Capital Punishment

The most severe sentence used in our nation is capital punishment, or execution. Most of the executions were for murder or rape. However, federal, and military laws have conferred the death penalty for other crimes, including robbery, kidnapping, treason, espionage, and desertation from military service. Because capital punishment can lead to an unequal use of justice, arguments from its supporters should not prevent it from being abolished.

One of the most common arguments for retaining the death penalty in the United States is that death is the ultimate incapacitation and the only one that can ensure that convicted killers can never be pardoned, paroled or escape. Most states that do not have capitol punishment provide the sentence of life in prison without the chance of parole . However, forty-eight states grant their chief executive the right to grant clemency and commute a life sentence and may give lifers the ability for various release programs. (Stephan Markman-Stanford Law Review page 41). Supporters of capital punishment justify its use on the grounds that it is morally correct because it is mentioned in the Bible and other religious works. Those who favor capital punishment charge that a majority of the public believes that criminals who kill innocent victims should forfeit their own life. (Kimberly Cook Public Support page 38.)

Those that support its abolition match arguments for the death penalty. Critics of the death penalty believe capital punishment has no place in a mature democratic society. (Keith Otterbein page 39). They point to the finality of the act and the real possibility that innocent persons can be executed. According to research by Michael Radelet and

Hugo Bedeau, there have been 350 wrongful murder convictions this century, of which 23 led to executions. They estimated about three death sentences are returned every two years in cases where the defendant has been falsely accused. More than half the errors stem from perjured testimony, false identifications, coerced confessions, and suppression of evidence. In addition to the twenty-three who were executed, one-hundred and twenty-eight of the falsely convicted served more than six years in prison; thirty-nine served more than sixteen years in confinement, and eight died while serving their sentence (Stanford Law Review page 41). It is their view that even though the system attempts to be especially cautious in capital cases, unacceptable mistakes can occur. The death sentence also rules out any hope of offender rehabilitation. There is evidence that convicted killers actually make good parole risks; convicted murderers are actually model inmates and, once released, commit fewer crimes than other parolees. Abolitionists believe that executions are unnecessarily cruel and inhumane and come at a high moral and social cost to society. Our society does not punish criminals by subjecting them to the same acts they themselves committed. Rapists are not sexually assaulted, and arsonists do not have their house burned down; why then should murderers be killed?

One of the most compelling arguments against the use of the death penalty is that it is employed in a racially discriminatory fashion. Since the death penalty was first instituted in the United States, an unequal numbers of African-Americans who have received the death sentence, are on death row, and have been executed (53.5 percent of

all executions). Racism was particularly obvious when the death penalty was employed in rape cases: 90 percent of those receiving death for rape in the South and 63 percent of

those in the North and West were African Americans (Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology page 74). Today, about 40 percent of the inmates on death row are black, a number unbalanced to the minority representation in the population. With few exceptions, the rather uncommon interracial murder cases involving a black criminal and a white victim (14 percent) are the most likely result in the death penalty.

Now that the arguments from each side have been heard, they must be weighed. If all these offenders had been executed after their first conviction, many innocent lives would have been saved. Through public opinion, capital punishment is morally correct because it is mentioned in the bible and other religious teachings. On the other side of the coin, many argue that discrimination is employed in a racially discriminatory fashion. It is further argued that many innocent persons are being executed. After having carefully weighed both sides of the dispute, I have a strong positive opinion for the supporters of the death penalty. I feel as though capital punishment is both morally correct and just in today s society.

Works Cited

Akers, Ronald L, and Criminological Theories: Introduction and Evaluation.

Second Edition, Roxbury Publishing Company, 1997.

Kappeler, Victor E. et al, The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice.

Second Edition, Waveland Press Inc., 1996

Lab, Steven and John T. Whitehead, Juvenile Justice: an Introduction.

Second Edition, Anderson Publishing Company, 1996

Monk, Richard C., Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Crime and Criminology. Fourth Edition, Dushkin Publishing, 1995