Argumentative Essay: Death Penalty And Deterrence

Decent Essays
For a society to function peacefully, crimes must be reduced. For a long time it is believed that punishment would discourage people from committing crimes. The highest level punishment that can be given to a person who has committed a murder is Death Penalty.
Death Penalty and Deterrence
Many studies have been conducted to see if imposing death penalty has reduced murders. There have been no conclusive proof that the death penalty had an inverse effect on the murder rates. Although some people believe that sentencing and executing criminals will cause other criminals to think twice before committing a murder, there have been no conclusive proof of this statement.
“According to a survey of the former and present presidents of the country’s top academic criminological societies, 88% of these experts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder”. Therefore, imposing the death penalty does not seem to have any effects on murders from committing crime.
It is estimated that in
…show more content…
By eliminating death penalty each state can save more money. This can be used for other areas such as education, prevention of crime etc. The resources that are available can also be used for other purposes.
• Racial discrimination in death penalty cases
• Race and origin of the victim also play a role in determining whether a criminal is given death penalty or not. While reviewing death penalty cases, the discrimination based on race of the victim or race of the defendant or both is 96%.
Following factors also influence the death penalty sentence:
• Race of the defendant
• Race of the Jurors
• Race of the prosecutor
• Racism is still a factor that continues to rule the decision making for death penalty victims. It has been noted that whenever he victim is white and he defendant is black, the chances of death penalty is more

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