ProCon.org Examines Pro and Con Arguments of Death Penalty for Tsarnaev

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — ProCon.org, the nation’s number one online resource for the pros and cons of the death penalty (http://deathpenalty.procon.org), announced that it has updated its website to cover the pros and cons of the death penalty for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.


The new material, which can be found at  http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006183, presents pro and con quotes from diverse sources including: US Representative Nikki Tsongas (pro); US Senator Elizabeth Warren (con); Liz Borden, a mother whose children were victims of the bombing (pro); the Boston Bar Association (con);  Ed Davis, Boston Police Commissioner (pro); and Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley (con), among many others. A nationwide NBC poll found 47 percent of respondents in favor of giving Tsarnaev the death penalty and 42 percent who would prefer that he be imprisoned for life. In contrast, among Bostonians, a WBUR poll found that only 27 percent think Tsarnaev should receive the death penalty and 62 percent said he should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. ProCon.org examines, in an unbiased manner, which arguments people are offering on each side of the issue. Some people contend that life in prison without parole is a better option than the death penalty because a life sentence costs less than the death penalty or because the death penalty is immoral, among other reasons. People supporting the death penalty contend, among other things, that the death penalty should be used for retribution in this case and that Tsarnaev's execution may deter future crimes. The new page about Tsarnaev supplements some of the existing material, which includes:

1. Should the death penalty be allowed? Quotes from authoritative sources
2. Top 10 Pro and Con Arguments: Should the death penalty be allowed?
3. History of the Death Penalty from the Code of Hammurabi in 1700s BC to present
4. Forms of Execution in the United States
5. State Death Penalty Laws

ProCon.org (www.procon.org) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2004, whose mission is to encourage critical thinking, respectful debate, and informed citizenship.  ProCon.org has more than 20,000,000 annual readers. Information is presented on 52 different ProCon.org issue websites in subjects ranging from alternative energy, gay marriage, and medical marijuana to the death penalty, immigration, and physician-assisted suicide. ProCon.org is free of charge, requires no registration, and has been used by educators in more than 5,700 schools in all 50 states and 73 foreign countries. ProCon.org is widely used and cited by mainstream media, including: The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, BBC, Slate,Daily Beast, Forbes, The Atlantic, and USAToday.