gumentative Persuasive EssaysCapital Punishment Essays – For the Common GoodPutting to death people judged to have committed certain extremelyterrible crimes is a practice of ancient standing, but in the United Statesin the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a verycontroversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led theSupreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in1977. Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are manyvoices raised against it. People all over the country debate this issuequite frequently. They question the deterrent effect, morality, executionsof innocents, and many more. I have heard a lot about the death penaltyand feel that the arguments against it are not at all convincing.
Some people argue that capital punishment is morally wrong. Theyfeel that killing some one for their crime is murder. In any dictionary itstates that murder is the unlawful act of killing. Since capitolpunishment is within the law it is not murder. Also if executions ismurder then prison is kidnapping and charging taxes is extortion. There isa difference between crime and punishment. Are police officers wrong forspeeding to enforce the speeding laws? No. They also say that we shouldvalue all human life. Even the most despicable. It is because we valuehuman life so much that we put such a terrible consequence for taking it.
One argument states that the death penalty does not deter peoplefrom murdering. To abolish capital punishment on this basis would be wayoff base. You would also have to get rid of prisons because they do notkeep people from committing crimes also. Texas A&M University collecteddata and the results are horrifying. In 1960 there were 56 executions and9,140 murders. In 1964 there were 15 executions and 9, 250 murders. In1969 there were no executions and 14,590 murders. Seven more years withoutexecutions and there was 20,510 murders. As you can see the deterrenteffect is there and works very well.
As you can see the death penalty is for the common good and itsaves lives. People out there say that the death penalty is wrong, butusually they do not have all of the facts. They have only looked at the”good” parts instead of the whole picture. To do this is wrong. In orderto form an opinion one must look into the facts themselves and form theirown opinion instead of someone else’s. A crime is only as severe as thepunishment that follows it. As Edward Koch once said, “It is by exactingthe highest penalty for the taking of human life that we affirm the highest value of human life.”
