Capital Punishment Research Paper Example

Do you think someone that murders numerous innocent people should receive capital punishment?  Capital punishment is a punishment received by those who commit terrible crimes. They get a lethal injection that in 1-2 minutes would leave them dead. This punishment is the correct way to handle a crime that horrendous. Armstrong Williams, Owner, and Manager of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations says,  “There must be some form to hold murderers accountable and, historically, the death penalty has been the most effective way of doing so. It could very well be that a firing squad is the most humane way, especially compared to lethal injection, where there have been cases of prisoners experiencing excruciating pain for sometimes over an hour. These examples are certainly worthy of our consideration and discussion. But one thing is clear: We still need the death penalty, if for no other reason, as a deterrent for other potential criminals.” The death penalty should be legalized.

The death penalty will stop would-be criminals. Murder rates in the United States have raised 31% since 2018, and since 2018 death penalty executions have decreased by 41%. This data shows that as death penalty rates decrease and murder rates increase. The United States should increase death penalty executions because the data shows it will stop these would-be criminals from committing terrible crimes because they would be found and killed if so. Also, if we were not going to use the death penalty then these murderers can escape from jail and kill more innocent people. As Michael Summers, PhD, MBA, Professor of Management Science at Pepperdine University wrote “Our recent research shows that each execution carried out is correlated with about 74 fewer murders the following year… The study examined the relationship between the number of executions and the number of murders in the U.S. for the 26-year period from 1979 to 2004, using data from publicly available FBI sources… There seems to be an obvious negative correlation in that when executions increase, murders decrease, and when executions decrease, murders increase” (ProCon.org). This data proves that capital punishment deters crimes.

Opponents may say that the death penalty should be unlegalized because it violates the eighth amendment. The amendment states that the government cannot give a punishment that is “cruel and/or unusual.” I understand why someone would think that giving someone the punishment of death would seem cruel and unusual. However, I would argue if someone were to murder numerous people, would you agree that they should die along with the innocent people they murdered. In a study, this past April, 77% of Americans believe that the death penalty should be legalized, only for horrendous crimes. As David Muhlhausen, PhD, Research Fellow in Empirical Policy Analysis at the Heritage Foundation says “Some crimes are so heinous and inherently wrong that they demand strict penalties – up to and including life sentences or even death. Most Americans recognize this principle as just” (ProCon.org).