Blogpost #6: Death Penalty on the Screen

I know every one of us want to watch movies either on cinemas with big screen or just in DVD or from downloadable sites. Well, there are many movies that have been produce since in 90’s. We all want some movies that have some entertaining stuff, thriller, comedy, romance, those genres that was a tragedy or sometime true to life. Today, I will share to you some movies that have a tragedy and some true to life genre; of course it’s also all about my topic, the death penalty. Here it is:

I saw this movie entitled: “The Life of David Gale” written by Charles Randolph and the directed by Alan Parker. This thriller movie was released in February 21, 2003. This movie has been enlightening my heart because some of this scene is also possible that happen. This is a story of a man who has been proven to be not guilty but it’s all over.

There is a man who named David Gale who is a former college professor. Gale was a big oppose of the death penalty. Here is his story. One night there is an attractive student from his class named Berlin and she was drunk too much and tries to seduce Gale but it turn out and accuse Gale as a rapist. Gale’s case has been solved thanks to his fellow professor named Harraway. Few years later, his fellow companion was later found raped and dead with her hand cuffed behid. While having a investigation someone leaves a tape to Kate’s apartment. David Gale was again accused rape and murder then he was put in the death row for execution.

Weeks before his execution, David told that story to one of the journalist name Bitsey Bloom and her assistant, Zack Stemmons. Bitsey Bloom the journalist tried to experiment to let she know what really happen so she tried cuffed her hand like in Harraway’s case. Later she figures out that Harraway killed herself and she proved that David Gale was an innocent but it’s too late, Gale already executed. At the end of the story it turn out that it was all planned to let the public know that executing people is cruel and many innocent people was already involve in this penalty.

Here is the trailer of the movie called "The Life of David Gale"

In this movie, we can learn something, something that is very important. First is judging people is very complicated things we should not judge people and just accuse them for the crime that they are not really do. Second is we should make a further investigation before you accuse someone. Just a tape or video is not strong evidence because we don’t know if that video tape is just an edited and not really what happened. Third is we should not take someone’s life like in my previous blog post life is a very important thing that we have.

Blogpost #5: Death Penalty: How It Works?

Way back in our old times, we already know that death penalty is already putting someone's lives in danger. Also way back to the years of world war I and the world war II, this are years where death penalty is very common. They have many ways to do this execution.


In the Article of Jamie Frater called, "Top 10 Modern Methods of Execution" Here share us the 10 ways of doing this cruel execution

Lethal Injection is very famous in many country. This is where they inject some drug that can make those people to faint or instantly dead. There are many types of drug where they used in lethal injection first one is the Sodium Thiopnetal also known as Pentathos and used as a surgical anesthetic, second is the Pancuronium Bromide also known as muscle relaxan which has a strong dose to paralyze the lungs. Third is the Potassium Chloride which is a toxic agent which can make the doser to have a cardiac arrest

Another method that they use is the Electric Chair where the prisoners will be tie in the chair and the chair will generate up to 2,000 volts which make the prisoners to die.

It's also famous the method called the HANGING where the prisoners will hang on the rope. Hanging on the rope can make those people to loose some oxygen and sometimes breaking their neck and that is the point where they will die.


Do you guys remember the three martyrs in the Philippines called GOMBURZA? Well, the Garotte is also one of the famous ways of executing people. Well how its work? It consist of chair where the prisoners where tied up or restrained and a metal band which place around the prisoners. Then the executors will turn the metal band tighter until the prisoners will break his neck and die.

This are just 4 of many ways the used is executing prisoners that have been given a death penalty. In this article we can realize that executing those prisoner is cruel. My body feels like trembling while I was making these blog post. Can you imagine that if you are in that case? I think those country should stop doing this cruel activities. Its seems like we are destroying humanity in this world.

Blogpost #4: The Aggressive Gene

Did you ever feel like you want to kick someone's butt or say like your blood feels like boiling that you want to kill someone? Well each part our body is compose of tiny particle called cells and each cells contains our genes. There is a gene called The Warrior gene or The MAO-A Gene. This genes can make us very aggressive and do some stuff like violence.

The Warrior Gene

Our body is compose of cells and genes. There is a certain gene that can affect our behavior, for example is the MAO-A gene where this gene can make us very aggresive to do some stuff.

Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) is linked to our behavior of aggression. According to Rose McDermott' report, "We report an experiment, synthesizing work in psychology and behavioral economics, which demonstrates that aggression occurs with greater intensity and frequency as provocation is experimentally manipulated upwards, especially among low activity MAOA (MAOA-L) subjects." 

