Capital Punishment - Cruel and Inhumane?

The fact is that the criminal had the choice between right and wrong, and by choosing to do the wrong thing, he or she gave up the right to dictate his or her future. Death penalty cases do cost extra than a life without parole sentence; however, because there are a greater number of life without parole sentences, the costs even out. The deterrence of crime that the death penalty creates is not seen very well in statistics because of some flaws in the research. Although the statistics are not in favor nor against capital punishment, common sense is in favor of the death penalty. Ernest Van Den Haag, a supporter of the death penalty once said, “People fear nothing more than death.” This fear of death has the ability to dissuade criminals.

If capital punishment were carried out more it would prove to be the crime preventative it was partly intended to be. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives were at stake. Use of the death penalty as intended by law could actually reduce the number of violent murders by eliminating some of the repeat offenders. The death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. In the future, many problems could be resolved keeping the death penalty and not getting rid of it.

"Maldistribution inheres no more in capital punishment than in any other punishment." (Haag 274) Fear of the death penalty can be a good deterrent. Many people also try to abolish the death penalty by talking about the suffering a convicted murderer has to go through, but what about what the victim had to go through. Further, if we get rid of the death penalty it will show that we are not willing to impose our punishments on people who brake our laws. Some maldistribution of the death penalty is unavoidable, but that does not mean we should throw out the death penalty.

2.0 Arguments Against Death Punishment The execution of violent criminal has its long history. To many people, it is conceived as a good way to punish criminals and protect innocent people. However I am going to argue that death punishment is not an efficient mean to punish violent criminals In particular, death punishment is more expensive and failed to show its deterrent effect. In addition to that, death punishment can have irreversible effect on innocent people. On the contrary, life imprisonment is a better alternative.

Retributivism says that punishment is necessary to achieve justice (Steffen 9).Capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and should prove much safer for the rest of us than long term or permanent incarceration. It is self evident that dead criminals cannot commit any further crimes, either within prison or after escaping or being released from it (“Arguments”). The death penalty also serves as a better financial solution versus someone serving a life long sentence. Money is not an inexhaustible commodity and the government may very well, better spend our money on the old, the young and the sick, etc. rather than on the long term imprisonments of murders and rapist(“Arguments”).

The controversy between whether criminals who have committed heinous crimes should be charged with the death penalty has been debated worldwide. Putting people to death, judged to have committed certain extremely abhorrent crimes, is a practice that has been around for a long time. However, in the later half of the twentieth century, it has become a controversial issue. As a supporter of the death penalty, I believe that it is essential part of the criminal justice system to deter crime. There are several reasons it should be in effect including: proof that capital punishment does deter crime that would warrant this sentence, retribution for heinous crimes, and the morality of punishing someone who has committed a crime so horrendous.

Additionally, according to Amnesty International “‘the death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.”’(“Capital Punishment”). Also, the decision is too final, it does not allow the chance for the convicted to be proven innocent, and that... ... middle of paper ... ... the death penalty deters crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. States that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime rates or murder rates than states without such laws”’ (“Top Ten”). The death penalty has been around for many years, yet there has been no real impact on crime rates. In fact, states with the death penalty have a higher murder rate than those without (“Capital Punishment”).

The Debate over the merits of capital punishment has endured for years, and continues to be an extremely complicated issue. Adversaries of capital punishment point to the Marshalls and the Millgards, while proponents point to the Dahmers and Gacys. Capital punishment is the legal infliction of the death penalty on persons convicted of a crime (Cox). It is not intended to inflict any physical pain or any torture; it is only another form of punishment. It is irrevocable because it removes those punished from society permanently, instead of temporarily imprisoning them.

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the hardest form of punishment enforced in the United States today. It is a controversial issue that continues to be debated by the American public. Most of the factors people do not agree on the issue of Capital punishment is immoral and for this reason should not be allowed in our society. On the other hand, there are many reasons for the support of Capital punishment. Capital punishment protects the innocent of society against the violence of criminals.

By putting the criminals to death, the people all around us are protected from future crimes. Although it is a logical reason, there is no credible evidence that the death penalty decreases crimes (ACLU, 2007). States that practice the death penalty do not lower crime rates compared to states which have only lifetime imprisonment as the highest form of punishment. Both punishments show the same results as thoroughly researched by the social science research in America. (ACLU, 2007) Crimes interfere with the peace and order of society (Budziszewski, 2004).