Death Penalty Deterrence Essay

When it comes to the topic of the death penalty, most of us readily agree that it is a controversial conflict. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is the question of whether deterrence has anything to do with it. Whereas some are convinced that deterrence plays a big role on how criminals commit crimes, others maintain that criminals don’t plan out what crimes they are going to commit due to whether they will qualify for the death penalty. Many say that deterrence has no effect to criminals whether the death penalty is existent or not. The people who agree with this side of the conflict believe that the death penalty is not needed when felons can be sentenced life in prison. Using the death penalty to scare criminals has no effect …show more content…
Their assertion that deterrence plays no part in the death penalty is contradicted by their claim that punishment is a consequence of a crime and should be based on the wrong doing of a person's actions. Law enforcement expects criminals to respond to punishment; execution is the most severe punishment to exist. Having the death penalty makes criminals fear arrest, prosecution, and punishment. Felons do not take life in prison as serious as the death penalty. When it comes to life in prison, there are ways to be released whether it is probation or their sentenced gets cut down a couple years. Criminals will follow all directions in jail so they can show the judge that they can be released at an earlier time. When this happens and the criminals do get released, most of the time they end up committing crimes again and are sent back to prison. Whereas, the death penalty there is no turning back and no way of getting out of it. The death penalty is taken very serious and that is why there are specific laws the court system has to follow in order to keep it legal. Although some people believe deterrence does not influence a criminal's actions for the reason that felons do not plan crimes based off their punishments, the death penalty is very effective at putting fear into criminals minds causing a drop in murder rates while the law is