Free «James Holmes, Who Killed People like Animals» Essay

The story about one of the most horrible massacre in Aurora cinema, Colorado, has become a number one theme to discuss. The main point under consideration now is should James Holmes, the confessed shooter in the theater located in Aurora, Colorado, be sent to death without a trial?

Death has been considered a normal process if it happens in a natural way. Murder is supposed to be abnormal. Immanuel Kant argued:

“If he has committed a murder, he must die. In this case, there is no substitute that will satisfy the requirements of legal justice. There is no sameness of kind between death and remaining alive even under the most miserable conditions, and consequently there is no equality between the crime and the retribution unless the criminal is judicially condemned and put to death”(Velasquez, 2011).

Considering the number of victims in Aurora cinema and the obstacles of the crime, the conclusion is the following: James Holmes deserves death penalty on the spot.

The second reason why there should not be any trial is the legislation of the United States of America which guarantees secure and safe life to its citizens. James Holmes, who killed 12 people and injured more than 40 ones, represents a serious danger to the society. If he had not been stopped he would have killed even more people. At that moment he did not present any social importance to the society. His actions did not differ from the actions of a cruel animal when attacking people. The only difference was that animals attack in order to find meal or to protect their children. James Holmes killed just for fun.

On the other hand, trial before death penalty would provide additional help to the society but not by the official criminal sentencing. It is obvious that the crime committed by James Holmes is first-degree murder and the appropriate punishment for it will be death penalty. Trial is necessary in order to investigate and reveal reasons, motives and explanations of committing such an awful massacre, after the news about this tragedy appeared in mass-media, some additional facts about James Holmes were published.

The first evidence declared that the murder has been taking Vicodin for a long time, a strong pain-killer with drug effect. The second one was the opinion of professors from the University where Holmes was studying. They insisted that this person was an adequate young man without any deviations in behavior. These two facts make people to investigate carefully his mental health and find out whether it was the problem from the birth or was it adverse reaction of Vicodin? Moreover, the detailed examination would help psychologists to survey similar cases and even prevent the possible repetitions of such tragedies.

When speaking about murder and capital punishment as the only reasonable solution of such problems one should not take into consideration only the juridical side of the question. Killing someone is also the question of ethics, morality, religion, etc. As people who strongly believe in God and follow his commandments, we realize that God is the only one who can give life to humans and take it back. However, there are two approaches of treating murderers in the Bible. Mandery (2011) points out that in the Old Testament there are many cases of death penalty as the appropriate punishment for various serious crimes. “Murder, rape of an engaged woman, kidnapping, adultery, fornication by women, incest, homosexuality, sodomy with animals, idolatry, sorcery, and rebelliousness on the part of a son” (Mandery, p. 18). At the same time the New Testament declares to forgive enemies and do not take an eye for an eye.

In conclusion it should be said that James Holmes has committed a terrible massacre ever happened. And regardless the time authorities would need to make a sentence for him, the decision would be the only one: death. A person who took lives of other people deserves to be dead.