However, more and more crimes are now able to be punishable by death. This is the result of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which “dramatically increased the number of federal crimes eligible for this sentence” (Scheb, 520). Even so, the federal government has yet to put someone on death row for a non-homicidal case. The arguments for and against capital punishment are lengthy and strictly opinionated, but are also important to see the evolution of our society as the majority view changes and new influences come about. The main dispute for those who favor capital punishment is due to the fact that death is the “ultimate incapacitation” (Siegel, 411).
In order to effectively evaluate whether or not the death penalty is applicable, we must first determine a few of the more important aspects of the issue. First, we must look at whether or not it is effective; if it deters crime. Next, we should look at the cost differences between imprisonment and capital punishment. Finally, legal and moral issues should be contemplated. Once these factors have been looked at, I feel it will be apparent that the death penalty is the only answer in dealing with certain criminals.
Second, those favoring capital punishment contend that society should support those practices that will bring about the greatest balance of good over evil, and capital punishment is one such practice. Capital punishment benefits society because it may deter violent crime. While it is difficult to produce direct evidence to support this claim since, by definition, those who are deterred by the death penalty do not commit murders, common sense tells us that they will die if they perform a certain act, they will be unwilling to perform that act. If the threat of death stays in the hand of a would-be murder, and we abolish the death penalty, we will sacrifice the lives of many innocent victims whose murders could have been deterred. But if, in fact, the death penalty does not deter, and we continue to impose it, we have only sacrificed the lives of convicted murderers.
Deathpenaltycurriculum.org reports, “Moreover, even if some studies regarding deterrence are inconclusive, that is only because the death penalty is rarely used and takes years before an execution is actually carried out”. Not only that but some states that don’t have the death penalty have lower crimes rates than those that do. In my opinion the death penalty should be abolished due to many purposeful reasons including: financial costs, the process slowing down the court system, life in prison being far more effective, possibility of convicting and killing an innocent person, and violating “cruel and unusual” punishment clause. According to balancepolitics.org, it cost two to five times more than keeping that same criminal in prison for life. The reasons for such high financial costs are the endless appeals, additional procedures, legal processes, paying people, lawyer costs, and even the execution itself based on which type.
Statisitcs show that Homicide rates are actually higher in states and regions that have the death penalty than in those that don’t. The death penalty should be illegal because you don’t gain anything from it. The death penalty costs a lot of money than keeping him/her in jail for a lifetime. The death penalty is morally wrong, nobody should have that much power to choose life or death on a human being. In some cases the legal system gets it wrong.
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”).
Capital Punishment and Violent Crime Hypothesis Most Americans are pro-death penalty, even though they don't really believe that it is an effective deterrent to violent crime. Those who are pro-death penalty will remain so, even if faced with the best arguments of anti-death penalty activists and told to assume the arguments were absolutely true. Violent crime Violent crime is a major problem in the United States. According to the ACLU, the violent crime rate rose sixty-one percent nationwide over the last two decades, making America one of the most dangerous countries in the industrialized world to live in. Americans are seven to ten times more likely to be murdered than the residents of most European countries and Japan are.
General deterrence try’s to find options to prevent crime from happening in the first place. Specific deterrence finds ways to prevent the criminals from re-offending in the future by punishing them for their previous criminal activities. Having the state impose the death penalty, helps deter indiv... ... middle of paper ... ...ristics such as age, race, gender, education etc. The only way to use this sample is if other methods are not available. In order for a purposive sampling approach to be successful, researchers need to be careful and not use results from previous convenience samples (Purposive sampling, 2012).
The majority of the world’s population lives in countries where the death penalty is legal (Kronenwetter 88). Does that statistic coincide with the higher murder rates? It definitely seems plausible, however there is no way to be certain. In all 38 states where capital punishment is legal, murder must be committed in the 1st degree in order to be eligible for the death penalty, meaning it is a capital crime (Kronenwetten 18). It is said that the death penalty is meant to serve two principle social purposes: retribution and deterrence of further capital crimes (Brenner 62).
Lauri Friedman quotes, “Executions simply inject more violence into an already hostile American society.” The cost of the Death Penalty is highly expensive. A case to put someone in jail costs on average two million three hundred thousand dollars on average while to put an inmate in jail for forty years cost on average seven hundred and sixty thousand dollars (Friedman 11). In Texas the death penalty cost three times more money than putting an inmate in the highest security level in a jail for forty years (4). It also takes time for a death penalty case to be processed and a convict to be sentenced to the death penalty. Then it takes more time for the state to act and to administer the death penalty to people on death row.