The Killer Gene


While I also researching about this kind of gene, I also encounter the killer genes or the murder gene. What about this kind of gene? Well, killer gene sometime refer to your relatives. For example, your identical father is a murderer who killed a hundred of people. It said that the blood flowing into your vein is a murderer's blood where you can also killed many people like your father. In the article called "This Cold-Blooded Murderer Could Help Prove There's A 'Killer Gene'" by Erin Fuchs.

In his article, there is a example of a man who is a murderer. His name is Jeffrey Landrigan who was adopted by a geologist mother. His adoptive family seems to be like a educated and straight-laced. From here, Jeffrey's life change. When Landrigan got 20 years old, he got drunk and stabbed a childhood friend to death. He was sent to the prison for 20 years but he managed to escape.

He again sent to the prison when he was commit a murder killing a gay worker. This time he got a death penalty. While he was in the death row one of his inmates told him that he looks exactly like a man named Darrel Hill who also commited murder. 

He have a shocking discovery that the man named Darrel Hill was his identical father also he discover that his grandfather was also a murderer. Landrigan said, "I've never met my father. But he was definitely, even without being there, a big influence in my life,"

While I was wondering about Jeffrey's story, I realize that the action of your father is also reflect to your action but we are the one who will decide whether on what we will do. Like in the picture in the right. As a authentic people, we should do who you are because, our actions reflect to who really we are or what is out traits or characteristics.

Blogpost #3: Inside The Death Row

Did you know someone who has a mental illness? according to my research, over 44 million people suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder and over 5 million people were disabled by this and this research is cases of mental illness in U.S. only. Can you imagine that almost 1/2 of our population in the whole world may suffer from this illness?

Let's go back to the topic, According to the article: "Mental Illness on Death Row" by Scott Panetti, its said that 5-10% of death row inmates suffer from mental illness and since 1983, over 60 people with mental illness or retardation was executed only in United States

Why those people in the death row suffer from mental illness? In my opinion, They experiencing trauma and they are afraid to know that tomorrow may be their last day to live. Can you imagine when someone tell you that tomorrow will be your last day because tomorrow you will be execute. Well that was what those people in the death row thinking about.

Having a mental illness is a huge problem for some country that has a death penalty. The execution may be delay because of those who have a mental illness. Here is one of the example of a guy who have been executed 40 years after the murder that he was committed.

A man name Gary Alvord is a Florida inmate who has a longest spent time on the death row. He is 66 years old and suffered from schizophrenia, a kind of mental disorder, and he was sentence to death on April 9,1974. According to Bill Sheppard, “Gary is a product of a sick system. He was a living example of why we should not have the death penalty.... I would love for the state of Florida to tell us how much money they wasted trying to kill a guy they couldn't kill. The death penalty is getting us nothing but broke.” He was sent to the hospital to have a treatment but the doctors refuse to treat him. Those doctors thinking that he will be executed so why we should treat him?



In my conclusion about my research, I agree about what Bill Sheppard said that Gary is a living example of why we should remove the death penalty. This is my second reason for the death penalty to be remove from the law in all of the country.

Blogpost #2: Inside The Code

When we say "DEATH PENALTY", what comes to your mind? as for me, I always remember the phrase: "Eye for an eye, and teeth for a teeth." Yes, that phrase was written a thousand of years ago and can be found written in a huge stone. I ask myself, where and when did the death penalty or the capital punishment begins?

While I was having a research, I saw an article regarding to death penalty. That article is made by Michael H. Reggio called "History of the Death Penalty" as I read further I read about the phrase "A life for a life". Well as we read that phrase we can think about the ancient laws called the Hammurabi's Code.

Let's go back to the ancient time. Who is Hammurabi?

Hammurabi (1792-1750BC) was the sixth king of Babylon. He is well-known because of the Hommurabi's Code that has been found somewhere in Iran. According to my research it is said that hammurabi ruled the Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates river.Hammurabi's code was made before the bible was written.


All about the CODE


The Hammurabi's code was a Mesopotamian culture and said to be written in a stone tablet and made around 1760 BC. It contains laws that was made by the king of Babylon. In the code, it contains 282 laws including the phrase "and eye for an eye, and tooth fo a tooth" and also the "life for a life." Here are also some laws that was written inside the code:

"If any one finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver."

