Capital Punishment and Deterrence
By: Jon • Research Paper • 964 Words • December 3, 2009 • 1,448 Views
Essay title: Capital Punishment and Deterrence
Capital Punishment and Deterrence
Abstract
Capitol Punishment has been around since the beginning of mankind; eye for an eye and
tooth for a tooth. Since then the public have debated for or against capital punishment
revolving around issues of deterrence, retribution, discrimination and Irreversibility.
Leaving us with the responsibility to analyze the factors surrounding capital punishment.
A number of studies have also been done specifically on the deterrent effects of capital
punishment. Many officials believes that capital punishment not only prevent s the
offender from committing additional crimes but deters others as well. The research of
Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon J. Hawkins demonstrated that punishment is an effective
deterrent for those who are criminally inclined. Another research has been to examine
murder rates in given areas both before and after an execution. Clear and cole(2000) have
examined more than 200 studies evaluating the effectiveness of the death penalty in
deterring crime. A recent study found that a significant deterrent effect is associated with
the increased use of capital punishment since 1977 ( Dezhbakhsh, Rubin and Shepherd,
2001).
Michael Radelet and Ronald Akers attempted to determine if having the Death Penalty
indeed act as a deterrent on criminal homicide. Is the theory of “Just Deserts” (Bedau,
1978; Finckenenauer, 1998) in anyway credible? It is also often argued that death is what
murderers deserve, making criminals reap what they sow. Most believe that in order to
assure deserts, the punishment should always fit the crime. It would require us to rape
rapists, torture torturers, and inflict other horrible and degrading punishment on
offenders. It would require us to betray traitors and kill multiple murderers again and
again, punishments impossible to inflict. ( Bedau 1978).
However the principle of just deserts is understood to require that the severity of
punishments must be proportional to the gravity of the crime, and that murder being the
gravest crime deserves the severest punishment, then the principle is no doubt sound. But
it does not compel support for the death penalty. What it does require is that crimes other
than murder be punished with terms of imprisonment or other deprivations less severe
than those used in the punishment of murder. Criminals no doubt deserve to be punished,
and punished with severity appropriate to their culpability and the harm they have caused
to the innocent. But severity of punishment has its limits -- imposed both by justice and
our common human dignity. Some whose loved one was a murder victim believe that
they cannot rest until the murderer is executed.
Many people oppose capital punishment because they feel it is discriminatory. Studies
show that most criminals that have been executed in the last decade are white rather than
black although a higher percentage of minorities are on death row. An increasingly
controversial issue is whether racial class influences who receives a death sentence and
who is executed. As a recent justice department reported that in nearly