In Favor of Capital Punishment I believe that the death penalty is the best and fairest punishment for people who have taken other peoples lives. Here are some interesting facts about the death penalty. Did you know that 70% of all Americans support the death penalty? Murder rates have also been down since the death penalty was reinforced. And rehab techniques are so underdeveloped that no one is ever certain that a murderer can be rehabilitated (supporting capital). First of all, if someone has taken someone elses life, in most cases their life should be taken also.
If a person is so imcompassionate for human beings and just doesnt care what happens to anyone; if they are sick enough to take the life of someone else, their life should be taken also. Second of all, would you rather pay for someone to be in prison for life in an environment that is most likely better than where they were if they werent there? You can argue that capital punishment costs more tax dollars. However, would you rather pay for someone who has brutally taken the life of someone else to die than have them stay in a prison that is nicer than where they would be on the street if they werent in prison? For example, Consider crime as a career alternative. It is, you know. Granted it’s not a viable alternative for me or you. The consequences of being caught would be far too great — we have too much to lose.
But consider, of all the things we’re not willing to risk sacrificing, there are lots and lots of people who don’t have those things. For someone in that position, consider the advantages: No education requirements. No previous experience needed. No startup capital required in most cases, and minimal capital required in any case.
Flexible work hours. Be your own boss. Medical and retirement plans provided free by the government. Low risk. Low risk? Well, yes.
The odds of being apprehended at all are very low, and even if you are arrested you’ll get free legal assistance (Savage, Leo). And plus, prisons are becoming more and more crowded. The governments solution to overcrowded prisons is to spend billions of tax dollars to make more of them. This is a lot more than it is going to cost the government to execute someone (Stern, Eric). Next, since most inmates receive parole when they have life in prison for killing someone, the murderer is back on the street in 20-40 years.
Would you want them back out there killing more innocent people? Since the prisons are becoming more and more crowded, people in the prisons are more likely to be let out earlier to make room for more prisoners, putting the original murderers back out on the streets (Stern, Eric). Lastly, and I believe, most importantly, what if someone were to brutally murder one of your family members. Wouldnt you want the murderer to die? Why would you want them still in a jail, knowing that he is receiving ample amounts of food and still living his life after killing someone so close to you? Most people who are against the death penalty argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment (pragmatic arguments). What they dont think about is what the murderer did was also cruel and unusual. You can also argue that the death penalty is not biblically right, but I believe God was addressing the legal community in Leviticus 24:7 when he says, “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death,” and in Numbers 35:31 when he says, “Ye shall take no satisfaction or ransom for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death:but shall surely be put to death.” Men have never ceased to kill their own kind. They have killed in war, in anger out of envy or gain, and have enacted laws authorizing them to kill those who violate Gods laws.
In doing these things, they have violated Gods law which forbids the killing of all men (Berns, Walter). The solution to the question of “is the death penalty morally right?” is YES. For someone who has murdered someone else, the death penalty, in many cases, is the solution. We do not need these murderers living in our world any longer. Its simple: the death penalty is the best solution to people who have brutally taken the lives of others. Why would you want someone who has killed another person: -to be back on the streets in 20-40 years killing others? -if the person who they have killed is a member of your family, the murderer only get life in prison? -to be supported by your tax dollars in a prison with substantial food and recreational facilities? Lets have the US continue to support the death penalty.
Bibliography Works Cited Berns,Walter. For Capital Punishment. Basic Books, Inc. 1979: 12-13 Marcus, Noreen.
“Steps In The Death Penalty Court Process.” SIRS Researcher. Winter 1998. Wilson, Tom. “Pragmatic Arguments Against the Death Penalty.” Personal Home Page. Online.
Microsoft Internet Explorer. 22 September 1999. Savage, Leo. “The Crime Wave.” Personal Home Page. Online.
Microsoft Internet Explorer. 8 October 1999. Stern, Eric. “Lawmakers Hear NCs Tale of Targeting Prison Expansion.” Iowa Gazette Online. 12 January 1999. “Supporting Capital Punishment.” Medina High School Online: Civics Projects.
Online. Microsoft Internet Explorer. 22 September 1999.
