FREE ESSAY ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment
Capital punishment is a serious topic that has been debated lately. It has become a huge
problem in our modern correctional system. More and more people are coming around to a
new way of thinking. Retribution is a must for the crimes that people are committed for.
Some people deserve death sentences while others deserve a milder, life imprisonment
sentence. Capital punishment is a very reasonable and effective way of dealing with
criminals.
People agree that punishments are necessary for certain crimes. There is an obvious
necessity for murderers and other severe criminals to be dealt with besides imprisonment.
Prison definitely seems to be a small price to pay for a life of another. Citizens
support the death penalty in general, but frequently refuse to apply it when... they are
confronted with a face, a name, and human frailties... (Morganthau 19) This proves that
people are almost to the point where they will realize these deaths must be issued to
serve out the retribution fairly and also act as a deterrent to other offenders. Even if
we don't execute every offender who is on death row it is still alot better than locking
these people up in cells for years. 
Death should also be given as a choice for any long-term convicted offender. The fewer
numbers of people in jail we must pay for the better. In a recent case, prosecutor Tommy
Pope urged a jury to, Take an eye for an eye(Morganthau p.19). That just demonstrates
even farther that people are sick of having mercy on wrongdoers. It seems that there are
more people slipping through the cracks than are actually being given the full sentence
or death. Texas, on the other hand, has been using its privilege to kill. Texas is
responsible for approximately one-third of all the executions in America. However, Texas
is the worst state to use as the poster state for the death penalty. Numerous death
penalty convictions have been tainted by over-zealous prosecutions and the use of
perjured testimony. State-paid medical 'experts' make unreliable predictions... while
other doctors lie about tests they never performed.(Dieter p.35)
People who oppose the death penalty even sometimes believe that there is occasionally a
just cause for its use. If it was one of my family I'd want to do the killing myself. It
seems only fair to me. Attorney general Janet Reno demanded the federal death penalty in
5 cases involving 9 defendants. (Death and Reno p.11) Janet Reno is personally against
the death penalty and even she finds the need to penalize these criminals. The numbers
are showing that the death penalties per year are diminishing but the people are becoming
more supportive of the penalty. We need these people to speak up and help us help our
jail facilities. This would lower the number of inmates so there would be more room for
others, lessening of costs to keep these people jailed up for long periods of time, and
the more turnovers to death the larger the deterrent becomes. I believe that in the near
future everyone is going to sway towards the death penalty and it will be widely used to
destroy our nations criminals and the crime rate. 
The talk of killing has dramatically increased over the past few years. The death penalty
is becoming thought of as more along the lines of a form of self-defense used to protect
the country in which we all live. If people are justified in defending themselves against
wrongful aggression, the same principles of distributive justice under gird punishment as
a societal defense. (Montague p.175) In other words, our society has a right to protect
the majority of its people by destroying what could be considered a threat to our people.
Presidents are even campaigning with these ideas and discussing similar topics. It's only
a matter of time before people stop talking about it and start to act upon it. Quoted
comments like until we can enjoy actual executions...(New York p.15), will soon end and
the true justice shall begin. 
The attraction is to justice being served and death, not the pain and suffering that is
too often associated with these kinds of killings. These criminals often show no sort of
remorse for their killings and therefore we shouldn't show them any either. People and
government are working on ways to dispose of life in a quick, cheap, and painless way.
The less cost to us the better. Nitrogen asphyxiation is a unique way to die... he never
realizes anything is wrong... he simply passes out when his blood oxygen level falls too
low.(Creque p.52) Americans are not animals who thrive on pain and suffering in others.
We just need an inexpensive way to clean up the trash in our population and in our
penitentiaries. This clean-up would make much more room for those of us who want to live
in America by the laws. We wouldn't have to spend millions of dollars looking for humane
ways to kill people if we didn't care. Personally, I think it doesn't matter how we kill
these people but the fact that we do kill these criminals. It seems like the only real
solution to our overcrowding problem, dealing with serious offenders, and the best form
of deterrence we could possibly come up with as a nation.
There is only one point of the capital punishment idea that I do not agree with.
Apparently some genius who realized that the death penalty is a good idea decided to also
apply it to repeat juvenile offenders. This adds a whole new twist to the theory. From
the articles I read the major problem is with the families' perspectives. Luckily, this
is still in the experimental stages and I can't see anyone with any sort of moral values
using this idea in a real life situation. I fall into the popular category where I
believe the response to juvenile crime should include: drug and alcohol programs, and
lessened reliance on incarceration; decent employment, and education opportunities; and
rehabilitation programs for all incarcerated youth. (Dicks p.295) There is absolutely no
possible justification for any kind of capital-sized punishment to be inflicted on a
juvenile. Capital punishment is a huge deterrent that will serve no point if we use it
for juveniles. It must have a very clear and structured understanding to have an
influential effect on our society. Juvenile corrections of this type becomes a huge gray
area in which we cannot afford someone to misunderstand. 
In conclusion, actions are finally being taken and problems addressed with capital
punishment. Hopefully people will realize what is happening in our corrections system and
stand up for what is right. We obviously need a new way of doing things because this way
is only backing things all up to the point where there are waiting lists to get into
jails and convicted felons are just left in a cell, taking up space, to rot, when we
could put all of that space to good use. Whether for capital punishment or not, it's the
people who run our country and not anyone else. Help end the reign of terror in our
country with the constant overcrowding of our jails. We need to make it safe again for us
and our children.