The death penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to sea. We hear about shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships the lighthouse guides safely on their way. We do not have proof of the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the lighthouse down. - poet Hyman Barshay
In May 2006 a Gallup Poll found that overall support of the death penalty was 65%. Punishment deters crime it follows that death should deter crime more effectively than less severe punishment will. The death penalty prevents murders from murdering again and saves innocent lives and we must choose the option that saves innocent lives. If we chose not to use executions as a deterrent to crime a loss of innocent lives would be the result. In a 1986 study done by Professor Stephen K. Layson of the University of North Carolina, he found that 18 murders were deterred by each execution is the U.S.
The argument that life in prison deters crime as well as the death penalty is false. A convicted murder sentenced to life without parole has no deterrent to stop him from committing more crimes to include continuing to murder people while in prison. We have no way to defend against them and protect the safety of correction officers. If they were to escape from prison then what is to stop them from killing people. For example on December 27, 2006, Officer Bryan Tuvera, 28, died in the line of duty after being shot by Marlon Ruff, who was being sought after escaping from a California correctional facility. There are some crimes that for which mere imprisonment seems an inadequate punishment . Society's sense of justice is deeply offended when a brutal murderer such as Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer who killed sodomized and cannibalized his victims, is allowed to live in prison. The victims of a murder will never be able to see their children grow up, enjoy a meal, laugh, while a murderer sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole still can do these things. Furthermore the loved ones of the victim are among the taxpayers that endure the cost of supporting a murder for the rest of their lives.
We can not continue to support those who violate our human rights and murder our loved ones. We most show compassion for the victims of violent crime and concern for future victims. The death penalty helps prevent future crime a murder has been deterred from committing more crimes when he is executed
14 years ago
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The blog Warning: We Must Save Innocent Lives posits that "The death penalty helps prevent future crime a murder has been deterred from committing more crimes when he is executed." This conclusion was made using data gathered by the Gallup Poll, which is emotionally stemmed fluxuating opinions, and a study more than 20 years old that arbitrarily claims for every execution 18 murders are deterred.
The statement made by the author, "The death penalty prevents murders from murdering again and saves innocent lives and we must choose the option that saves innocent lives," is misleading and no way to be proven. I do agree with the fact that if someone were to be executed they would not be able to murder anybody due to the fact that they would cease to exist, but the claim to know the future intentions is far fetched. There is no way to be sure that someone will take another life again and there is no way to be certain that by executing someone you are saving an "innocent" life. With this idea all one would be achieving is deterring the possibility of one person committing a murder crime.
In the blog Warning: We Must Save Innocent Lives the claim was made that "the death penalty helps prevent future crime." According to www.disastercenter.com/crime/, the statistics do not support this conclusion. This website includes statistics from the year 2007. In 2007 from the 36 states that do enforce the death penalty the average number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants was about 6.2. In 2007 from the 14 states that do not enforce the death penalty the averager number of murders per 100,000 inhabitants was about 3.1. According to these statistics capital punishment has very little or no effect as a deterrent.
However, I do agree with the author that feeding the system money for long-term imprisonment is not an effective enough way to deal with murder crimes as a deterrent. I believe there are other successful methods as a means of deterrence such as organizing neighborhood watches and after-school programs for young teens and young adults. Methods of prevention prove to have more effective outcomes than dealing with problems as they come.
Justifiable murders, capital punishment, is not the answer to dealing with murder crimes. All it may do is serve as an irrational quick-fix for the victims unfortunately going through a tragedy.
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