Kimberly Fields

Ms. Sanchez
English IV
13 April 2015
Capital Punishment
In essence, the death penalty, or capital punishment, is when the government executes a
person for doing illegal activities. Some of these activities include first-degree murder and
treason. First-degree murder involves premeditation, which means the murderer had a plan to kill
someone and then executed their plan. Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty
has long been an issue that is fervently debated amongst society. In fact, it has been around as
long as recorded history. Majority of the ancient civilizations accepted capital punishment as a
punishment that was deserving of certain crimes. Draco, a Greek philosopher, created a new
penal code sometime shortly after 621 B.C.E. that was so severe that it gave us the word
draconian, which means excessively harsh. After some time, the Christian churches and
Islamic leaders created codes, or laws, that included the death penalty, but only allowed it to be
applied to certain cases (Stearman 9). Other than a short period of time from 1972 and 1976, the
death penalty has continuously been a way of punishment in certain cases in the United States.
However, some states have abolished the death penalty (8). The Supreme Court has ruled that
the death penalty is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual
punishment, but the Eighth Amendment does shape certain procedural aspects regarding when a
jury may use the death penalty and how it must be carried out. Because of the Fourteenth
Amendments Due Process Clause, the Eighth Amendment applies against the states, as well as

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the federal government. In the 2002 court case Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court established
that the use of the death penalty on the mentally handicap was against the Eighth Amendments
ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In the 2005 court case Roper v. Simmons, the Supreme
Court ruled it illegal to preform the death penalty on juvenile offenders (Death Penalty).
Supporters believe that because the death penalty executes violent criminals, some future crimes
will not occur. They also believe it acts as a deterrent, which means that criminals are more likely
to not do illegal activities because they know they could possibly be executed as a punishment.
Other reasons they support the death penalty are because it brings relief to victims and their
families and makes society safer for the public. Therefore, it is an effective and appropriate
punishment for certain crimes (Stearman 7). Capital punishment should be made legal in every
state and should be used in all cases in which first degree murder was committed because it
provides justice for the victims family, it deters crimes, and prevents the prisoner from the
chance of escaping/restarting their life.
The death penalty provides justice for the victims family. Other than the actual murderer,
the people that are most affected by a murder are the murderers family and the victims family.
The victims family will experience many different emotions throughout the whole ordeal. They
long to understand and comprehend how and why their loved one was killed -- and most of the
time they do not like the news they find out. Many families, unsurprisingly, wish to see the
murderer suffer for what they did. Today, executions are carried out through lethal injection.
Many courts allow victims families to express their opinions and wishes in a victim impact
statement. Some states even allow the victims families to watch as the murderer is executed.
Randy Browning watched from behind the glass as Kimberly McCarthy slipped quietly into

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unconsciousness, snored briefly, then finally stopped breathing. It didn't matter to him that this
woman who'd brutally stabbed and mutilated his beloved godmother and mentor was
allowed a peaceful, painless death. For Browning, it was enough to know that Dorothy Booth's
murderer was no more (Breed). For some families, the death penalty is the only proper and just
punishment. They feel that by having taken a life, the perpetrator must forfeit his or her own
life. It is not only seen as a means of providing justice, but emotional closure as well. This
means that the familys suffering ends and they move on with their lives because they know that
the murderer got what they deserved. Supporters of the death penalty argue that the wishes of a
victims family is one of the main reasons it should be used (42).
The death penalty deters crimes. This is one of the most common points that supporters
of the death penalty argue. If less crimes are committed, there will be more lives that are saved.
There have been many studies on the death penalty that have led to many conclusions about its
deterrent effect. In 1950, 82 felons were executed -- most of them had committed a homicide.
During that same year, there were 7,020 homicides that occurred and were reported. Ten years
later, there were only 56 executions that took place and the number of reported homicides rose to
9,140 (McCuen and Baumgart 67). A 2008 comprehensive review of capital punishment
research since 1975 by Drexel University economist Bijou Yang and psychologist David Lester
of Richard Stockton College of New Jersey concluded that the majority of studies that track
effects over many years and across states or counties find a deterrent effect. In a more recent
study conducted by Kenneth Land of Duke University and others, it was concluded that from
1994 through 2005, each execution in Texas was associated with "modest, short-term
reductions" in homicides, a decrease of up to 2.5 murders. Researchers conducted another study

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in 2009 that proved that adopting state laws that allowed defendants in child murder cases to be
eligible for the death penalty resulted in an almost 20 percent decrease of child murders
(Muhlhausen). According to a 2004 study by an Emory University professor, speeding up
executions would make the deterrent effect more prominent. The professor found that for every
2.75 years taken away from time prisoners spent on death row, one murder would be prevented
(Alfano). Even though capital punishment does save lives, it should only be used in certain cases
where this punishment is proportional to the crime.
The death penalty prevents the prisoner from the chance of escaping/restarting their life.
Prisoners can and have escaped from prison. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in
1998 6,530 people either escaped or were AWOL (absent without official leave) from state
prisons. Most of the escapees are not supervised hard enough and are walk-aways from
community corrections facilities (How Often Do Prisoners Escape?). If prisoners escape, some
of them will commit even more crimes. James N. Mathias, Jr., a Maryland State Senator, made
the comment, I support the death penalty. I do believe there are cases that warrant the use. In
extreme cases, we can incarcerate them for life, but we cant be sure they wont kill again. We
have to be concerned for our correctional officers (Soper).
Even though there are many supporters of the death penalty, there are also many
opposers. These people believe the death penalty should not be administered in American society
due to great expense, non-uniformity in practice, and its barbaric nature. Stephen Markman, a
lawyer in Detroit, believes that just because someone might be wrongly convicted and sentenced
to execution, does not give justification for completely eliminating the death penalty. He states,
The death penalty serves to protect a vastly greater number of innocent lives than are likely to

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be lost through its erroneous application. . . . A society would be guilty of a suicidal failure of
nerve if it were to forego the use of an appropriate punishment simply because it is not humanly
possible to eliminate the risk of mistake entirely (Williams 14).
Overall, the pros of the death penalty outweigh the cons. Capital punishment should be
made legal in every state and should be used in all cases in which first degree murder was
committed because it provides justice for the victims family, it deters crimes, and prevents the
prisoner from the chance of escaping/restarting their life. Even though foes of capital
punishment have for years been increasingly vocal in their opposition to the death penalty,
Americans have consistently supported capital punishment by a 2-to-1 ratio in murder
cases (Muhlhausen). In conclusion, the death penalty is a way to ensure that crime is better kept
in control.