Moolade Essays - Jury, Legal Procedure, Juries In England And Wales

Should religion be used in defending a client from the death penalty and how should Christians view the death penalty? Throughout the Old Testament law commanded the death penalty for various acts such as: murder (Exodus 21:12) , kidnapping (Exodus 21:16) , bestiality (Exodus 22:19) , adultery (Leviticus 20:10) , homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13) , being a false prophet (Deuteronomy 13:5) , prostitution and rape (Deuteronomy 22:24) , and several other crimes. However, God often showed mercy when the death penalty was posed. David committed adultery and murder, yet God did not demand his life be taken (2 Samuel 11:1-5, 14-17; 2 Samuel 12:13) . Again When the Pharisees brought a woman who was caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and asked Him if she should be stoned, Jesus replied, ?If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her? (John 8:7) . And yet again God says, ?Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He ma de man? (Genesis 9:6) . The Bible is extremely complex when trying to retrieve a single answer for such a question as the one being posed. Thus, the event that gives us the most insight on whether Christians should wildly embrace the death penalty or fight against its unforgiving destruction may lie within the selfless crucifixion of Christ. In this and this ultimately we can determine with substantial evidence how, why, and to what extent Christians may view the death penalty as being unjust. Should both prosecutor and attorneys be allowed to use religious appeals to defend a client or to persuade jurors in capitol sentencing? Do these religious fears embed within us individuals, improperly influencing jurors in making their decisions? The courts definitely fear the effects that religious appeals may pose on jurors especially in capital sentencing. Research has shown that religious appeals do seem to have some lasting effect on the verdicts made by the jury. In addition, current st udies utilized realistic materials and a community sample of mock jurors to test the effects of religious appeals. Even though the explanations for the results are speculative, the initial study provides evidence that some types of religious appeals and testimony do improperly affect jurors' decisions. There are several instances/cases for which the attorneys? or the prosecutors? religious appeal truly seems to have affected the jurors? decisions such as in the trials of Andrea Yates (Mother who drowned her 5 children in the bathtub) and Susan Smith (killed her sons and invented a carjacking story to cover up the crime).(Miller The most important questions indicate whether religious appeals are more detrimental or beneficial for the client, which would ultimately be determined by the jury. Unfortunately, there is not enough research or substantial evidence for the courts to lawfully decide whether or not religious appeals are maliciously detrimental to jurors and whether or not they can or should not be used in court.