by Julia Beirut

Created on: November 28, 2008

The Death Penalty should be used in murder cases. If a murder is solved without a reasonable doubt, the criminal should lose their life just as the victim did. Of course numerous checks and balances must be in place to ensure the convicted murderer really did commit the crime. DNA evidence and other clues must be analyzed and proven to be accurate before the death penalty is considered.

America's murder rate is much higher than that in other countries. If criminals knew they would receive the death penalty if convicted of murder they may possibly not commit the crime of murder. We have too many criminals with guns in America and murder is now far too common.

Americans need to know there will be serious consequences if someone is murdered. Families who lose a beloved due to gun violence or other forms of murder should not have to suffer the second tragedy of watching the criminal receive a light sentence that does not reflect the seriousness of the crime they committed.

I am liberal in most regards. However, murder is such a heinous crime that there must be consequences that are severe enough to prohibit the crime. Also, there should not be such a thing as a "cold case." All murder investigations should remain open until the criminal is captured and brought to justice.

With crime rates increasing as the nation faces financial difficulties the murder rate may be soon soaring. Too many criminals resort to murder in crimes gone wrong. If a homeowner arrives home in the midst of a robbery too often they will be murdered. If a mugging victim fights back they may also be murdered. Criminals escalate a robbery into a murder too often and if they knew doing so might cause them to lose their life via the death penalty they may use more caution instead or randomly murdering during crimes.

America's children are growing up hearing about too many murders on the news. The murder of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew is an example of a case where the death penalty is warranted. To gun down most of a family due to a domestic conflict is alarming and may not have occurred if the criminal knew that he would receive the death penalty. Murder is an ongoing reality in the lives of inner city children. They hear gun shots at night all the time. They grow up knowing many people who are murdered. Their reality is one shaped by violence and that is tragic.

America must enforce the death penalty to lower murder rates and ensure criminals know that if they kill someone they will receive the death penalty.

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