Arguments Against The Death Penalty

I tend to disagree with your argument and point of view that Loeb is not to blame for his actions. The lad committed a heinous act, ending the life of a fourteen-year-old boy under very cruel circumstances and his deeds are punishable by serving a long-term sentence for rehabilitation purposes. I don’t believe that both Loeb and Leopold were born without emotions entirely. The fact that they thought committing murder would excite them denotes that they had some level of emotion. The machine, therefore, chose to live an emotionless life. Sending them to jail was thus the correct alternative because the young lads were a threat to society. They misused their free will and, therefore, they should suffer the consequences of their actions.

Response STUDENT # 2

I concur with your sentiments that the sentences carried out on Loeb and Leopold were justified. I also agree that murdering the nineteen-year-old was the wrong option regardless of the nature of the crime committed. Life is a sacred gift from God, and it should thus be protected at all costs. The Judicial system has the mandate to rehabilitate law offenders so that they can turn on a new leaf and act accordingly. The two young men had a clear plan to end the life of Bobby Franks, and they almost executed it to perfection. They, therefore, knew what they were doing. Darrow’s argument that the young men were not in their correct state of mind thus does not hold water. Their sentencing was a lesson to others that you cannot end the life of another and go unpunished regardless of your status in the society. In the end, justice prevailed.