Bryce Sullivan Capital Punishment In the United States, capital punishment is used for the most vile of criminal

offenses, the most common of which being murder. Prior to 1976, the death penalty was not instituted in the United States, and is now approaching that point again, with more states abolishing it every decade. Capital punishment is not however, the inhumane, bestial form of execution that the states are claiming it to be. Capital punishment in the United States condemns the guilty and punishes justly for hanous crimes. According to the NCADP, the South accounts for 80% of the executions in the US, and has the highest regional murder rate (Facts & Figures). This is meant to be an opposition to the death penalty, claiming that it does not reduce murder rates. However, with only an approximate 150 death sentences per year, there is not enough information for an 80% claim to hold any weight. The NCADP later notes that "..of the 22,000 homicides committed every year, approximately 150 people are sentenced to death," (Facts & Figures). There are two very vague facts presented in this arguement, the first being "22,000 homicides". Homicide is a term used for a typical

murder, and does not denote the degree of the murder. This brings the second vague fact, "approximately 150 people are sentenced". This is the number of cases in which the death penalty was sought after and sentenced. Most of the 22,000 homicides per year in the United States do not meet state qualifications for the death penalty. Certain states hold specific criteria for which the death penalty may be enacted in a criminal trial. In New Hampshire, murder committed during rape, kidnapping, or a drug crime, is punishable by death (Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty). However, in California is is listed as "First-degree murder with special circumstances determined by a judge," (Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty). Wyoming has one of the most loose uses for the death penalty, including murder during the following actions: arson, robbery, burglary, escape, and resisting arrest (Crimes Punishable by the Death Penalty). Reasoning behind the abolition or maintenance of the death penalty is vague and often up to personal interpretation. According to Robert Caldwell, a journalist for Encyclopedia Americana, "proponents of capital punishment argue that it is cheaper to execute a prisoner than to keep him in an institution for life" (Caldwell). However, New Jersey did a study that since 1983, they had endured more than $253 million taxpayer dollars to put criminals to death, a number that is well above any estimates that would have been used for long term

incarceration (Facts & Figures). Another leading issue is whether or not innocent people get sentenced to death. According to the ACLU, in some cases, doubts did not arise until it was too late to save a person from execution (American Civil Liberties Union). This should not be the case, as during the course of a trial, every detail is measured meticulously, and also a jury of one's own peers determines a verdict based on no reasonable doubt. To this, the ACLU responds that many defenders lack the resources and skills to protect their clients from capital punishment (American Civil Liberties Union). This is no fault of anyone's but the defense, as it is their responsibility to hire counsel that is capable of defending them properly in the event that they are in fact innocent. A third reason, also presented by Robert Caldwell, is that capital punishment protects society from dangerous criminals, ensuring no repeat offenses and preventing any behavioral traits from being passed on to offspring (Caldwell). This brings another point, the ACLU, in defense of the mentally ill, states that "standards for protecting the mentally ill and intellectually disabled from execution are far too low..." (American Civil Liberties Union). Of course they don't get special treatment for their disabilities, take the man, James Holmes, charged with murdering the people in the theater in Aurora, Colorado. He is now pleading insanity to avoid the death penalty. Obviously anyone who walks into a movie theater with a fully-automatic assault rifle is insane, that isn't the

question, the question is whether or not it was a concious decision. My view on capital punishment is that it should be instituted for only the most vile of crimes, including murder in the course of rape or abuse, mass-murder, first-degree murder, and murder of government officials. I view the death penalty as a proper form of retribution for the victims, not revenge. In a statement by Robert Caldwell, " The almost universal desire for revenge must be kept in check and regulated in modern society by legal retribution if order is to be maintained," (Caldwell). This stance holds that retribution for the violation of moral and legal codes must be made in order to maintain peace and order in a volatile society.