Arguments for and Against Capital Punishment

Arguments For and Against the Death Penalty

At least 1,526 people were executed in 2002 in 31 countries, and aproximately 3,248 people were sentenced to die in 67 countries. Throughout the years many people have given different opinions about the capital punishment. Consequently, there have been many discussions regarding this subject, and given the extensive amount of arguments for and against the death penalty only some of them are going to be introduced in this essay.

Pro-death penalty people, as well as organizations, reckon that this punishment has many positive points that should be considered when it comes to legalizing the death penalty. First of all, according to the article "Arguments for and against the Death Penalty", it is believed that the death penalty "can prevent future murders", because if murderers are sentenced to death penalty and executed potencial criminals will realize that they will suffer the same consequences and therefore, they will not murder anyone. In addition, many pro-death penalty people rely on actual facts based on Isaac Ehrlich's analysis from 1973 which states that "for each convict executed, 7 lives were saved because others were deterred from committing murder." Secondly, the article mentioned previously affirms that "the death penalty is required for the taking of a life because the balance of justice is disturbed and the only way to restore it is by killing the killer." Robert Macy, District Attorney of Oklahoma City, used an example to illustrate this idea: "In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and made to watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed." Then he added "the killer should not lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable T.V., family visits and endless appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die." Last but not least, in relation to what the article "Capital Punishment: Life or Death" says, keeping a person in jail for life costs...