The first question that must be faced is, "What is the purpose of the criminal justice system and does the death penalty help to fulfill that purpose?" The Law says that humans have inalienable rights that existed outside of and before government. These rights are life, liberty, and property. The only legitimate purpo

Although the death penalty is a deterrent, it is not nearly as strong a deterrent as it would be were it implemented more often. The deterrence theory states that in order for a crime to be deterred, justice must be swift, severe, and certain. With numerous appeals, the death penalty is not swift. In fact, the average amount of time spent on death row before being executed is ten years (Jacobs 77). In addition, between 1977 and the present, the execution rate per murder is .055 percent (Morin 2). In other words for every 1800 murders, only one person is executed. Thus, the death penalty is not certain either. In fact, most murderers can rest assured that more than likely they will not be put to death. The death penalty is severe. If it were altered so that it became swift and certain, there would be a significant drop-off in the homicide rate. People have a natural fear of death. It is a common trait of man that we think about the consequences before we act. If not consciously, we still think about them subconsciously. Imagine for a minute what the world would be like if every time a murderer killed someone, he died instantaneously. More than likely, there would be an extremely low homicide rate. Of course, it is impossible to make that a reality, but our government can make justice much more swift, severe, and certain than it already is if we simply increase the use of capital punishment and change the laws so that it is faster and has a shorter appeals process. The death penalty is important because the lives of thousands of potential victims who are at stake.

se of government is to protect these rights. When one person inflicts on another's rights or takes advantage of another person, he is plundering. Bastiat asks, "When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor. It is evident, then that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder," (Bastiat 24-26).

The death penalty can save lives by stopping repeat murderers, but does it deter murder? Opponents of the death penalty argue that there is no deterrent effect. However, there are a number of studies that indicate that the contrary is true. A study by W. Bailey of the period from 1967-68 showed a deterrent effect in twenty-seven states (“Justice For All” 5). A later study by him showed a deterrent effect in twenty-five states (“Justice For All” 5). During the moratorium on Capital punishment in the United States, murder increased by one hundred percent (“Justice For All” 5). A review of the fourteen nations who abolished the death penalty showed that the murder rate increased by seven percent from the five-year pre-abolition period to the five-year post-abolition period (“Justice For All” 5). Since 1990, Harris County, a single county in Texas has had more executions than any other state in the United States. During the period between 1990 and 1995, Harris County has had a forty-eight percent drop in crime, the greatest decrease in the United States. In Harris County, the highest homicide rate was in 1981, one year before the death penalty was reinstated in Texas (“Justice For All” 6). All of these studies indicate that implementation of the death penalty correlates with a drop in the homicide rate. A study by Stephen K. Layton at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill showed that each execution deters an average of eighteen murders (Lowe 1). By increasing the use of the death penalty, thousands of lives could be saved. In Utah, there have been five executions since 1977. During the year following each execution, there was a significant drop-off in the homicide rate (Lowe 1-2). Criminologist Steven Stack recently found that after a widely publicized execution, there was a drop in the homicide rate. He found this drop to be more significant with w

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