, Research Paper
Capital Punishment is reasonable in today s society. What this means is that as long as people are still committing acts of violence, no matter how civilized a society thinks it is there must be a sufficient punishment for those crimes. It is funny how long it took for this nation, a nation that is supposed to set the example for the rest of the world to finally question the morality or ethics of capital punishment. Why you may ask has it taken so long, I believe that it has taken this long because we are a country born out of violence towards others. For the short amount of time we have been a nation we have been in several major wars and I believe that is why we are the super power we are today. If we as so called civilized people still participate in wars how can we not be expected to execute our own citizens to punish them for crimes against society.
Support for the death penalty in the U.S. has risen to an average of 80%. 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”. People in America don t want to rehabilitate criminals they want them to pay their debt to society and if they killed someone that debt should be their lives. 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 favor 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.
The Death Penalty is not only in place to exact revenge for the families of the murdered, but it also serves as a deterrent for violent crimes. A person who realizes the punishment may not commit the act. As for those people who believe that some innocent people may be executed well that is the price we must pay as a society and I believe it is a price most people are willing to pay. If you are on death row you are there for a reason no one goes to death row having nothing to do with a crime.
In an article from News Week veteran TV broadcaster Mike Wallace, who suggested that “60 Minutes” should air an onscreen account of McVeigh’s execution. “If it’s a public policy to take an individual’s life, why in the world shouldn’t the American public be allowed to see it?” he demanded. “60 Minutes” executive producer Don Hewitt nixed the idea with the phrase “over my dead body.” Hewitt added, “I don’t see any point except shocking people.” The odd thing is that Wallace is against the death penalty Hewitt is not. Hewitt believes that by seeing the execution killers may gain the public sympathy witch killers do not deserve. I agree with Hewitt Creating sympathy for murderers is a big mistake and an execution is a sad solemn event only meant for close family.
In February 1963, Gary McCorkell, a 19 year old sex offender, was scheduled to hang. But just days before his execution, the then Liberal cabinet of Lester Person commuted McCorkell to life in prison.
Less than 20 years later, McCorkell was arrested, tried, and convicted for the kidnapping and rape of a 10-year old Tennessee boy. He was sentenced to 63 years in prison. Prior to leaving Canada, he was sought by Metro Police in the attempted murder of an 11-year old boy.
What has been gained by this? Had McCorkell been executed in 1963, two boys would never have had to have gone through the horror of being sexually abused. The liberal opponents of the death penalty would be singing a different tune had this horrible act been committed against them.
The fact is death penalty has again become routine in this country is clear from the almost negligible attention that executions now receive. It is also clear from the ever-increasing numbers of executions. This year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, states executed 98 people. That is the highest figure since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. I my self believe that people are not civilized enough to rid our nation of the death penalty. I think we will be ready to get rid of it when the crime rate in America has been lowered to almost nothing, but I really don t see that ever happening.
Once again People in America want the death penalty. As I sit here writing this report legislation is being passed in Florida decreasing the amount of time a person will spend in jail before he is executed down to as low as five years. In all fairness to the other side of this argument I must speak of the drawbacks to the death penalty. The frustrating aspect of this regularizing of executions is that it has happened even as the mistakes made by the criminal justice system has become ever more evident. In addition to the 98 executions, this past year saw eight persons freed from death row after having their flawed convictions overturned. And over the past several years, DNA evidence has sprung dozens of innocent people from prison.
All of this should make us wary of irreversible punishments such as death. Nobody can honestly say with confidence that all of the 598 people executed since the death penalty’s relegalization were guilty. And that begs the question–the one death penalty advocates are generally unwilling to address–of what frequency of error we are willing to tolerate in order to preserve capital punishment.
All of the studies and surveys show that capital punishment is a valid deterrent to crime, and obviously the public and society as a whole are in favor of it. The death penalty makes would be capital offenders think about weather committing a crime is really worth their lives. Even if capital punishment did not deter crime, the simple fact that it will allow society to “get even” with murders. Capital punishment also insures peace of mind because it insures that murders will never kill again. So in conclusion considering all the facts Capital Punishment is Reasonable in today s society. In a society in witch people try so hard to be civilized isn t it funny that we find ourselves following the first code of human laws Hamarabi s code and eye for an eye.