Americans have argued over the death penalty since the early days of the republic. Today, high profile cases provide frequent opportunities for debate between proponents and opponents of capital punishment. For example, in 1997, Timothy McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1993 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, which killed one hundre

On the other hand opponents of televised executions, contend that executions should be “solemn and civilized affairs”. Yet televising one especially with a criminal as infamous as Timothy McVeigh would turn the event into a circus. “The telecast of McVeigh’s execution would appeal to the basset instincts of the viewing public and would inevitably coarsen our society” (New York Times). Television programs already portray too much death and violence. In particular, televised executions could prove very harmful to children who are more affected by images and events they see on television than anyone else (New York Times). Televising an execution “would have a calamitous effect on the mentality of any child in the viewing audience”, says William Abbott, of the National Foundation to Improve Television. According to Henry Schleiff, the chairman and chief executive officer of court TV said that because there is an event doesn’t mean it is something we should cover. The vast majority of people witnessing an execution on television would perhaps find it riveting but also exploitative. The death penalty is best debated without seeing it live.

In 1974, out of a commitment to the value and dignity of human life, the U.S. Catholic Conference, by a substantial majority, voted to declare its opposition to capital punishment (Brasfield 17). Allowing for the fact that Catholic teaching has accepted the principle that the state has the right to take the life of a person guilty of an extremely serious crime, and that the state may take appropriate measures to protect itself and its citizens from grave harm. Nevertheless, the question today is whether capital punishment is justifiable under present circumstances? Punishment, since it involves the deliberate infliction of “evil” on another, is always in need of justification. This has normally taken the form of indicating some good, which is to be obtained through punishment or an evil which is to be warded off. The three justifications traditionally advanced for punishment in general are retribution, deterrence, and reform (Brasfield 21).

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