Capital Punishment The Death Penalty example essay topic

Capital Punishment: For or Against? Capital punishment is a very controversial issue, but it is a just penalty for murderers. Murderers forfeit their lives for taking the life of another. Capital punishment deters criminals from committing violet crimes. Incapacitating criminals is also another form of deterrence.

The death penalty removes harmful criminals from society. In doing this, people can feel much safer knowing that there is one less criminal on the streets. The death penalty is also more economical than life without parole. Capital punishment is good for society, and should be used in a more timely manner.

Punishment is used to decrease a person's actions. The severity of the punishment depends on the severity of the crime. Capital punishment is not used to be cruel, but it is used to decrease a person's actions. Capital punishment helps to decrease violent actions, and without it there would be nothing to decrease a person's actions. Everyone who receives the death penalty must have committed a capital offense. There is an important rule in the civil law to keep in mind.

The rule is that the punishment should not exceed the crime. This means if someone were to steal a package of bubble gum, he or she should not be sentenced to death, but if someone went around killing people, then he or she should get the death penalty. I think that capital punishment should only be used for serious crimes. Although there are many arguments that disagree with capital punishment there is also a fair share of arguments that favor capital punishment. People use the Bible for reasons to support and to disagree with capital punishment. The death penalty makes more sense economically than life without parole.

Life without parole is more costly to the taxpayers. The taxpayers pay for the housing of the prisoners and for the food. The numerous court appeals also waste many hours and lots of money. By doing this, America encourages people to commit serious crimes because the criminals know that they will have food to eat and a bed to sleep in. I believe that the prisoners do not get what they deserve. The death penalty prevents criminals from committing anymore crimes.

Life without parole cannot keep criminals from murdering the prison guards, or even other inmates. This also cannot deter people from taking hostages to try to escape. The people that are in prison for life have nothing to lose. No matter how good the security is there will always be someone who tries to escape. Occasionally, some of the people will be successful at it. If you are in jail for life then you have endless time to come up with a plan to escape.

Another argument for capital punishment is for vengeance / justice. Many people feel that killing convicted murderers will satisfy their need for justice and / or vengeance. They feel that certain crimes are so heinous that executing the criminal is the only reasonable response (Robinson 1). One reason why people are opposed to capital punishment is because of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Some Christians feel that they are no longer bound by the legal codes of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that the death penalty is no longer required.

Since the Bible was written, as society became more tolerant, we eliminated the death penalty for pre-marital sex, practicing a different religion, engaging in prostitution, homosexual behavior, blasphemy, rebellion by teenagers, etc. We should eliminate it for murder as well (Robinson 2). Another reason people are opposed to the death penalty is because of the chance of error. Many convicted murderers are later found innocent, and have been pardoned. It is impossible to pardon a corpse. In 1987, a study was published by the Stanford Law Review.

They found some evidence that suggested that at least 350 people between 1900 and 1985 in America might have been innocent of the crime for which they were convicted, and could have been sentenced to death. 139 'were sentenced to death and as many as 23 were executed" (Robinson 2). People argue that the death penalty in fact does not reduce crime rate, and they say it actually raises it. A body of research has found over and over again, in state after state, that the use of the death penalty increases, and often sharply increases, the number of homicides (Potter 5). These are some statistics put out by the Bureau of Justice in February of this year. In 2003, 65 inmates were executed, 6 fewer than in 2002.

In 2002, 71 persons in 13 States were executed -- 33 in Texas; 7 in Oklahoma, 6 in Missouri; 4 each in Georgia and Virginia, 3 each in Florida, South Carolina, and Ohio; 2 each in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina; and 1 each in Louisiana and California. Of those 71 persons executed 53 were white and 18 were black. Also of those 71, 69 were men and 2 were women. Lethal injection accounted for 70 of the executions; one was carried out by electrocution (Capital Punishment Statistics 1). All in all I believe capital punishment helps deter criminals from committing heinous crimes. The death penalty makes a greater impact on criminals than life without parole.

I think that if the death penalty was abolished it would be one of the most foolish things the United States has done. If the death penalty were gone, criminals would have nothing to fear. ' Capital Punishment Statistics. ' 09 2004.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. Bureau of Justice. 29 10 04. Potter, Garry W. 'Capital Punishment Is An Effective Crime Policy.

' 201999. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Mozilla Firefox. 04 Nov 2004 Robinson, Bruce A. 'Basic Reasons: Pro and Anti.

' 28 2002. Capital Punishment-The Death Penalty. Religious Tolerance. 04 Nov 2004.