Did you know that a poll from 1994 showed that 80% of Americans support the death penalty? The death penalty has been in effect since the founding of our country and still remains to this day. It has been proven effective, yet there are many opponents of it who call it cruel or flawed. We should maintain capital punishment because it deters crime, helps the victim 's family and provides justice, and is better than life imprisonment.
One reason to use capital punishment, is that it deters crime. For example, the most common argument for the death penalty is its use as deterrent and in “Capital Punishment”, the author states that many Americans agree with, "claims that the death penalty deters serious crime"(1). This illustrates that capital punishment would deter crime. By being the most severe punishment possible, it makes potential killers think about committing a murder. By killing a few criminals, we save many civilian lives. In addition, there is solid proof that it works as a deterrent. Kevin Kane, Connecticut’s chief state attorney noted that there were, "A series of academic studies over the last 6 years[that] concluded...between 3 and 18 lives would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer(1).” This shows that each execution helps protect the public. If there was no capital punishment, people know they wouldn 't be executed for murder so they would be less hesitant. Therefore, capital punishment serves as an effective deterrent for crime.
Another
While many opponents argue the economics of the issue, they fail to acknowledge that the main goals of punishment are to correct behavior that is deviant from the law and to prevent similar incidences from occurring. Without capital punishment, the culprits would not have to confront the potential of death, meaning that the marginal cost of violent crime would be diminished. Therefore, capital punishment is an effective method to deter
Being on death row often prolongs the pain for the inmate. They spend their time in prison fearing the inevitable which for them is death. Today, we live in a society that is very divided on this issue. There are many in support of the death penalty, suggesting that it acts as a positive deterrent against future crime. There are also many
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, and the debate about its abolition is the largest point of the essay written by Steve Earle, titled "A Death in Texas”. This form of punishment should be abolished for 3 reasons; First, It does not seem to have a direct effect on deterring murder rates, It has negative effects on society, and is inconsistent with American ideals. To begin, the death penalty is unnecessary since it is ineffective at deterring rates of murder. In fact, 88% of the country's top criminologists do not believe the death penalty acts as a deterrent to homicide, according to the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. In opposition, supporters may argue that it may indeed help to deter murder rates as they have
Capital Punishment helps deterrence rates, and cost options for the future, and if the death penalty is inhumane, there will no longer be doubt on whether it is
Weil, Jack. “The Death Penalty Does Not Deter Crime.” The Death Penalty. Ed.
Should America continue to allow the death penalty? This essay will tell you why America should not be continue the death penalty. For starters, the death penalty is punishment by death; usually resulting after a crime that America calls capital crimes or capital offences. There are many of reasons why the death penalty should not be carried out in America or anywhere “Application of the death penalty tends to be arbitrary and capricious; for similar crimes, some are sentenced to death while others are not.”
Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a legal process in which a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime by the government of a nation. The United States is in the minority group of nations that uses the death penalty. There are thirty-three states that allow capital punishment and seventeen states that abolished it (Death Penalty Information Center). The morality of the death penalty has been debated for many years. Some people want capital punishment to be abolished due to how it can cost a lot more than life imprisonment without parole, how they think it is immoral to kill, and how innocent people can be put to death.
Eliot Spitzer once said, “Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.” Many people in America are in favor of capital punishment because some crimes violate the moral codes of our society.
In “Deterrence and the Death Penalty: Why the Statistics Should Be Ignored,” Daniel Nagin explains why the statistics are not reliable. According to researchers, studies have reached different and contradictory outcomes. Some studies say that executions save numerous lives and other studies say that executions increase homicides while others say that executions have no effect on homicide. The National Research Council recommends that studies on the effect of capital punishment on homicide is not informative about whether capital punishment decreases, increases, or has no effect on homicide rates. Thus, the committee suggests that these studies should not be used as reliable information on how death penalty affects homicide.
Rough Draft Is the death penalty an effective and justified punishment? This is a topic many Americans have discussed for a long time, and has caused much controversy. Both sides have their pros and cons, and they will be discussed. The first point that many people have about capital punishment is that it’s unconstitutional.
Many people would argue about the essentiality of the death penalty in deterring crimes and others would
The death penalty shouldn’t be abolished nationwide. There are several different reasons why we should keep the death penalty. Some of reasons death penalty is still legal in most of the states is because it is viewed as revenge for pain and suffering that the criminal inflicted on the victim. In the same way, some people strongly believe that a person who has taken the life of another person does not have a right to live. The death penalty has proven to decrease the number of murder rates in the United States And some believe that convicts should not be allowed to live their life behind bars, it is better to kill them.
In conclusion the idea that the death penalty should be abolished can be supported by many reasons that include extensive evidence. With the death penalty still established we are putting innocent people's lives at risk, spending millions, and continue with racial segregation. The idea that someone's opinion in court can decide the fate of another person is
This article discusses individual cases and crimes and gives analysis of the arguments made against death penalty in real world. Firstly it discusses the deterrence argument while going through a number of cases. The conclusion is that it has no effect on reducing homicides but ironically it breeds violence as in some cases offenders committed a capital crime in a territory where execution still prevails while they could have easily avoided it. Second thing discussed is the cost, the research in article shows that it costs significantly more money to put a convict to death than to incarcerate him for life in a prison. Moreover it is shown that in many cases criminals are executed while there are reasonable doubts in their convictions and some have avoided execution by just a few hours before being exonerated.
Capital Punishment is the death penalty for those who commit murder. The thought behind this punishment is a life for a life. There has been debate on if the death penalty is right or wrong. Some poeple want the death penalty to be illegal while others argue it is needed to deter crime. There are many valid arguments regarding the death penalty.