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Jake J. Koppenhaver
A prisoner is restrained to a table, with men standing around him and others looking in
from the next room. A man injects the prisoner with Sodium thiopental, rendering the prisoner
unconscious, then with Pancuronium which paralyses him. His muscles stop moving, and his
lungs stop pumping air into his body, causing him to suffocate. Finally, he is injected with
Potassium chloride, which stops his heart from beating. The man dies1. This is a method of
Capital Punishment, usually reserved for brutal serial killers, rapists, and similar criminals. But is
this form of punishment acceptable to employ in today’s criminal justice system, and does it
deter crime? Do we, as a society, have a right to determine who lives and who dies for the crimes
they commit?
From a critical thinking standpoint, there are many pros and cons concerning the death
penalty. Obviously, if certain criminals are incapable of reformation and replacement into
society, then we should not do so. The cost of housing a criminal in a typical maximum security
cell for 40 years is about $680,000, yet an execution costs the state and taxpayers roughly $3.18
million. (The Geography of Execution... The Capital Punishment Quagmire in America, Keith
Harries and Derral Cheatwood 1997 p.6) Imagine the costs of keeping a prisoner on Death Row
for decades, then putting him to death. Although these figures are high, some believe the death
penalty is crucial in our criminal justice system in order to deter violent and serious crime from
happening. According to various studies, murder rates are relatively unaffected by the death
penalty, with advocates arguing that most murders are unplanned and crimes of passion. On the
other side of the argument, Ernest van den Haag, a professor at Fordham University, said, “What
is feared most deters most.” (Stephen E. Schonebaum. "Introduction." At Issue: Does Capital
Punishment Deter Crime? Ed. Stephen E. Schonebaum. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002)
1
Lethal injection—Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_injection
Capital Punishment 3
Many who agree or disagree with capital punishment do so out of emotional or religious
belief. Families who want closure and religious philosophies such as “An eye for an eye,” are
both groups which make up those who favor the death penalty. Their feelings are often intensely
emotional and lacking logic. This isn’t to say their feelings are unfounded, but capital
punishment has been known to claim innocent lives. Roy Stewart, Jesse Tafero, and Willie
Darden are just a few of the names of those who have been executed in the last 25 years who
I understand the bases of both the pro and con arguments. Personally I do not believe that
taking a life makes up for a murder, nor do I believe in fighting “fire with fire.” I know the
feeling of needing closure, and craving revenge on those who have done wrong, but I am not
comfortable deciding upon the death of another outside of self defense. Killing someone,
The practice of capital punishment is, in my opinion, dwindling down: Many countries in
the world have abolished the death penalty or do not use the death penalty (Table 1); many US
states, while technically still being able to execute prisoners, have not done so in years (Table 2);
police chiefs across the nation denounce this practice as a deterrence to crime, and in fact believe
it to be the last such factor that can help the crime situation (Table 3). Sentencing someone to life
imprisonment with no possibility of parole costs less and removes them from society. I believe
that killing someone for killing someone is not only counterproductive, but also irreversible.
With DNA and other evidentiary breakthroughs, the margin of error may be too high to
References
Facts About Deterrence and the Death Penalty. (2005). Death Penalty Information
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=167#
Brief Analysis of Some post-Gregg v. Georgia Executions. Karl Keys, Capital Defense
Crime?. Ed. Stephen E. Schonebaum. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 10 July 2005
<http://www.enotes.com/does-capital/39152>.
Capital Punishment 5
Tables
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Poll of Police Chiefs Views of Crime Deterrence. Source: 1995 Hart Research Associates’
Poll
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