The Debate over the merits of capital punishment has endured .
for years, and continues to be an extremely indecisive and .
complicated issue. Adversaries of capital punishment point to the .
Marshalls and the Millgards, while proponents point to the Dahmers .
and Gacys. Society must be kept safe from the monstrous barbaric .
acts of these individuals and other killers, by taking away their .
lives to function and perform in our society. At the same time, we .
must insure that innocent people such as Marshall and Millgard are .
never convicted or sentenced to death for a crime that they did not .
commit. .
Many contend that the use of capital punishment as a form of .
deterrence does not work, as there are no fewer murders on a per- .
capita basis in countries or states that do have it, then those .
that do not. In order for capital punishment to work as a .
deterrence, certain events must be present in the criminal's mind .
prior to committing the offence. The criminal must be aware that .
others have been punished in the past for the offence that he or .
she is planning, and that what happened to another individual who .
committed this offence, can also happen to me. .
But individuals who commit any types of crime ranging from .
auto theft to 1st-Degree Murder, never take into account the .
consequences of their actions. Deterrence to crime, is rooted in .
the individuals themselves. Every human has a personal set of .
conduct. How much they will and will not tolerate. How far they .
will and will not go. This personal set of conduct can be made or .
be broken by friends, influences, family, home, life, etc. An .
individual who is never taught some sort of restraint as a child, .
will probably never understand any limit as to what they can do, .
until they have learned it themselves. Therefore, capital .
punishment will never truly work as a deterrent, because of human .
nature to ignore practised advice and to self learn. .
There are those who claim that capital punishment is in itself .