Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is an extreme punishment used to correct extreme

crimes. The death penalty has been used for centuries before Christ and

hopefully centuries after him. The old version of the death penalty was used

for strange crimes such as : marrying a Jew, cutting down a tree, treason, or

stealing. Capital punishment today is more humane today with new methods

like lethal injection and the chair compared to old ways like drawing and

quartering, the guillotine, and boiling to death. Capital punishment is needed

in society today more than ever because of its many purposes. The death

penalty justifies crimes, retribution for families, and deters other people from

committing the same mistake. We can not disregard capital punishment or

the criminals that deserve it.

Although capital punishment serves a good and fair purpose there are

some faults in it. The government wastes too much money in the processes of

appeals for the convicted felons in capital punishment cases. Without the

costs of appeals the cost of an execution would go down by seventy-five

percent making it more economic than a life sentence. Another major

problem has been the past record of executing innocent people. With the

technological advancements of today there should be no doubt of a person?s

innocence. You can not make an omelet without breaking some eggs, there

are bound to be mistakes but innocent people can not be killed. But, besides

the millions of dollars spent and the few martyrs of the legal system capital

punishment has been very effective.

The punishment should fit the crime. If you are willing to take a life

then your life should be taken from you. Murder is the most gruesome crime

that one commit, the only acceptable punishment is death. Life in prison does

not justify the murder of someone. Life in prison consists of 3 meals a day,

plenty of sleep, working out, besides the daily rapes it almost seems like a

Club Med. The guilty person is given everything for free at the expense of

the taxpayers.

The families of the victims need something to fill the void caused by

the murder. Grieving with the loss of a loved one is not hard when the

murderer is living well everyday and is not paying for his crime. These

families need to see that the criminal gets what he deserves. The only

acceptable restitution is the death of the guilty, this principle has been used

since the beginning of time, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, should

be used to thin out the number of convicted murders. Criminals need to

realize that they should serve a just punishment for their crimes.

Capital punishment is not all about bad things, some very good things

come out of it. Thousands of people each year are turned off lives of crime

because they see where it leads. It deters people from making the mistakes

other people made. We should go back to the old form of executions, where

they are public and the dignity of the convicted is taken away for all to see.

Too many people sit on Death Row each year and are not executed like their

sentence stated. People should be killed 1 year after they are convicted, this

will free up space in jails and cut back on appeals as well as deterring

would-be murderers.

In conclusion we need capital punishment to come out of hibernation in

this country. Every year millions are added to the long lines of Death Row

and are not executed. The death penalty is the only acceptable answer to the

growing number of murders committed each year. If we abolish capital

punishment than we are not helping the families, deterring others, and not

giving the guilty their just punishment. Capital punishment is not only about

death, it also helps save lives.