by Madison Starr

Created on: April 09, 2008

The death penalty does not effectively deter people from committing violent crime. If it did, wouldn't the states and countries that enforce it be absent of murder and other crimes warranting that specific punishment?

Granted, the death penalty may be enough to deter some criminals from committing violent acts. However, history has shown that not all are "scared away" by the concept of being put to death for their crimes. People like John Wayne Gacy, Aileen Wournos, Ted Bundy, and Richard Ramirez were not stopped by the possibility of the death penalty.

They may be considered extreme cases and not typical of the common criminal but they have caused considerable damage to a multitude of individuals. Some theories indicate that serial murderers have a predisposition to kill that supersedes all other urges, leading one to believe that they will commit their crimes even if it means dire consequences.

For some criminals, it appears that an effective deterrent does not even exist. These individuals have ceased to live with fear or remorse. Committing a heinous act of violence becomes second nature and the idea of being put to death does not cause them to pause and question their actions.

When discussing the death penalty regarding the more "common" criminal, such as the thief, the drug dealer, or the prostitute, the issue becomes more complex. If the penalty in the US were death for any of the above crimes, would we see a significant decrease of those crimes? What about violent gangs who terrorize neighborhoods with drive-by shootings and dangerous initiation techniques? Would we see less of them?

I cannot answer those questions with certainty since the penalty of death is not given for those crimes in my country. I can speculate, however. I believe the death penalty would be somewhat effective for the "common" criminal and deter some from committing certain crimes.

Having said that, however, I would not support the death penalty if it were directed at certain criminals. For example, if an individual steals food due to starvation, I do not believe he or she should be put to death. One such person would evoke more pity in me than hostility.

Society is full of crime. The death penalty is not a new form of punishment. If it was not an effective crime deterrent fifty years ago, it is not one now. The problem lies in society's unwillingness or inability to rehabilitate most criminals. We want them gone. We want them to disappear. We send them to a prison and forget about them

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