death penalty
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Every once in a while a person will commit a crime so inhumane, so savage that it becomes difficult to fathom how they could even allow themselves to live, never mind the courts. On the opposite side of the spectrum, every once in a while it comes to light years after a person has been executed, that they were in fact innocent of the inhumane crime they "committed". Even when the responsible guilty party is sentenced to death there are issues at hand. In the middle of these two extremes is where a great debate rages; can the death penalty ever be justified? The issue is intensely debated in all parts of the country by all members of society. Two men who express their opposing opinions on the issue through essays are Edward Koch and David Bruck. Koch, a strong Democrat and ex-mayor of New York, believes that the death penalty can be justified. Bruck, a Harvard graduate and lawyer who is devoted to defending people faced with the death sentence, writes his essay in response to Koch's and believes that the death penalty can never be justified.
Edward Koch comes from the position of a strong democrat and a mayor of a major city. His essay is strongly in favor of the death penalty and he believes that the death penalty can be justified because it "affirms the fact the life is precious...