Capital Punishment has been a part of American society since we first colonized into the new world. European settlers brought this practice from Great Britain, implementing it into justice system as a means of retribution and deterrence. Today this controversial penalty is legal in only 31 states, dividing our nation. Due to this split of acceptance, the death penalty has become a controversial issue on the grounds of morality and civility. I believe capital punishment should continue to be a legal practice in the United States for it deters future suffering, is an equitable consequence for murder and imparts the ultimate warning to criminals should they kill with premeditation.
Everyone is familiar with the lex talionis, primitive rule: “An …show more content…
We do anything and everything we possibly can to prevent it. If this unnerving fear was held over our heads as a threat for an action, it's safe to say we would never even ponder committing it. The death penalty has the ability to deter possible murderers who otherwise wouldn’t have been as obstructed. First degree murder without aggravating factors in California and New York, range from 20 to 25 years in prison. A murder does not deserve to take away an innocent life only to serve 20 years in prison and then get released with an opportunity to kill again. Many believe life in prison without the possibility of parole is a better option than the death penalty, but what about the case of “Donna A. Payant, who was an officer in the New York State Department of Corrections when she was strangled, beaten, bitten and killed by an inmate in 1981. The killer was originally sentenced to death but this was overturned and changed to life in prison” (Irvine). This is a prime example of the strength of the death penalty and the lives that it has the ability to preserve. A study conducted by Isaac Ehrlich in 1973, discovered that for every death penalty performed, seven victim’s lives were being saved (Death Penalty Curricula for High School). Not only are these the lives directly spared from that one murder but it is also the lives being saved by stopping future criminals in their tracks, from the mere threat of death. If death is the worst
Everyone is familiar with the lex talionis, primitive rule: “An …show more content…
We do anything and everything we possibly can to prevent it. If this unnerving fear was held over our heads as a threat for an action, it's safe to say we would never even ponder committing it. The death penalty has the ability to deter possible murderers who otherwise wouldn’t have been as obstructed. First degree murder without aggravating factors in California and New York, range from 20 to 25 years in prison. A murder does not deserve to take away an innocent life only to serve 20 years in prison and then get released with an opportunity to kill again. Many believe life in prison without the possibility of parole is a better option than the death penalty, but what about the case of “Donna A. Payant, who was an officer in the New York State Department of Corrections when she was strangled, beaten, bitten and killed by an inmate in 1981. The killer was originally sentenced to death but this was overturned and changed to life in prison” (Irvine). This is a prime example of the strength of the death penalty and the lives that it has the ability to preserve. A study conducted by Isaac Ehrlich in 1973, discovered that for every death penalty performed, seven victim’s lives were being saved (Death Penalty Curricula for High School). Not only are these the lives directly spared from that one murder but it is also the lives being saved by stopping future criminals in their tracks, from the mere threat of death. If death is the worst