[dropcap]M[/dropcap]eet Jimmy Lee Gray. In 1968 he murdered his fiancé by cutting her throat, he only served seven years of his twenty year sentence when he was given parole. Not long after this he struck again, this time it was even worse. One June 27, 1976 he kidnapped a girl, took her to the woods where he raped her and attempted to drown her. When drowning did not work he broke her neck with his boot. Her name was Daressa Jean Seales and she was three years old.

Only after taking a second innocent life did society realize this person was a menace to the public, and needed to be dealt with in a permanent manner. If he would have been executed on his first heinous charge, he would not have harmed anyone else. There are some who persist in seeing it abolished, however there is plenty of evidence to suggest doing so would negatively impact our community. If you continue reading you will see just how critical capital punishment is to society.

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 Capital punishment deters other criminals

The possibility of eventually being killed to pay for the crimes you committed, would almost certainly make someone think twice before doing something illegal. Think back to when you were a child, if you were considering breaking one of your parents rules, but knew you would be punished wouldn’t you at the very LEAST, hesitate before breaking said rule? [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]If one fears the consequences, they will not commit a crime[/perfectpullquote]

• A study done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that 71.3% of all violent criminals released, will in fact be rearrested within 3 years for, guess what, committing another violent crime.
• David Muhlhausen, a researcher for the Heritage Foundation, gave a testimony before a Constitution subcommittee, he cited a study conducted by Emory University.  The study compared the amount of executions with the amount of murder victims, and they found that for every execution there were 18 fewer murders. This ties in to the fact that if a criminal hears there was an execution for murder, they will not commit said crime. This all means every time a criminal is executed 18 innocent lives are saved, this is clear proof that Capital Punishment deters crimes and save innocent lives from being cut short.
• The Washington Post also reported on a study conducted by Naci Mocan a professor at the University of Denver who said “The conclusion is there is a deterrent effect.” His studies also showed that every commuted sentence resulted in five more homicides. Also, an interesting thing to mention is Naci Mocan personally does NOT support the death penalty, but nonetheless said “My results show the Death Penalty deters.” 

These studies are all proof that Capital Punishment deters crime. Therefore, if it deters murder that means there is one fewer mother,father, brother, sister, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew that is taken away from their loved ones.

-Some Say capital punishment tends to unfairly targets minorities, and is an unfair and racist process.

• However, an article published published on Newsmax, a website run by former New York mayor Ed Koch, found that since 1977, 48.6% of those sentenced to death were white, compared to 40.9% black, 8.9% Hispanic and 1.6% other.
• Another statistic, found by the Death Penalty Information Center, said that 55.6% of all Americans that have been executed since 1976 were white, compared to 34.5% black, 8.3% Latino and 1.6% other.

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 Capital punishment is morally and ethically justified

Executing a criminal is completely morally justifiable. Think about it, a criminal murders someone in cold-blood, sometimes more than just one person. They have unjustly taken a life(s), isn’t it right that they repay their debt to society by losing their own? Also, if someone murders and they’re given life in jail, the punishment wouldn’t fit the crime. Citizens need to have a healthy amount of fear for our justice system, it keeps society lawful.

• A popular saying for those opposed to the death penalty is “we kill people to show people killing is wrong”. This saying completely misinterprets the entire situation. Kill and murder are very different things, kill is defined as ‘to cause the death of a living thing’ where as murder is defined as ‘The Unlawful and premeditated killing of one human being by another. So Uncle Sam does not “kill to show killing is wrong”  Uncle Sam kills to show murder is wrong.
• Capital punishment protects citizens. This is basic logic, if a criminal murders an innocent, but they are executed, they can never murder again.

Think of a notorious murderer you’ve heard about, imagine if they had been given life in prison, with three meals a day, visits from friends and family, air-conditioning, clean clothes and a place to sleep. Wouldn’t that be the most immoral thing of all?

-Some say the death penalty should be abolished because innocent people could be on death row who were falsely convicted.

• However, that is what appeals are for. When put on death row, any defendant has the right to make an appeal to the highest court in that state, to see if the original sentencing can be changed. The court reviews the case and comes to a conclusion.  There are different types of appeals and they take time to review, which is why people on death row are not executed for years.
• In order to be sent to death row you have to be convicted by a jury, after a very long trial. Both these points are common knowledge.

Capital punishment is legally justified

The deterrence and ethics have been explained. Now onto the legality. Not only do a majority of americans support the death penalty, it is clearly justified in the constitution, which has been the guidelines for our country to follow ever since it has existed. [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The death penalty is justified in our constitution[/perfectpullquote]

All one has to do is read the constitution which is clear on such matters, capital punishment is clearly justified in the fifth amendment, which reads: “No person shall be deprived of life,liberty or property, without due process of law.” This means if due process, i.e. convicted in a court of law and appeals exhausted, has been given, capital punishment is an acceptable measure.

 The American people support the death penalty

The United States of America is a nation by the people and for the people. And the people of our nation support capital punishment. This has been proven time and time again through numerous polls, studies and surveys.

• A study conducted in early October, 2016 by Gallup News found that American support for the death penalty is at 60%. 
• No Gallup News survey has found American support for the death penalty no lower than 57% since 1972. Also note, Gallup is a respected polling industry, and was found un-biased and factual by mediabiasfactcheck.com.

This post has covered most of the main points of the pro-capital punishment debate, as well as why common arguments against the death penalty are simply not true. In my personal opinion it is legal for a reason and should remain legal in the US. Ultimately everyone is entitled to their own opinion, that is what makes this country great. But when personally deciding if you support the death penalty or not it is my hope you take these points into consideration before reaching your own decision.

(Featured Image from Pixabay)