by Robert Borneman

Created on: April 23, 2008

Capital punishment, or the 'death sentence,' has been part of civilized life since civilizations first emerged and probably even before that. Human need for punishment goes beyond merely demonstrating to the offender that what he did was wrong; it is also a form of revenge for the victims, a way to help them move on.

The most blindly ignorant argument against the death sentence is that it is 'cruel' or 'inhumane'. The death sentence is reasonably humane when compared to life in a cell. A cell likely surrounded with other inmates trying to rape, stab, and kill each other. Not to mention, it costs about $25,000 a year to imprison the average federal prisoner. This is money coming out of each one of our pockets that none of us should have to pay. This price goes up for prisoners waiting on death row. So why not go ahead and kill them? It would save prison space. Save tax dollars. Save inmates lives. Wheres the bad part?

If the death penalty was used more readily, it WOULD deter violent crimes. And for those that it would not deter, well, they were already on the path to death anyway so what is the difference?

The only underlying problem with this issue is the justice system itself. Often, from the top down, authority figures are too quick to place judgment and make accusations. This is because of the inherent problem with giving somebody the power to punish, the power to walk the streets wielding a gun and a badge. Not to say that police are all crooked, but too much of a power trip is awarded to all too average of people in the form of police officers. When this is coupled with the fact that in almost all cases the judges automatically agree with whatever the arresting officers say, a serious problem arises. It is now 'guilty until proven innocent,' not the other way around.

This directly affects the issue of the death sentence because so many people are falsely arrested and incarcerated. While I believe the death sentence works and is needed, we must first be more thorough in 'iffy' cases. Guilt should once again have to be PROVEN WITHOUT A DOUBT, especially in cases judging life and death.

The death sentence is a necessity of the judicial system. Without it, the costs of keeping prisoners in prison will skyrocket. The new death sentence will be American tax payers paying to have criminals in prison for entire lifetimes. Not to mention the lessoned threat to those who want to commit violent crimes when you take away the death penalty. Capital punishment has been around for thousands of years and, as it is a necessity, it will continue on.

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