Capital punishment has been a mainstay of many cultures throughout the world.
dating back several hundred years because it is an effective punishment and deterrent.
Every individual must be accountable and every attempt at dissuading reoccurrences of .
violent crimes must be taken. When we have the means to incapacitate violent offenders .
and deter future murders, to not avail ourselves of the option to do so would be negligent.
Incapacitation is the most clear cut advantage to capital punishment. Certainly, .
when a criminal is executed he poses no further threat to society, including other inmates .
and correction officials. Execution of death row inmates also alleviates burdens to the .
taxpayers in the forms of food, housing, and frivolous lawsuits that plague the justice .
system.
Less clear are the benefits of deterrence on future murders and violent crimes. .
Statistics from the Bureau of Justice show that while fewer inmates were executed in .
2003 than in the last seven years, violent crimes in states with capital punishment versus .
states without are relatively the same. (Bureau) The poet Hyman Barshay said "The .
death penalty is a warning, just like a lighthouse throwing its beams out to sea. We hear .
about the shipwrecks, but we do not hear about the ships the lighthouse guides safely on .
their way. We do not have proof of the number of ships it saves, but we do not tear the .
lighthouse down." (Barshay).
Without a way to collect verifiable data we cannot address the "what ifs" that go .
along with major decisions like executing criminals, but the general public consensus is .
to err on the side of caution and prevention, that the potential benefit of even one life .
saved out weights executing one convicted killer. These sentiments are echoed by Ernest .
van den Haag, Professor of Jurisprudence and Public Policy at Fordham University, .
"Executions of those who have committed heinous murders may deter only one murder .
