At the beginning of the debate on the death penalty I was almost positive that my position would be against it, but through our first class activity I changed my mind. I believe that the death penalty serves a purpose in our country. The death penalty works, it helps to deter crime and murder. The criminals that are put into jail for capital punishments still have chances of being released or escaping somehow and these criminals will commit more crimes. An example of this is a sad report of a story on prodeathpenalty.com, “When Katy Davis observed three strangers outside her Austin, Texas, apartment, she walked away. Returning later, she was attacked and forced to open the door by Charles Rector, on parole for a previous murder. The men ransacked her apartment, abducted her and took her to a lake where she was beaten, gang-raped, shot in the head and repeatedly forced underwater until she drowned.” That shows that because this man was not sentenced to death for the murder he already committed, that he in turn murdered another person. He took another life, and affected another family. Another reason to support the death penalty is that it brings closure to the families of victims. Whether or not you think it is possible for a criminal to escape or be let out on parole from prison, the families affected by these murders will not rest unless they can have some closure, and the death penalty provides that for them. Even though the victim cannot be brought back to life, an execution brings closure to the families, and ensures that the murderer will create no more victims. For the most heinous crimes, to which the death penalty is applied, the offenders deserve the worst punishment. As stated by Deathpenaltycurriculum.com “Any lesser punishment would undermine the value society places on protecting lives.” In addition I believe that prison is in many cases an improvement for the offender, it is a step up, and they deserve nothing of the sort. Robert Macy, District Attorney of Oklahoma City, described his concept of the need for retribution in one case: “In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and made to watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed. The killer should not lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable TV, family visits and endless appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die.” The guilty should be punished, and the death penalty serves that purpose well.
Websites used:
http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/student/c/about/arguments/contents.htm
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/
