what is so good about capital punishment?

Question

lots of detail, need it for a report for government class

Answer 1

They will never kill again.

Answer 2

Nothing is "good" about capital punishment - but I believe some times it is just necessary.

For instance, if a criminal commits a crime despicable enough to deserve a life sentence with no chance for parole - it's a life long punishment for both the criminal and the law abiding tax payer.

For another example, take a repeat child sex abuser for instance - it may be debated (with validity) that the death penalty is not a deterrent, or it may be debated (with less validity) that the offender can be rehabilitated - but it cannot be debated that if the sentence is carried out, the dirt bag won't get another chance to destroy a child's life.
And isn't that what our justice system should be doing - protecting the most vulnerable in our society - with a little less emphasis on the criminal?

Answer 3

Not much is good about the death penalty. Death penalty opponents win on the facts. Here are a few facts about it- all verifiable and sourced-

Re: Possibility of executing an innocent person
Over 120 people on death rows have been released with evidence of their innocence. Many had already served over 2 decades on death row. If we speed up the process (as several of your answers advocate) we are bound to execute an innocent person. Once someone is executed the case is closed. If we execute an innocent person we are not likely to find that out and, also, the real criminal is still out there.

Re: DNA
DNA is available in no more than 10% of murder cases. It is not a miracle cure for sentencing innocent people to death. It’s human nature to make mistakes.

Re: Appeals
Our appeals system is designed to make sure that the trial was in accord with constitutional standards, not to second guess whether the defendant was actually innocent. It is very difficult to get evidence of innocence introduced before an appeals court.

Re: Deterrence
The death penalty isn’t a deterrent. Murder rates are actually higher in states with the death penalty than in states without it. Moreover, people who kill or commit other serious crimes do not think they will be caught (if they think at all.) Note to some of the folks who answered- deterrence means that others will not commit the crime that someone has been punished for. Incapacitation means the person who committed a crime cannot do it again.

Re: cost
The death penalty costs far more than life in prison. The huge extra costs start to mount up even before the trial. There are more cost effective ways to prevent and control crime.

Re: Alternatives
48 states have life without parole on the books. It means what it says, is swift and sure and is rarely appealed. Being locked in a tiny cell for 23 hours a day, forever, is certainly no picnic. Life without parole incapacitates a criminal, and it costs far less than the death penalty.

Re: Who gets the death penalty
The death penalty isn’t reserved for the “worst of the worst,” but rather for defendants with the worst lawyers. When is the last time a wealthy person was sentenced to death, let alone executed??

Re: Victims families
The death penalty is very hard on victims’ families. They must relive their ordeal in the courts and the media. Life without parole is sure, swift and rarely appealed. Some victims families who support the death penalty in principal prefer life without parole because of how the death penalty affects families like theirs.

Opposing the death penalty doesn’t mean you condone brutal crimes or excuse people who commit them. According to a Gallup Poll, in 2006, 47% of all Americans prefer capital punishment while 48% prefer life without parole. Americans are learning the facts and making up their minds using common sense, not revenge.

Answer 4

Capital punishment is difficult to justify by numbers or results.

No state executes more convicted criminals than Texas, but it still has a higher murder rate than States without capital punishment. It doesn't deter crime.

States with capital punishment also have a much higher prison population than States without in and States with capital punishment pay up to two to three times more on prisons than States without capital punishment. .

As for the moral example I'm not going to argue against it. It's a legitimate agrument, but saying it saves money or deters crime simply is not accurate.

But it does give people a feeling of safety, the "monster" is killed, he or she will never kill again. Maybe that makes capital punishment worth it.

But saying capital punishment will deter crime is not a logical argument. It assumes that criminals and sociopaths operate on logic -- if I kill this person, then I might be executed -- it simply does not enter their minds. They do not make decisions based on logic or fear of being punished. Criminals and sociopaths commit crime and murder because it gives them a psychological high.

Society doesn't care about children who have to endure horrific conditions, they are helpless victims. When these children grow up, the only thing some of them have on their mind is revenge.

On the other hand there are people who do such awful things society to exist as a cohesive society has a deep down need to see these people punished. If they are not punished then society feels it is a helpless victim against monsters.

In the end capital punishment is driven by one thing. Many murderers were helpless victims and they have a deep down psychological need to exact revenge. And within society when murderers kill and sometimes torture helpless victims, people who have never hurt anyone and when these people are victims of horrific crimes, then society has a deep down psychological need to exact revenge.

Answer 5

One: It is biblical, and time proved to be effective.
Two: It is the only way to absolutely be sure the person will not re-offend
Three: It is a fine deterrent to others
Four: It is way less expensive than keeping someone incarcerated for several years, then finding them and going to all the trouble of another trial and all after they commit their next capital crime soon after they are free to do so.

Answer 6

Here is how I think about it, if some jerk takes me out, I want him or her put to death. If I am rotting in a grave I want it to because I reached the end of the road on my terms, not those of some loser with a knife or gun.

Those of you who whine about taking out the killers, that's fine. Just put that in your will and if some goon murders you, we will turn him/her loose. You get to decide.

The idea of any punishment is to deter criminal conduct. If you know you will be put to death for killing, then we hope you won't kill out of such fear. Problem is, unlike Iraq where you get your neck yanked within a month of being convicted, in the US, you get to enjoy being on death row for 20 plus years before your sentence gets reduced and you are turned loose to kill again.

Makes a lot of sense.

Answer 7

Well for one, that person won't be commiting any more crimes. 2) Others can see by example what happens if they do the same and it becomes a deterrant 3) We won't have to pay our hard earned dollars to feed and clothe and support a sub human murderer while he gets better health care than our grandparents do.
Need any more reasons?

Answer 8

It's good because our Bill of Rights says the punishment must fit the crime. If someone is a killer, he deserves to BE killed.

Answer 9

Killing INNOCENT men. Those who were found guilty but didn't really commit the crime. 67 have already been released off death row due to DNA testing.

How many has the State already murdered?

Answer 10

Tell your milkey white liberal teachers that the reason that we have capitol punshiment is to get rid of the garbage clogging up our society. Of course you are prob. taught that it is not a deterant.. Well at least for me it is.

Answer 11

It's not good, it's retribution and how can justice be solved when a murder takes one's life, we take his life?