Capital Punishment

“Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment and since ancient times it has been used for a wide variety of offences” (www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk). The death penalty has always been and continues to be a very hot issue. People on both sides of the issue argue continually to gain further support for their movements. While opponents of capital punishment are quick to point out that the United States remains one of the few Western countries that continues to support the death penalty, Americans are also more likely to encounter violent crime than citizens of other countries. Justice mandates that criminals get what they deserve.

“In the United States, about 13,000 people have been legally executed since colonial times”. By the 1930's up to 150 people were executed each year. “Lack of public support for capital punishment and various legal challenges reduced the execution rate to near zero by 1967. The United States Supreme Court banned the practice in 1972. In 1976, the Supreme Court authorized its resumption. Each state can now decide whether or not to have the death penalty. As of 2002, only the District of Columbia and 12 states do not have the death penalty. The states which have abolished executions are: Alaska, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. However, seven jurisdictions have the death penalty but have not performed any executions since 1976: Connecticut, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota and the United States military” (www.religioustolerance.org).

When executions were resumed in 1976, until July 1, 2002, there have been 784 executions in the United States. About 30 to 60 prisoners are now killed yearly, most by lethal injection. “About two out of three executions are conducted in five states: Texas, Virginia, Missouri, Florida and Oklahoma. Texas leads the other states in number of killings (256 killings; 34% of the national total). There were about 3,690 prisoners sentenced to death in 37 state death rows, and 31 being held by the U.S. government and military”. Essentially all of the persons executed are male. Since 1976 when executions resumed, there have only been three women executed. About 90% of those executed could not afford a lawyer when they went to trial. They had to depend upon a court-appointed lawyer (www.religioustolerance.org).

The murder rate in those states with the death penalty is nearly double the rate in states without the death penalty. It is unknown whether this is due to people in “high-homicide” states demanding the death penalty as a supposed deterrent, or use of the death penalty by the state decreases the value of life, and causes a high murder rate.

Debates that support the death penalty include: Incapacitation of the criminal, cost, retribution, and deterrence. For Incapacitation of the criminal, capital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society and should prove to be more cheap and safe for the public than long term or permanent imprisonment. It is obvious that dead criminals can not commit any further crimes, either in prison or after escaping or being released from it.

The cost of the death penalty verses life in prison is a heavily debated issue. There are many opposing sources on the costs; both sides have arguments to which option is the most cost effective.

According to a private study, “retribution is seen by many as an acceptable reason for the death penalty” (www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk). Execution is a very real punishment rather than some form of "rehabilitative" treatment, the criminal is made to suffer in proportion to the offence. Although whether there is a place in a modern society for the old fashioned principal of "lex talens" (an eye for an eye) is a matter of personal opinion.

Deterrence is used as an argument for the pro death penalty debaters. They think that the fear of death will deter those who are contemplating murder from doing it. Statistics show that the crime rate is reduced in all states that hold the death penalty.

Debates that do not support the death penalty include: chance for convict to "pay-back" society, cruel and unusual punishment, and most important, the possibility of innocent deaths.

Those who argue again the death penalty believe that the offender should be required to give back the victim's family with the offender's own wages from employment or community service. Someone can definitely do more alive than dead. “By working, the criminal inadvertently "pays back" society and also their victim and/or the victim's