Offensive Speech Should be Allowed -- Freedom of Speech

There seems to be an internal desire for freedom within the soul of every man. Men realize that freedom is something basic, and to rob a man of his freedom is to take from him the essential basis of his manhood. The words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoken forty-three years ago, capture the spirit of the American dream. Since its conception, the United States of America has been the universal symbol for freedom and hope. The five most fundamental freedoms cherished by every citizen are granted in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Among them, Americans treasure the right to freedom of speech above all others. Yet, as we stand here in the birth of a new millennium, this right has become endangered. College campuses across the nation are embroiled in a heated debate over what, exactly, constitutes free speech. At the heart of the debate is the issue of hate speech, or speech that "offends, threatens, or insults" a person because of some trait such as gender or race (McMasters). Incidents of hate speech include an international student shouting racial epithets from his dorm room window (Hinds 108), complaints of email harassment (Harmon 115), and fraternity rush T-shirts depicting raci ally insulting caricatures (Frammolino 112). What is the solution to this fundamental conflict? Many people strongly advocate implementing speech codes into campus legal systems in order to control such displays. However, this is an inadequate and superficial response to a much deeper issue. College campuses should not regulate hate speech because such regulations violate our constitutional rights, no practical definition of hate speech exists, and there is no way to enforce punishment. Abridging freedom of speech on college campuses banda... ...t Austin. "Sexual Harassment of Students by Faculty and Staff." Writing the World. Ed. Charles R. Cooper and Susan Peck MacDonald. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 123-124. U.S. Supreme Court. "Beauharnais v. Illinois." Writing the World. Ed. Charles R. Cooper and Susan Peck MacDonald. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 128-135. U.S. Supreme Court. "Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire." Writing the World. Ed. Charles R. Cooper and Susan Peck MacDonald. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 126-128. Virginia Commonwealth University. "Rights and Prohibited Conduct." Writing the World. Ed. Charles R. Cooper and Susan Peck MacDonald. New York: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2000. 121-123. Walker, Samuel. "Hate Speech: The History of an American Controversy." Writing the World. Ed. Charles R. Cooper and Susan Peck MacDonald. New York: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2000. 135-143.

Is life in prison without parole better than the death penalty? Essay

This is it, this is the last time you will ever see daylight again. The dim light of the outside world seems to be overtaken by shadows. You squeeze your eyes shut, and then everything goes dark. That is the death penalty. What exactly is the death penalty? In the dictionary, it is defined as, â€Å"the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offense. † What the death penalty itself serves is retribution and revenge. Many believe that this is the right way to punish criminals in society, although there are many faults with capital punishment as well. Those faults consist of errors in the system, state costs, and the risks of executions of innocent people. Life in prison without parole is better than the death penalty where the death penalty is the foundation in injustice and it is immoral. People supporting the death penalty often argue that capital punishment is required not only for retributive reasons but rather to prevent the taking of innocent lives. Cass R. Sunstein, Professor of Law at Harvard University Law School, and Adrian Vermeule, another professor at Harvard Law School said â€Å"A leading national study suggests that each execution prevents some eighteen murders on average. † What my question is, how does taking away a criminals life prevent a life of an innocent being taken away? Killing a culprit does not prevent murders from happening, because there are still killers outside of jail. Death row does not prevent homicide happening in the outside world. The death penalty is no more effective in deterring others than life sentences. Life without parole also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free. Leading up to my next point, life without parole costs less than the death penalty. The death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole. It requires a long process for capital cases, which is needed in order to make sure that innocent individuals are not executed for crimes they did not commit. If the death penalty was replaced with a sentence of life without parole, which costs millions of dollars less, a lot of money could be saved  for useful necessities. The millions of dollars could be spent on education, roads, programs, and more. Capital punishment is time consuming and expensive than the typical crime cases. Speaking of the innocent, my next point, an innocent person serving life can be released from death row. The system can make tragic mistakes. According to the editorial â€Å"There is No ‘Humane’ Execution†, since 1973, 139 people have been released from death row because they were proven innocent said by the Death Penalty Information Center. We’ll never know for sure how many people have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often irrelevant and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. A number of innocent people have had to been put to death, which contradicts with the true meaning of justice. Leading to my final point, that capital punishment is immoral and is foundation of injustice. It is barbaric that people siding with capital punishment consider it moral. If anything, death penalty contradicts the true meaning of justice. In the article â€Å"Is Life in Prison without Parole a Better Option than Death Penalty? † John P. Conrad, former Chief of Center for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation at the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice said â€Å"I hold that the execution of the most contemptible murderer conflicts with the true functions of retributive justice- the repudiation of evil done and the prospective reconciliation of the criminal with the community he has wronged. † Capital punishment is immoral and unfair and discriminatory in practice. No one deserves to die. In civilized society, we reject the principle of literally doing to criminals what they do to their victims. For instance, if the culprit’s crime was rape, his punishment cannot literally be rape. We shouldn’t punish the murderer with death. Capital punishment shows what an uncivilized and immoral society we are. The sentence of capital punishment is a barbaric action for punishment a criminal. Murder is unacceptable by society, yet people seem to approve killing criminals. Sentencing a criminal to death does not solve the questions and problems left behind, it just creates controversy. Capital punishment is wrongly practiced and immoral and the wrong way to punish criminals. Life in prison without parole is a much better option, whereas capital punishment is just a way to seek revenge on the individual who would rather have the darkness of a solitary than not to see the dark at all.

The Effects Of Concentration Camps On The World - 854 Words

Emerald Hussey 1 Concentration Camps detained and confined people under harsh conditions and forced into labor. During a terrible time for Germany for twelve tough years is when concentration camps existed. Adolf Hitler became chancellor and took over Germany; Hitler got rid of all the enemies of the state. Prisoners were forced to build materials for the German military. Numerous prisoners died, when imprisoned from starvation, exhaustion, and gas chambers. Concentration Camps were very brutal places where millions of children and adults lost their lives. Adolf Hitler tried to get rid of anyone who threaten his government and didn’t agree with him. He constructed concentration camps purposely, to imprison Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, German communist, social democrats, and Jehovah witness. Hitler had a vision of a Master Race of Aryans that would control Europe. (Concentration Camps, 1933–1939 Web) He used very powerful propaganda techniques to convince not only the German people, but countless others, that if they eliminated the people who stood in their way and the degenerates and racially inferior- the great Germans would prosper. (IBID) Adolf forced all who he could, into concentration camps to keep the population from mixing with what he called the â€Å"corrupted† individuals. They were divided in many ways; he used his Nazi soldiers divided prisoners by different race, beliefs, and sexuality. Enemies were believed to be Germany’s economic hardship and that is why theyShow MoreRelatedThe Holocaust and Nazi Germany Essay1100 Words   |  5 Pagesmoving speeches. From this point forward, it was a goal for both Hitler and his Nazi Party to rid the world of deemed â€Å"inferior† groups of people (Holocaust Encyclopedia: Timeline of Events). 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