"The question with which we must deal is not whether the substantial proportion of American citizens would today, if polled, opine that capital punishment is barbarisouly cruel, but whether they would find it to be so in light of all information presently available." -Justice Thurgood Marshall
A Personal Account:
Always, I recall the dead womans hands. I saw them in a photograph
once, not
long before I watcher her killer die from a dose of poison injected
by the
state of Arizona.
The woman's name was Amelia Schoville, and in that picture her
hands
resembled claws, swollen with blood, thumbs bound by a shoelace,
fingers
straining up from the dirty mattress where she died.
I remembered those hands on the night when Amelia's killer, Jose
Roberto
Villafuerte, was put to death, 5,540 days after he killed her.
I recalled
Amelia's hands again when Robert Wayne Vickers finally got a deadly
needle
after twenty one years on Arizonas Death Row.
Imagine those hands, ever-empty, ever-reaching. Now, multiply
them by
every Death Row convict on every Death Row in each of the thirty-eight
states
that uses the death penalty.
Think of all those victims, all those empty hands. All that justice
denied.
(The death penalty allows) hands to now be untied, now set free,
finally
getting to touch what had always been just out of grasp.
-David Leibowitz
The death penalty is a necessary form of retribution,
a deserved punishment
for a criminal act. Although flaws can be found within the system
of capital
punishment, they are human flaws inherent in society and should
therefore not
dictate the abolition of such a punishment. In order to fight
and deter crime
effectively, individuals must possess every tool the government
can give
them, including and specifically, the death penalty (Pataki, George).
In
order to fully assess the benefits and necessity of the death
penalty, it is
necessary to look at all sides of the argument.
The death penalty acts as a deterrent, discouraging
future criminals from
committing such horrific crimes as would result in their determined,
legal
death. Individuals, as humans, are afraid to place themselves
in situations
of mortal danger. Based on this simple reasoning, it would be
correct to
assume that the death penalty, a punishment claiming life, would
deter an
individual from committing a crime resulting in such a punishment.
Even mild
sanctions have a deterring effect, such as fines for breaking
the speed
limit. Without these set punishments, crimes would become frequent
and
unethical behavior would become the norm. However, when such violations
are
seriously prosecuted, individuals are deterred out of fear for
personal
safety and well-being(The Death Penalty- a Defence). Death, the
ultimate
fear, thus acts as the ultimate deterrent for the ultimate crime,
restoring
an ethical atmosphere to a previously corrupt culture.
Although the death penalty does not deter all
crimes, sparring the lives of
even a few prospective victims due to the deterrence of their
murderers is
more important than preserving the lives of a few convicted murderers
based
on the possibility or even probability that their death would
not deter
others. The severity and finality of the death penalty is enough
to instill
internal fear, predisposing the objection and abstention of such
crimes as
punishable by death (Kolak,D., Martin,R.).
"If we execute murderers
and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have
killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers,
and doing so
would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the
killing of a
bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former.
This, to me,
is not a tough call."
John McAdams - Marquette University/Department of Political Science,
on
deterrence
Without the death penalty, society is faced
with the fear of crime,
compounded by the fact that, too often, it largely goes unpunished.
It is the
most fundamental duty of the government to protect life. The death
penalty
protects life by putting an end to unacceptable levels of violence
through
certain and final punishment. On September 1, 1995, George Pataki
was finally
able to reinstate the death penalty in New York. Since that time,
the death
penalty has "turned the tables," and placed fear back
in the hearts and minds
of criminals. Within just one year, the death penalty helped produce
a
dramatic drop in violent crime and has restored New Yorkers? confidence
in
the justice system, knowing that their government is committed
to their
safety (Pataki, George). A law possibly preventing future crimes
from being
committed is ultimately important in protecting future generations
safety.
"Our resolve to end crime is only as strong as the laws we
pass to punish
criminals" (Pataki, George).
A Brief Example of the Necessity
of Deterrence and the Death Penalty:
In 1973, Arthur Shawcross, one of New York?s most ruthless serial
killers, was convicted of the brutal rape and murder of two children
in
upstate New York. Since the death penalty had been declared unconstitutional,
Shawcross was sentenced to prison. After serving just 15 years,
an absurd
prison term given the crime he was paroled in 1988. In a horrific
21 month
killing spree, Shawcross took 11 more lives. That is 11 innocent
people who
would be alive today had justice been served in 1973; 11 families
that would
havce been spared the pain and agony of losing a loved one (Pataki,
George).
The death penalty represents a proportional
and measured response to humans
most horrific acts. Although support for the death penalty has
tended to
fluctuate, there has been continued, general support. Surveys
have shown that
in 1936, 61% of American favored the death penalty for persons
convicted of
murder. Throughout the 70s and 80s, the percentage of Americans
in favor
increased steadily, culminating in an 80% approval rating in 1994.
Although
this number has declined since 1994 and is today at a 66% approval
rating,
the death penalty has consistently continued to gain the support
of well over
half of the Nation (Death Penalty Information Center). The death
penalty
allows society to exact justice for individuals who have been
so brutally
wronged. "For some murders, the only justice, from a societal
perspective, is
the death penalty" (Leibowitz, David).
The death penalty, like all other punishments
and systems upon which our
society is based, has its flaws and inconsistencies. However,
this
punishment, noted for its severity, is used in only the severest
of
circumstances. It is used in warranted situations in which the
death penalty
is the only form of appropriate retribution. It allows an indisputably
unethical act to be punished accordingly, sending the message
to society that
such unethical behavior is intolerable and will result in the
ultimate
punishment in order to restore social harmony and ethics to society.
Let Justice Be Served
Death Penalty Information Center: New Information, contacts, and facts about the Death Penalty
Pro-Death Penalty.com: Deterrence and the Death Penalty
Justice For All: A Criminal Justice Reform Organization, "Justice will only be achieved when those who are not injured by crime feel as indignant as those who are." (King Solomon)
In 2001, 66 inmates were executed, 19 fewer than in 2000
As seen by this data, the Death Penalty is being used less often and less frivolously. The Justice System is requiring more evidentiary support before placing individuals on death row.
The number of prisoners on death row has been increasing. At yearend 2000, 37 States and the Federal prison system held 3,593 prisoners under sentence of death, 1.5% more than at yearend 1999. All had committed murder.
This data illustrates the implimentation of the Death Penalty for serious crimes. The Justice system has taken it upon itself to rid society of such inhumane creatures, rather than allowing them the undeserved benefit of life.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 2000,
page 142
Note: Sample sizes vary from year to year; the data for 2001 are
based on telephone interviews
with a randomly selected national sample of 1,022 adults, 18 years
of age and older,
conducted July 20-25, 2001. For a discussion of public opinion
survey sampling procedures,
see Appendix 4.
1965, 38% believed in it, 47% were opposed, and 15% was unsure
1983, 68% believed in it, 27% were opposed, and 5% were unsure
1997, 75% believed in it, 22% were opposed, and 3% were unsure
2001, 67% believed in it, 26% were opposed, and 7% were unsure
This data illustrates the increasing support and relative decreasing
ambiguity over the years in response to the administration of
the death penalty.