In the summary and critique of Bedau's view, I will argue that his viewpoint on the topic of death penalty is more hypothetically based on a utopian idea of humankind. I will state the opposing view that the death penalty is a matter of justice and equality for our society. I will place my focus purely on the cited examples and that the author may have a very compelling insight for a case against the death penalty but I believe that the loss of innocent lives through malicious and violent or evil acts MUST be respected by bringing the charged felon closer to his maker for final judgment.

The death penalty effectively saves lives - that is, that by executing murderers you prevent them from murdering again. This in effect represents this potential murderer's who did not murder under specific circumstances because of their fear of execution. Several studies throughout the last 30 years have revealed just the opposite of Bedeau's conclusions and statistical data - that execution does deter future criminal acts.

Bedeau's viewpoints as statistically stated are not argued. He basis his statements on research and provides sound judgment with his examples. The error of statistical reporting is that any researcher can prove his or her point by this type of data analysis. I will site some statistical data as well to prove another point. However right or wrong this topic is-one cannot take away the emotional pain one suffers from the wrong doing of the criminal event. Bedeau's article does not bring the emotionally charged viewpoint, which is what I will concentrate on in arguing this topic.

The author's most compelling arguments are based on four issues that stir the debate between the pros and cons on the topic of capital punishment and the death penalty. One of the most often cited arguments is that of deterrence. The major purpose of criminal punishment is to deter future criminal conduct. The deterrence theory suggests that a rational person will avoid criminal behavior if the severity of the punishment outweighs the benefits of the illegal conduct. It is believed that fear of death deters people from committing crimes. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives was at stake. That if attached to certain crimes, the penalty of death exerts a positive moral influence by placing a stigma on certain crimes like manslaughter, resulting in attitudes of disgust and horror to such acts (McCuen, 1985). Bedau states that the facts to support this claim do not exist. He says that the death penalty fails as a deterrent for the following reasons: (1) Capitol punishment could be an effective deterrent if it were administered consistently and promptly; which because of due process cannot. (2) Those that cause premeditated violent crimes are ordinarily concentrating of escaping detection anyway so it would not deter them. As for those crimes not considered premeditated; those individuals are usually highly charged with emotional stress and logical thinking is not a conscious thought, so the threat is not a viable one.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2121
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)