Death Penalty Saves Lives

Essay by DocKnightCollege, Undergraduate January 2009

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An essay on the death penalty, showing both pro'sand con's 2150 wordsDeath Penalty Saves LivesDocKnightA CollegeAlthough no one wants to kill an innocent, the death penalty should be in every state for the reason that some evil cannot be just stored away and many people would still be alive if some criminals had been executed in the first place. Whether one is for the death penalty, against it, or even on for it in only certain circumstances, if it is available, and used sparingly for only the most atrocious of crimes it can be a powerful asset against crime in all states. Modern society cares more about individuals than any other age in history. The United States also has more compassion for human life than other countries where death is give out often as the first form of punishment. If the citizens of the U.S. care about justice for victims and their families then eventually all states will see the advantage of having the death penalty.

Modern scholars agree: "If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call." John McAdams (Marquette University/Department of Political Science). Many people are against the death penalty because they do not want to accidentally send an innocent person to their death. These are the two primary schools of thought on the issue, both and more will be covered here. Although there are many ways of dealing with heinous criminals, only the death penalty is a strong enough deterrent to some and therefore should...