Death Penalty Essays (426 words) - Penology, Criminology

The death penalty has been far revered as one of the controversial issues to plague man kind. The recourse of both sides of the issue has been to prove that their viewpoint on the issue is the correct one, which almost certainly opens up the door for a full fledge controversy. Does the death penalty serve as a deterrent to crime? If so, why are crime rates in the United States comparatively high? What are some countries responses to the death penalty? Some would try to quantify that the death penalty does serve as a deterrent to crime but, evidence proves otherwise. There are several countries that agree with using the death penalty and do so, such as: Iran, China, and Sudan as well at the United States. In recent years there have been uproars for abolishment of such capital punishment. What is your position on the death penalty, should it be legal, or should it be abolished? Why? I do not agree with the use of the death penalty and believe that it should be abolished. I know in biblical days it was very known that it was ?an eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth?, which basically means the punishment should go hand in hand with the crime i.e. if you commit murder, then you should be put to death in the same manner. I do not agree with this today my approach maybe viewed as one that is very liberal. I see it as that even for the most heinous crimes that one should be sentenced to life in prison at the most. I believe that guilt will prevail in the end and what better way to invoke guilt than to give someone an ?extended timeout? to think about what the have done. Should youths who have been convicted of violent crimes be subject to the death penalty? Why or Why not? Since I do not agree in totality with the death penalty I do not believe that youths should be subjected to the death penalty. In most cases this is proven because unless they are tried as an adult the most youth can get is life in prison and depending upon the age when they are sentenced life is not always forever. Does an ?extended timeout? or life imprisonment always the answer? In most cases I would emphatically have to say yes. References: Sociology, A Brief Introduction, R. T. Schaefer (8th Edition) 2009 http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/OrnellasPaper.htm http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates