The Neccessity For The Death Penalty

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate October 2001

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The death penalty has been a highly debated issue for many years. Hundreds of papers and articles have been written to support both sides of the dispute. Stacks upon stacks of statistics have been tallied to either support or condemn this highest form of punishment in our land. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently difficult or complicated about the issue. The simple fact remains that our judicial system has implemented punishment because punishment is needed. If someone violates the rights of others, then the offender's rights should be stripped away and punishment should be rendered.

In today's society our papers are riddled with stories of crimes, our airwaves are virtually jammed with accounts of someone violating the rights of another. I believe that if punishments for criminals were not only strictly enforced, but harsher in nature, this would be a deterrent to other would-be offenders. The facts have undoubtedly demonstrated in my mind that punishment must fit the crime, and that rehabilitation is a pipe dream.

Of the varying forms of punishment in our society, capital punishment is the severest price. This punishment requires that the offender answer for their crime by paying with their life. This sentence is primarily only given to a criminal who has taken the life or lives of others. I think this is rather appropriate and the only just choice. Why allow a person who has viciously ripped the breath and blood from another continue to draw in breaths of his or her own? Why think of what is humane for this monster when he or she did not take into account what was humane for the victim? The rights of a convicted killer should not be priority over the rights of the victim.

In the United States today, 37 states presently have capital...