Two Wrongs - Do Two Wrongs Make a Right?

Running head: Two Wrongs

Do Two Wrongs Make A Right?

Jill G. Williams

PHI 103

John Moore

November 16, 2009

Do two wrongs make a right? Since the introduction of capital punishment in the United States in 1608 (capitalpunishment.com) this has been a debate; a debate that will probably continue well into the future. But there are always two sides of a debate; a right and a wrong, depending which side of the fence you are on. In this instance, the death penalty is a fair punishment for the crimes committed. For this reason capital punishment should be kept in existence and practiced for the following reasons: deterrence, retribution and closure for the victim's families.

A major purpose of criminal punishment is to deter future criminal conduct. True that only a small portion of those sentenced to death are in time executed, but the concept of the fear of being put to death for crimes committed does in fact deter criminals from performing heinous acts. The homicide rate dropped by nearly 10,000 from 1993 to 1999, during this time there was an increased use of the death penalty (capitalpunishmentuk.com). With this in mind, "the death penalty saves lives by repeat murders being eliminated and foreseeable murders being deterred." (Sharp)

"Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Romans 12:19), in a word – retribution. When an individual takes the life of another, the moral balance in society will remain upset until the killer's life has also been taken. As opposed the some sort of rehabilitative treatment, death is final. A finality not only for the convicted, but also the family of the victim.

The victim was not given a choice in the crimes committed against them. In fact, the person who committed said crimes made a choice to carry them out. Once convicted, those offenders have the time spent on death row to make peace not only with the God of their choice, but also with their families for the acts they have done. For the families of the innocent and more importantly for past victims, the death of the perpetrator means that no one else will have to suffer at the hands of that person again.

The question of whether capital punishment is right or wrong has opponents and proponents and thusly each side should have the chance to voice their opinion. Just as proponents believe deterrence, retribution and closure are all reasons to keep the death penalty as a form of punishment. Those that oppose it believe that the cost, arbitrariness and the thought of killing an "innocent man" are all reasons to kill capital punishment.

Most would believe that the cost of housing an inmate for life would be far less than that of putting the convicted to death. Be the truth