: Neutral

Strategy 1 (quote): The church states that, "Across the country, police are

being laid off, prisoners are being released early, the courts are clogged, and

crime continues to rise." This quote, one would think, should not refer to the

Philippines ., our admirable and superior country, but sadly, it does. The

question is, why is something as depressing as this taking place and how canwe put a stop to it? This is one of the reasons why the death penalty is

wrong. Another reason is that the death penalty is hypocritical and that we

may be condemning innocent people who were mistakenly charged of

murder. With reasons such as the probability of killing innocent people, the

hypocrisy, and there being a vast problem with cost, the death penalty is

proven wrong and we should try do something to stop it! Killing innocent

people Here's a scary thought; in a span of Martial law from 1971-1985,

there where a lot people convicted to death row after evidence fully

demonstrated their guilty. Clearly the risk of executing innocent people that

this large and growing number of cases represents, call for some radical

changes in our system of justice like the death of Echegaray (the person who

died of lethal Injection).

There is no doubt that many more innocent people, will be on the

death row particular innocent people who did not commit any crimes at all.

Cost of capital punishment is resource/time consuming . The economic

recession has caused cutbacks in the backbone of the criminal justice

system. In some part of the world , the budget crisis resulted in the early

release of 3,000 prisoners. But in other penitentiary , prisoners are serving

only 20% of their time and re-arrests are common. For example Georgia,

USA is laying off 900 correctional personnel and New Jersey has had to

dismiss 500 police officers. Yet these same states, and many others likethem, are pouring millions of dollars into the death penalty with no resultant

reduction in crime. The exorbitant costs of capital punishment is actually

making our country less safe.

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Badly needed financial and legal resources are being diverted from

effective crime fighting strategies. Literally hundreds of millions of dollars

have already been spent on the death penalty, which is calculated to be

carried out on only a few people each year, has done nothing to stop the rise

in violent crime. Such a method of punishment is incredibly burdensome to

the taxpayers, the criminal justice system, and the judicial system. Death

penalty cases are extremely expensive and time-consuming. A million dollars

spent pursuing the execution of one defendant could provide for more

effective crime reduction programs or services to our society, such as:

additional police officers; drug rehabilitation programs, education, libraries,

ambulances, or even patrol cars for the police.

Politicians could address this crisis, but instead worry about appearing soft

on crime. So, they either endorse executions or remain silent. 3rd

major argument, Hypocrisy From the book Criminal Justice,

Opposing Viewpoints, I quote, "Why do we kill people who kill

people to show that killing people is wrong?" and that, as you

know, is a question referring to the hypocritical manner of the

death penalty. If it is said, "Thou shalt not kill" be it a religious

conviction or just a moral principle, either way, it is not concerned

with the guilt or innocence of the person being executed. To

explain this, I will state another quote from the same reference,

"It's wrong to kill. It's wrong for these people to have killed, but it is

also wrong for the state to premeditate another murder. Two

wrongs do NOT make a right." From the book, "The Death Penalty,

Justice or Legalized Murder?" I would now like to share a story that

was the driving force in turning the Murder Victims Families for

Reconciliation (MVFR) into a national organization:

In the early 1990's, Marietta Jaeger's seven-year-old daughter Susie

had been kidnapped from a Montana campground on June 25, 1973. The side

of the canvas of the tent in which she had been sleeping with four older

siblings had been slashed, and Susie's stuffed animals were strewn on the

ground outside. A year after Susie vanished, the kidnapper phoned hermother. Ms. Jaeger tape-recorded the call and before long, the FBI zeroed in

on a suspect in the case. His name was David and the voice on the phone

call matched his. When his home was searched, body parts of several

women and children, who had been missing, were discovered in his freezer.

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David confessed to killing Susie, and told police that a week after the

kidnapping, he strangled her until she was dead and then dismembered her

body. Marietta told Montana state prosecutors that she was opposed to their

seeking the death penalty for David. The issue had not been decided when

David settled it by hanging himself in his jail. The question remained as to

why she didn't want her child's murderer executed. She answered with this

statement, "How do we best honor the memory of a loved one? Doesn't she

deserve a more beautiful memorial than killing a chained, restrained,

defenseless person? How does that provide peace for the victim's family?"

Indeed, she adds, "a vindictive mind-set creates bitterness and lets the

criminal claim one more victim."

Overall, the death penalty as we would think should be a help to our

society, but in reality it's far from it. The high probability of killing innocent

people, the never ending cost drain, and it's hypocrisy all leads to the

conclusion that the death penalty is not a wise solution to crime and will not

help us in the future. We are the future, and we need to be aware of the

issues that capital punishment causes. We need to abolish the death penalty

to make for a better future. A future where funding for more beneficial crime

solutions can make our country a safer place.