Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper
Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is an extreme punishment used to correct extreme
crimes. The death penalty has been used for centuries before Christ and
hopefully centuries after him. The old version of the death penalty was used
for strange crimes such as : marrying a Jew, cutting down a tree, treason, or
stealing. Capital punishment today is more humane today with new methods
like lethal injection and the chair compared to old ways like drawing and
quartering, the guillotine, and boiling to death. Capital punishment is needed
in society today more than ever because of its many purposes. The death
penalty justifies crimes, retribution for families, and deters other people from
committing the same mistake. We can not disregard capital punishment or
the criminals that deserve it.
Although capital punishment serves a good and fair purpose there are
some faults in it. The government wastes too much money in the processes of
appeals for the convicted felons in capital punishment cases. Without the
costs of appeals the cost of an execution would go down by seventy-five
percent making it more economic than a life sentence. Another major
problem has been the past record of executing innocent people. With the
technological advancements of today there should be no doubt of a person?s
innocence. You can not make an omelet without breaking some eggs, there
are bound to be mistakes but innocent people can not be killed. But, besides
the millions of dollars spent and the few martyrs of the legal system capital
punishment has been very effective.
The punishment should fit the crime. If you are willing to take a life
then your life should be taken from you. Murder is the most gruesome crime
that one commit, the only acceptable punishment is death. Life in prison does
not justify the murder of someone. Life in prison consists of 3 meals a day,
plenty of sleep, working out, besides the daily rapes it almost seems like a
Club Med. The guilty person is given everything for free at the expense of
the taxpayers.
The families of the victims need something to fill the void caused by
the murder. Grieving with the loss of a loved one is not hard when the
murderer is living well everyday and is not paying for his crime. These
families need to see that the criminal gets what he deserves. The only
acceptable restitution is the death of the guilty, this principle has been used
since the beginning of time, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, should
be used to thin out the number of convicted murders. Criminals need to
realize that they should serve a just punishment for their crimes.
Capital punishment is not all about bad things, some very good things
come out of it. Thousands of people each year are turned off lives of crime
because they see where it leads. It deters people from making the mistakes
other people made. We should go back to the old form of executions, where
they are public and the dignity of the convicted is taken away for all to see.
Too many people sit on Death Row each year and are not executed like their
sentence stated. People should be killed 1 year after they are convicted, this
will free up space in jails and cut back on appeals as well as deterring
would-be murderers.
In conclusion we need capital punishment to come out of hibernation in
this country. Every year millions are added to the long lines of Death Row
and are not executed. The death penalty is the only acceptable answer to the
growing number of murders committed each year. If we abolish capital
punishment than we are not helping the families, deterring others, and not
giving the guilty their just punishment. Capital punishment is not only about
death, it also helps save lives.