Final: Capital Punishment a just social problem

SOC 203 Intro to Social Problems

The debate of capital punishment will always generate passion, it is one of the most debated issues in the Criminal Justice system. The absence of capital punishment would prove a greater problem for the sake of society. Many opponents will argue the death penalty should be abolished, they fail to offer up any comparable alternatives for the crime for murder. It is a harsh punishment but, in all fairness, the punishment fits the crime. Capital punishment does what the name suggests: it punishes and it removes the notion that one can kill and get away with it. It serves as a deterrent for those contemplating murder and in the end, it brings justice. Capital punishment defends the sanctity of life and until we evolve to the place where murders are no longer a part of our society, we must punish this crime fairly. To know we have removed a murdering criminal from the street is a relief thankful to deterrence of violent crime, retribution, Christianity, and innocence.
One argument for the death penalty is the fact that it deters crime. Those enticed by killing someone might think twice if they know their life will be taken as a consequence. Joanna Shepherd explores the history of capital punishment and explains that while many studies produced mixed results, modern economic studies reveal executions “significantly deter murders” (Shepherd). In addition, Wesley Lowe reports when the death penalty was temporarily suspended, the number of murders in the America “skyrocketed from 9,960 to 23,040, a 131 percent increase” (Lowe) and the murder rate “doubled from 5.1 to 10.2” (Lowe). He goes on the quote Karl Spence of Texas A and M University, who maintains until “we begin to fight crime in earnest [by using the death penalty], every person who dies at a criminal’s hands is a victim of