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Adam Horner

Lisa Rutherford

English 15.1

13 November 2017

Pro Death Penalty

Is the Death Penalty Necessary? Do those who murder others deserve the right to live?

Could the death penalty save Americans money? These are all very good questions when

questioning whether the death penalty is really the right thing to do. When it comes down to it,

the death penalty brings justice to the criminals that deserve it. Although there are several

reasons to support the death penalty a few of the major talking points are the deterrence theory,

“an eye for an eye”, saving taxpayers money, and rehabilitating criminals.

The Deterrence Theory is one of the main reasons why people should be in full support of

the death penalty. Deterrence is “the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of

punishment” (Merriam-Webster 1). So the Deterrence Theory states that the more criminals that

are put to death the less criminal activities will take place. It has been proven that people make

decisions based on outcomes. So when someone is executed for a harsh crime, the death penalty

will keep others from doing the same. Mark Berman, a Reporter for the Washington Post, says

“the death penalty is morally justified when someone commits a crime like murder” (2). Panel

studies, which are studies that observe several people over different periods of time, have shown

that when capital punishment is used, there is a decrease in the number of homicides. According

to a panel study by David Muhlhausen, a Senior Policy Analyst in the Center of Data Analysis at

The Heritage Foundation, the results confirmed that 18 fewer murders occurred for every one
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execution made. After examining the outcomes of the panel studies, one can see that the death

penalty discourages criminals from committing homicide.

The quote “an eye for an eye” is a very serious quote when it comes to the death penalty.

The quote appears in the bible two times, both in which are from the Old Testament. It is first

found in the book of leviticus and it says “and if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he

hath done, so shall it be done to him, breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath

caused a blemish in a man so shall it be done to him again”. This is just one example of its

appearances in the bible another example in the Old Testament found in the book of Exodus

when it says "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for

tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." (Exodus

21:24). After reviewing these quotes this explains why “an eye for an eye” is believed to be one

of the top reasons to support the death penalty. Art Swift, a Senior Communications Expert, has

proven that “Americans who favor the death penalty most often cite “an eye for an eye” as the

reason they hold their position” (1). If an individual harms some other individual then they

deserve equal punishment for what they have done.

While it is true that currently it is more expensive to put someone to death than it is to

keep them in prison for life, this does not have to be the case. According to Kyle Gibson, “Such

costs can greatly be reduced by simply limiting the appeals process and shortening the duration

of the death penalty” (1). Shortening the appeals process would save taxpayers money. If this

occurred, then taxpayers wouldn’t have to pay for a murderer to get three square meals a day, or

for guards to watch over the prisoners and monitor prisoner areas. Taxpayers wouldn’t have to

pay to build prisons and penitentiaries, or pay for utilities and all of the other expenses needed to
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maintain the facilities. Fixing a flawed system and using capital punishment confidently and

swiftly, would save money.

People say that it is best to rehabilitate these murderers and serial killers. How would you

feel if a serial killer that murdered helpless young children and women, was roaming around

your neighborhood? A normal person would say that this is highly unacceptable and they do not

deserve any rights at all. Serial killers are also known as psychopaths. Ross Pomeroy, Chief

Editor of RealClearScience, has recently said “to the best of our knowledge, there is no cure for

psychopathy (1). Since murders and serial killers are indeed considered psychopaths then what

Ross Pomeroy states is true. Something else that was interesting is when Pomeroy says

“psychopaths are six times more likely to commit new crimes following release from prison” (1).

Now some people might say that the death penalty should not exist. There is always the

slight possibility that the murderer is falsely accused. This is a very rare occurrence especially

from all of the scientific development that we have today. There is now all kinds of forensic

analysis to specify that that criminal did indeed commit the crime. If there is any doubt that the

criminal did not commit this crime the act of the death penalty should not take place.

In conclusion, the death penalty deters crime. Criminals who commit heinous crimes

deserve nothing less than capital punishment in return. A capital punishment sentence that is

delivered swiftly and justly would save taxpayers money in the long run. It is not realistic to

think that hardened criminals and psychopaths can be effectively rehabilitated. In addition to all

of this don’t the families of victims deserve closure after all they have been through? I believe

that they do.


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Works Cited

Berman, Mark. “Most Americans support the death penalty. They also agree that an innocent

person might get put to death.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 17 Apr. 2015,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/04/17/most-americans-sup

Ort-the-death-penalty-they-also-agree-that-an-innocent-person-might-get-

ut-to-death/?utm_term=f9feaa17a52c.

“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-Trusted online dictionary.” Merriam-Webster,

Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/.

Fieser, James. “Capital Punishment.” The University of Tennessee at Martin, 1 Sept. 2017,

www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/class/160/7-cap-pun.htm.

Gallup, Inc. “Americans: "Eye for an Eye" Top Reason for Death Penalty.” Gallup.com, 23 Oct.

2014, http://news.gallup.com/poll/178799/americans-eye-eye-top-reason-death-penalty

Aspx.

Gib_son_Kyle. “Death Penalty Repeal: It's Necessary to Use Capital Punishment in a Free

World.”Mic, Mic Network Inc., 24 Oct. 2015,

https://mic.com/articles/48937/death-penalty-repeal-it-s-necessary-to-use-capital

MCCASKILL, NOLAN D. “Trump's favorite Bible verse: 'Eye for an eye'.” POLITICO,

POLITICO LLC, 14 Apr. 2016,

www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/trump-

favorite-bible-verse-221954
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Muhlhausen, David. “The Death Penalty Deters Crime and Saves Lives.” The Heritage

Foundation, http://www.heritage.org/testimony/the-death-penalty-deters-crime-and-saves

Lives

Muhlhausen, David B. “How the Death Penalty Saves Lives.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S.

News & World Report, 29 Sept. 2014,

www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/09/29/the-death-penalty-saves-lives-by-

Deterring-crime.

Pomeroy, Ross . “Can Psychopaths Be Cured?” RealClearScience,

www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/07/can_psychopaths_be_cured.html.

The Holy Bible: containing the Old and New Testaments ; translated out of the original tongues

and with the former translations diligently compared and revised. American Bible

Society, 1986.

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