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Death Penalty
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| Yes | 44% | 789 votes | Total: 1808 votes | |
| No | 56% | 1019 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesIs the Death Penalty and effective deterrent to crime? Indeed it is. "How so", do you ask. "How does taking the life of the criminal resonate as fair treatment"? you argue.
The secret that those who oppose terminating the life of a violent killer don't want you to know is that it does provide noticeable decreases in the number of violent crimes wherever it is "effectively" administered.
I use the word "effectively" in conjunction with capital punishment for a very simple reason. Most states do not utilize the aforementioned penalty effectively. I person assigned to execution and death row can wait for 10, 20, even 25 years sometimes before that sentence is carried out. That is not effective, that is pure hypocrisy. The person who is to be executed has to have committed a crime which usually consisted of extreme brutality and pre-meditation. They thought about the crime, they perhaps fantasized about it, they planned it out in detail, and than carried it out. Oftentimes the victims were completely un-aware that their lives were about to be ended, in many cases after much agonizing suffering and pain.
We are obligated in this country by our refusal to allow "cruel and unusual punishment" to provide a quick, relatively pain-free death experience for these individuals for whom the taking of an Innocent life meant so little. But when done effectively, with minimum wait times and proper public exposure, others who may be thinking about similar criminal activity just may think twice, or even three times, before deciding the end does not justify the action about to be taken. Is that not the measure of a deterrent.
If even one life is saved, if even one potentially violent subject retreats from performing violence because of the knowledge of the consequences of those actions, than Capital Punishment as a deterrent has served it's purpose. Have we as a society become so calloused to death and suffering that it is acceptable to us to show compassion for someone for whom compassion is not a word in their vocabulary. Should we show compassion to a violent killer and demean the life of an innocent victim and their families in the name of compassion for a killer. What does it say about the state of the Republic when we give a free ride for life in a prison cell to someone who without care or compunction took the life of an innocent citizen of the Republic.
As a deterrent, the death penalties effectiveness is evident if it saves even one sacred life. That is the measure after all of a deterrent.
Learn more about this author, Larry Head.
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No
The death penalty is not now nor has it ever been a deterrent with respect to the commission of capital offenses. It has been manipulated by the media and society as the ultimate punishment, despite the statistical evidence to the contrary. The statistical evidence shows that the murder rate has continued to decrease as the number of states adopting laws that prohibit the death penalty have increased. In fact, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center, states that allow the death penalty have always had higher murder rates than those states which do not. In 2007 alone, the murder rate was 42% higher in death penalty states than it was in non-death penalty states. This statistic alone highlights the inefficacy of the death penalty as a deterrent to capitol crimes.
The deterrent effect of capitol punishment has been questioned or dismissed by Supreme Court justices, the U.S. Attorney General, legal scholars, and legal and sociological educators alike. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the NAACP have assailed the deterrent effect as non-existent and as an invalid justification for a barbaric practice that is unconstitutional.
Worldwide, 92 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. This again, points to the total lack of efficacy as a deterrent to capitol crimes. In those nations where capitol punishment is still allowed or embraced, it is used more as a tool for eradicating political dissent and for exerting social control than it is for punishing capitol offenses. Currently, the United Nations has in place a moratorium on death penalty executions. Resolution 62/149 passed and was adopted by an overwhelming majority of 104 member nations. Of the 54 nations that voted against it, most noteworthy are China and the United States. Despite the fact that the U.S. carried out 111 executions in 2008, there is increasing evidence the U.S. is slowly turning away from the death penalty, as death penalty sentences have continued to decrease since their peak in the mid 1990's.
The reasons that the death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent are varied in scope and nature. Since murder is the most common reason that the sentence is sought, you have to look at how and why most murders occur. A large percentage of fatal assaults occur when the perpetrator is in a state of altered consciousness. That is to say they're under the influence of either alcohol or some type of drug. People who are drunk or high are not typically rational and are not considering the consequences of their actions. The reticence of juries to hand down the sentence may be another contributing factor. Regardless of what reason you choose, the reality is that the death penalty does not have a deterrent effect, and should be abandoned as a rationalization for the practice.
Learn more about this author, Victor Mikulin.
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