Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good

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Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good

Putting to death people judged to have committed certain extremely

terrible crimes is a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States

in the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a very

controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the

Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in

1977. Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are many

voices raised against it. People all over the country debate this issue

quite frequently. They question the deterrent effect, morality, executions

of innocents, and many more. I have heard a lot about the death penalty

and feel that the arguments against it are not at all convincing.

Some people argue that capital punishment is morally wrong. They

feel that killing some one for their crime is murder. In any dictionary it

states that murder is the unlawful act of killing. Since capitol

punishment is within the law it is not murder. Also if executions is

murder then prison is kidnapping and charging taxes is extortion. There is

a difference between crime and punishment. Are police officers wrong for

speeding to enforce the speeding laws? No. They also say that we should

value all human life. Even the most despicable. It is because we value

human life so much that we put such a terrible consequence for taking it.

One argument states that the death penalty does not deter people

from murdering. To abolish capital punishment on this basis would be way

off base. You would also have to get rid of prisons because they do not

keep people from committing crimes also. Texas A&M University collected

data and the results are horrifying. In 1960 there were 56 executions and

9,140 murders. In 1964 there were 15 executions and 9, 250 murders. In

1969 there were no executions and 14,590 murders. Seven more years without

executions and there was 20,510 murders. As you can see the deterrent

effect is there and works very well.

As you can see the death penalty is for the common good and it

saves lives. People out there say that the death penalty is wrong, but

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