Since the execution of James Kendall in 1608, capital punishment has been an accepted form of justice in the United States. Capital punishment can be defined as “the penalty of death for the commission of a crime”. In colonial America, both violent and non-violent crimes could merit the death penalty. Murder was not the only crime punishable by death. Criminals responsible for committing any crime against God would be executed. While our society does not execute individuals supposedly practicing witchcraft or committing other sins, there is still a need for capital punishment. Not only should the death penalty be condoned, but improved upon to give criminals punishments comparable to the brutal crime responsible for their prosecution. The methods of executing criminals have evolved greatly since colonial times. Our government now uses the method of lethal injection, which causes the criminal to lose consciousness before he is injected with a poisonous substance. Preceding lethal injection was the gas chamber, the electric chair, the firing squad, and the hanging. The death penalty has been improved upon not only to execute the criminal faster, but also to be as humane as poss

Without hard evidence that capital punishment is ineffective, our society should continue to use it as a deterrent to violent crime. Dr. Isaac Ehrlich at the University of Chicago has conducted research showing “that if the death penalty is used in a consistent way, it may deter as many as eight murders for every execution carried out”. It must also be realized that capital punishment is not the ultimate answer in preventing violent crime. Criminals with mental illnesses or members of organized crime will undoubtedly still commit crimes due to mental health and the fact that crime does, in a sense, pay.

States that do not have the death penalty have an average murder rate that is actually lower than states that do have the death penalty. In 1995 the police chiefs across the United States were polled by a bi-partisan polling firm and ask to rank the ten things that reduce crime – the death penalty was almost unanimously ranked last.

Supporters of capital punishment tend to turn to biblical evidence in order to defend their viewpoint. Kerby Anderson, president of Probe Ministries, explains: Throughout the Old Testament we find many cases in which God commands the use of capital punishment. We see this first with the acts of God Himself. God was involved, either directly or indirectly, in taking of life as a punishment for the nation of Israel or for those who threatened or harmed Israel.

While both opposing and supporting sides of capital punishment serve as opposites of one another, each side makes valid arguments. Perhaps capital punishment is an issue that will never be resolved. Anti-capital punishment organizations bring the inhumanity and cruelty of the government executing criminals for crimes of murder to the public. Our legal system is not perfect and will only aspire to reach perfection. As with all imperfect systems, m

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