The Death Penalty
Capital punishment has been a cause for debate for many years, and people continue to disagree on the topic. There are many reasons why the death penalty should be used, but the three most important are that it deters potential murderers from committing crimes, it saves our government money in the long run, and most importantly, it guarantees that these convicted murderers will not kill again. Why does the United States need capital punishment? The main purpose of the death penalty is to protect the rights of other Americans to live. In his book, The Law, Federic Bastiat writes, "humans have inalienable rights that existed outside of and before government. These rights are life, liberty, and property. The only legitimate purpose of government is to protect these rights. When one person infringes on another's rights, he must be punished. To do this, the punishment must be harsh enough to deter potential criminals"(Bastiat). This punishment is of the harshest form, but it is nec!essary to maintain order. Is capital punishment in fact a deterrent? Studies show that it most definitely is. In fact, of the fourteen states t
son sentence for murder is less than six years!(Jacobs, Landes, and Siegel) The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that in 1998, thirty-seven states and the federal prison system held 3,452 prisoners under sentence of death, all of which had committed murder. Among the inmates with available criminal histories, two out of three had a prior felony conviction, and even more abhorrent, one in two had a prior homicide conviction(Bureau)! The cold hard truth is that if a convicted murderer is allowed to go free, he/she will most likely murder again. At least six percent of murderers kill again within six years of their release(Sentencing Info.). In conclusion, the death penalty seems to me to be the best course of action in a murder case. As I have said, it is the best deterrent America employs against murder, it saves our country money, and most importantly, it guarantees that a murderer will not have the chance to kill again. America works itself into a frenzy about a convicted! call"(Pro-death penalty.com). The death penalty also saves the government money in the long run. A trial for a capital case (which is a case o
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Approximate Word count = 758
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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