Amazingly, our criminal justice system is not even achieving this goal. The average prison sentence for murder is less than six years (Jacobs 80). Six percent of the young adults paroled since 1978 that were convicted of murder were arrested for murder again within six years of their release ("Justice for All" 3). This means that six percent of all murderers were caught, convicted, sent to prison, released, and they murdered again. At least six percent of all murders could have been prevented had the murderer been executed the first time around. In North Carolina in 1995, 750 people were murdered ("Crime Statistics" 1) By stopping repeat murderers at least forty-five lives could have been saved in 1995 in North Carolina alone. Every year, approximately the same number of people would not die if an effective form of the death penalty were in place. .
One example of the benefit of the death penalty is what happened in India in the 1800s. When Great Britain was beginning to colonize India, there was a religion known as the Thuggee religion. These Thuggees were probably the most violent, dangerous, and brutal gang of thieves ever. They killed literally thousands of people (mostly foreigners) and stole their money. In fact, one of the requirements of this cult was that each member had to murder at least one person every year. The British jumped to action to curb the problem by speedy arrests and executions. Thousands of Thuggees were executed. After a few years, the leader of the Thuggees was captured and executed. During his trial, it was found that he had murdered 931 people. In 1883, the British had completely solved the problem by executing the last known Thuggee (Lowe 3). Often opponents will argue that some criminals are so deranged, so fearless, so assured that they will not be caught that they will murder no matter what the penalty is. If this was true of anyone, it was true of the Thuggees.