Essay/Term paper: Death penalty is the best

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Sociology Term Papers

I believe that the death penalty is the best and fairest punishment for
people
who have taken other people's lives. Here are some interesting facts about
the death
penalty. Did you know that 70% of all Americans support the death penalty?
Murder rates have also been down since the death penalty was reinforced.
And
rehab techniques are so underdeveloped that no one is ever certain that a
murderer
can be rehabilitated (supporting capital).
First of all, if someone has taken someone else's life, in most cases their
life
should be taken also. If a person is so imcompassionate for human beings
and just
doesn't care what happens to anyone; if they are sick enough to take the
life of
someone else, their life should be taken also.
Second of all, would you rather pay for someone to be in prison for life in
an
environment that is most likely better than where they were if they weren't
there?
You can argue that capital punishment costs more tax dollars. However, would
you
rather pay for someone who has brutally taken the life of someone else to
die than
have them stay in a prison that is nicer than where they would be on the
street if they
weren't in prison? For example, Consider crime as a career alternative. It
is, you
know. Granted it's not a viable alternative for me or you. The consequences
of being
caught would be far too great -- we have too much to lose. But consider, of
all the
things we're not willing to risk sacrificing, there are lots and lots of
people who don't
have those things. For someone in that position, consider the advantages:
No education requirements.
No previous experience needed.
No startup capital required in most cases, and minimal capital required in
any
case.
Flexible work hours.
Be your own boss.
Medical and retirement plans provided free by the government.
Low risk.
Low risk? Well, yes. The odds of being apprehended at all are very low, and
even if
you are arrested you'll get free legal assistance (Savage, Leo). And plus,
prisons are
becoming more and more crowded. The government's solution to overcrowded
prisons is to spend billions of tax dollars to make more of them. This is a
lot more
than it is going to cost the government to execute someone (Stern, Eric).
Next, since most inmates receive parole when they have life in prison for
killing someone, the murderer is back on the street in 20-40 years. Would
you want
them back out there killing more innocent people? Since the prisons are
becoming
more and more crowded, people in the prisons are more likely to be let out
earlier to
make room for more prisoners, putting the original murderers back out on the
streets
(Stern, Eric).
Lastly, and I believe, most importantly, what if someone were to brutally
murder one of your family members. Wouldn't you want the murderer to die?
Why
would you want them still in a jail, knowing that he is receiving ample
amounts of
food and still living his life after killing someone so close to you?
Most people who are against the death penalty argue that it is cruel and
unusual punishment (pragmatic arguments). What they don't think about is
what
the murderer did was also cruel and unusual. You can also argue that the
death
penalty is not biblically right, but I believe God was addressing the legal
community
in Leviticus 24:7 when he says, "And he that killeth any man shall surely be
put to
death," and in Numbers 35:31 when he says, "Ye shall take no satisfaction or
ransom
for the life of a murderer which is guilty of death:but shall surely be put
to death."
Men have never ceased to kill their own kind. They have killed in war, in
anger out
of envy or gain, and have enacted laws authorizing them to kill those who
violate
God's laws. In doing these things, they have violated God's law which
forbids the
killing of all men (Berns, Walter).
The solution to the question of "is the death penalty morally right?" is
YES.
For someone who has murdered someone else, the death penalty, in many cases,
is the
solution. We do not need these murderers living in our world any longer.
It's simple: the death penalty is the best solution to people who have
brutally
taken the lives of others. Why would you want someone who has killed
another
person:
-to be back on the streets in 20-40 years killing others?
-if the person who they have killed is a member of your family, the
murderer
only get life in prison?
-to be supported by your tax dollars in a prison with substantial food and
recreational facilities?
Let's have the US continue to support the death penalty.