POSITION PAPER:

DEATH PENALTY

Death penalty or capital punishment is one of the most controversial and discussed issue in
the criminal justice system today. Every coin has two sides. The only thing that matters is what is
more important. I'd like to talk about the importance of retaining death penalty.

In a common sense, human being is fearful of death. Death penalty serves a very important
deterrent to crime. Pre-mediated murderers would definitely think twice before committing
ruthless crimes. Some argue that criminals do not fear death. But in fact, when a criminal is held
at gunpoint, majority complies. If criminals did not fear death, then how police officers manage
to arrest them without killing them. Fear is not a conscious decision or a thought process. It's a
human instinct. They fear for their lives just as much as any law abiding citizens do. A series
studies conducted in the last decade indicate that death penalty is a deterrent to murder. Professor
Naci Mocan has found "a statistically significant relationship between executions, pardons and
homicide. Specifically each additional execution reduces homicides by 5 to 6, and three
additional pardons (commutations) generate 1 to 1.5 additional murders." In a more recent study
conducted by Professor Joanna M. Shepherd found that "each execution results, on average, in
five fewer murders. Longer waits on death row reduce the deterrent effect. Therefore, recent
legislation to shorten the time prior to execution should increase deterrence and thus save more
innocent lives. Moratoriums and other delays should put more innocents at risk. In addition,
capital punishment deters all kinds of murders, including crimes of passion and murders by
intimates. Murders of both blacks and whites decrease after executions." Death Penalty not only
has deterrent effect on murder but also has significant effect on other punishments. According to
Professor Liu: "Abolishing the death penalty not only gets rid of a valuable deterrent, it also
decreases the deterrent effect of other punishments. The deterrent effects of the certainty and
severity of punishments on murder are greater in retentionist (death penalty) states than in
abolition (non-death penalty) states."

Some would argue that life imprisonment without parole could achieve the same purpose.
But even in supermax facilities, murder criminals commit on other inmates and guards happens
frequently. And also there is a chance that an offender could escape in a lifelong sentence, but no
one can escape death. In an unlikely but possible scenario, where a prisoner somehow managed
to escape the confinement only to commit another crime.
According to Murderpedia.org "Dawud Mu'Min who was serving a 48-year sentence for the
1973 murder of a cab driver when he escaped a road work gang and stabbed to death a
storekeeper named Gadys Nopwasky in a 1988 robbery that netted $4.00." This is why there is
no better substitute for death penalty. Only remove the murderers forever can prevent them from
killing again and save the lives of innocent. There is no doubt that in some cases where a
criminal can change. But it makes no sense to put innocent. And with this topic, Im in favor with
it because death penalty is a capital punishment. It is used today and was used during ancient
times to punish people with a variety of offenses. The bible also advocate death for murder and
other crimes such as kidnapping and stealing. Here in the Philippines, we used to have Death
Penalty, but I believe this capital punishment should be issued in all states for those people who
commit great crimes. Death Penalty should be issued because death is being feared, it gives
Justice, it is a fact that there's no proof of an innocent being executed and there are some
quotations from the bible that seem to respond this.Most people have a natural fear of death and
I, myself, am afraid of it. Just think about it; if you die, you'll leave this world and never
comeback. If we have Death Penalty and a murderer dies instantly, the homicide rate would
decrease because no one likes to die. Death Penalty is important because it could save the lives
of thousands of potential victims who are at stake. Another one is that Death Penalty shows
justice. There will be justice when we punish the guilty. It show equality. On t.v., I have seen
people being interviewed because one or some of their relatives died. They are crying for help
and wanting justice for the death of their loved ones. I know for sure that justice can only be the
solution for them to be relieved. A serious crime must have serious penalty and that is death.
Justice can dignify a person. People who oppose death penalty claim that in the implementation
of this capital punishment, innocent men are wrongly executed. According to "ProDeathPenalty"
, there has never been any proof of it. Moreover, our criminal justice system takes extra
precautions to be sure the innocent are protected. What's the use of the judges who were trained
in this field? They also want to make sure who is guilty and not. Death Penalty is like "an eye for
an eye". Death Penalty helps curtail future murderers and because of this we can save more lives.
If Death Penalty exists, repeat murderers are eliminated and future murders are deterred. Just
imagine it; we will live in a just society. If death Penalty wouldn't be issued now, then when?
When there are more criminals lurking? It is said that every minute, there is a chance that an
innocent man could get murdered. We must put a stop to it