Capital Punishment

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate February 2002

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The death penalty has been around for many centuries and will probably be around for many to come. Although some citizens feel capital punishment is ethically wrong, it is necessary in today's society for various reasons.

Society must be kept safe from the barbaric acts of murders and rapist, by taking away their lives to function and perform in our society. Most criminals don't take into account the results of their actions. If a person intending to commit a crime, sees another criminal put to death for the same crime he or she is going to carry out, the person might think before executing the crime. Edward Koch, who has been district leader, councilman, congressman, and mayor says, "human life deserves special protection, and one of the best ways to guarantee that protection is to assure that convicted murders do not kill again"� (323).

A person, who has been affected by a criminal's work, would probably feel that the death penalty is fair.

It's hard to imagine how it would feel if one of your loved ones were murdered. Personally I would want the person who took my loved one's life to suffer. In addition, most mother's views would be quite similar. If a criminal was to rape a child the mother would more than likely want the death penalty for the rapist. Koch makes a similar point by saying, " Life is indeed precious and I believe the death penalty helps to affirm the fact"� (322).

Most countries in the world do not use the death sentence as a form of punishment. However, most countries have stiffer penalties for crimes. If the United States were to make a law like this it would be too harsh. Nonetheless, if on a person's third offense of stealing, their hand were...