-Slavery is just usual in the ancient time. The master of slaves can do what they want to do to their slaves. They harass them, they ask them to do a hard task that they cannot do and that was the reasons of some slaves to run away from their master

"If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death."

- Robbery is one of the common problem since the ancient times. So in ancient times, all those people who was caught robbing things, they immediately put to death.

"If a son of a paramour or a prostitute say to his adoptive father or mother: "You are not my father, or my mother," his tongue shall be cut off."

"If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off."

-  Since in ancient time, they teach their children to have respect to their parents

- All the children must be comply with their parents because parents know what will be good to their child

"If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out."

- It's assembles the phrase "Eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth", in this phrase, it can tell us about the revenge. For me, its looks like the equivalent trade where when you loss something you will gain something even if it is good or bad

The Hammurabi's code is just one of the culture in ancient times. there are also a culture in old days, for example is those people who has been believe in the witches, vampires, and werewolves and they suspected one family to be a witch, they burnt the house of the family including the family member.

This is what I learned about my research, since ancient times, there is also a death penalty and that death penalty can be sometimes a justice and some times not. I also realize that life is unfair. Justice is hard to find since in ancient times until now a days.

Blogpost #1: Death Penalty: A Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

We are living in this world happily. We are just concern about our daily life but did you know that every year, many people have been executed because of the death penalty. Hundreds of people have been executed every year. Many countries always debates about the issue regarding to the death penalty. They debate if the death penalty should be removed to their law or not. They always debate if the death penalty is good or bad to their country.


Let ask ourselves, is the death penalty is good or bad? Is the death penalty a justice or not? I read some article about this issue. This article is called: “Death Penalty: 10 Myths and Facts about the Death Penalty”by Clive Stafford Smith. In this article, it will show to us the answer regarding to the issue that always debating by many countries. Here is the three (3) that I think major myths and facts inside the article.

“Myth#1: Innocent People are not executed”

"Reversal of an erroneous conviction demonstrates not the failure of the system but its success"

- Justice A. Scalia

- Those people who said to be not guilty regarding to the crime that they commit were no executed. Those prisoners that have been proven to be guilty were the only one who has been executed.

“Fact #1: Professionals in the justice system know that innocent people have been executed.”

"20 years spent on death row before exoneration shows a failure of the system, not its success."

- Marc Callcut

- According to Marc Callcut, that this law is a failure. Well I believe that many innocent people had been executed. According to Victoria Advocate: “Out of 95 inmates that were executed, I believe 15 were innocent.” As I think further, I realize that this policy is just like a killer or a murderer and its victim is those who are in the death row. It seems like the law is murdering innocent people.

“Myth #2: The death penalty reduces crime”
- They believe that the death penalty can reduce crime. They believe that when there is the death penalty law, some criminals will be afraid to commit a crime and those murderers will not commit any murder.

“Fact #2: The death penalty does not deter crime. It stimulates it.”

- I believe that the death penalty doesn't reduce the cases of crime including the murder. Those criminals will find a way to do a crime that can be hidden in the public so in this case the death penalty has no effect to the number of cases of crime.

“Myth #3: The death penalty applies to everyone equally.”

- In this myth, it said that all of us can be given a death penalty. It said that even if you are famous, rich and even if you’re from different races or a government official you are not exempted to the death penalty. Is it true that every one of us can be given a death penalty equally? Let’s take a look about the fact.

“Fact #3: People who are convicted of the same crime receive vastly different penalties, across the world and within the same country or even case.”

"One of you two is gonna hang for this. Since you're the nigger, you're elected." - Texas police officer to Clarence Brandley, charged with the murder of a white high school girl. Brandley was later exonerated in 1990 after ten years on death row.

- In my opinion, death penalty is not given to people equally. In century and even today, discrimination is the top problem of some people. There is discrimination according to your race, (like the example above) others are discrimination between the poor people and the rich people. This is a sad truth that many people discriminate other people. Some people just learn accept the reality and they just said that justice in not fair to all kinds or races of people

As I think further in the selection or article that was said earlier, I realize the answer in the question: Is the death penalty a good thing or a bad thing? Well, this is my answer, God give every one of us a very important gift that no one can buy – yes, our life so why we need to kill each other? For me having a death penalty policy or law is like having a murder because killing is a murder and we don’t want to commit any crime. I know that the crime will not decrease even though we have a death penalty policy. All people change so why don’t we give a chance for those criminals and murderers to change inside the prison.