Capital Punishment deters murder, and is just Retribution Capital punishment, is
the execution of criminals by the state, for committing crimes, regarded so
heinous, that this is the only acceptable punishment. Capital punishment does
not only lower the murder rate, but it's value as retribution alone is a good
reason for handing out death sentences. Support for the death penalty in the U.S.
has risen to an average of 80% according to an article written by Richard
Worsnop, entitled "Death penalty debate centres on Retribution", this figure is
slightly lower in Canada where support for the death penalty is at 72% of the
population over 18 years of age, as stated in article by Kirk Makir, in the
March 26, 1987 edition of the Globe and Mail, titled "B.C. MPs split on Death
Penalty".
The death penalty deters murder by putting the fear of death into would be
killers. A person is less likely to do something, if he or she thinks that harm
will come to him. Another way the death penalty deters murder, is the fact that
if the killer is dead, he will not be able to kill again.
Most supporters of the death penalty feel that offenders should be punished for
their crimes, and that it does not matter whether it will deter the crime rate.
Supporters of the death penalty are in favour of making examples out of
offenders, and that the threat of death will be enough to deter the crime rate,
but the crime rate is irrelevant.
According to Isaac Ehrlich's study, published on April 16, 1976, eight murders
are deterred for each execution that is carried out in the U.S.A. He goes on to
say, "If one execution of a guilty capital murderer deters the murder of one
innocent life, the...