Benefits of Capital Punishment
Benefits of Capital PunishmentCapital Punishment deters murder, and is just Retribution.
Capital punishment, is the execution of criminals by the state, for
committing crimes, regarded so heinous, that this is the only
acceptable punishment. Capital punishment does not only lower the
murder rate, but it's value as retribution alone is a good reason for
handing out death sentences. Support for the death penalty in the
U.S. has risen to an average of 80% according to an article written by
Richard Worsnop, entitled "Death penalty debate centres on
Retribution", this figure is slightly lower in Canada where support
for the death penalty is at 72% of the population over 18 years of
age, as stated in article by Kirk Makir, in the March 26, 1987 edition
of the Globe and Mail, titled "B.C. MPs split on Death Penalty".
The death penalty deters murder by putting the fear of death
into would be killers. A person is less likely to do something, if he
or she thinks that harm will come to him. Another way the death
penalty deters murder, is the fact that if the killer is dead, he will
not be able to kill again.
Most supporters of the death penalty feel that offenders should
be punished for their crimes, and that it does not matter whether it
will deter the crime rate. Supporters of the death penalty are in
favour of making examples out of offenders, and that the threat of
death will be enough to deter the crime rate, but the crime rate is
irrelevant.
According to Isaac Ehrlich's study, published on April 16,
1976, eight murders are deterred for each execution that is carried
out in the U.S.A. He goes on to say, "If one execution of a guilty
capital murderer deters the murder of one innocent life, the execution
is justified." To most supporters of the death penalty, like Ehrlich,
if even 1 life is saved, for countless executions of the guilty, it is
a good reason for the death penalty. The theory that society engages
in murder when executing the guilty, is considered invalid by most
supporters, including Ehrlich. He feels that execution of convicted
offenders expresses the great value society places on innocent life.
Isaac Ehrlich goes on to state that racism is also a point used
by death penalty advocates. We will use the U.S. as examples, since
we can not look at the inmates on death row in Canada, because their
are laws in Canada that state that crime statistics can not be based
on race, also the fact that there are no inmates on death row in
Canada. In the U.S. 16 out of 1000 whites arrested for murder are
sentenced to death, while 12 of 1000 blacks...
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