The Death Penalty

While there are many people who are opposed to the idea, the death penalty is essential in punishing those individuals who choose to commit especially heinous crimes, such as murder, rape, or terrorist acts. Crimes involve choices made by the offender. Do they have to kill others? For the victims, however, there is no choice. Do they wake up one day choosing for their life to be taken? Do their families wake up choosing for them to be killed? Take, for example, the terrorist attacks of 9/11. So many innocent lives were taken, so many families lives were left in ruins. This was not their choice but that of the terrorists inflicting the damage. As a society, we a have a moral responsibility not only to punish these offenders for their actions but to keep them from repeating those actions as well. Capital crimes should not be tolerated, and both current and potential criminals need to get the message.

Everyone must be accountable for his or her own actions, including juveniles. This may seem harsh, and for those who disagree, consider these headlines:

• Sixteen-year-old student orchestrates the kidnapping, torture, and murder of her mother.
• Five friends (all teens) beat, tortured, and burned to death a fellow friend and student.
• Teenage boy and his accomplice tie up woman; throw her off bridge to her death, while she was still conscious. The boy bragged beforehand that he could 'get away with it' because of his age.

Individuals fully aware of right and wrong committed all these cold, calculated crimes. This was not self-defense; they chose to take another life because they wanted to. Laws and regulations serve a purpose, which includes protecting citizens from these types of crimes.

Even the Bible depicts death as an appropriate punishment for murder and various other crimes. God set forth moral principles for society to follow. When these are violated, certain punishment, including death, must be imposed. It is stated in the Bible, "He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death."(Exodus 21:12) Capital punishment was and should continue to be a just penalty for murder. In another Exodus passage (21:22-25), "Eye for an eye," punishment is measured by the offense incurred; therefore, if someone chooses to take a life, the individual should ultimately pay with his or her own life. Without punishment, there would be no responsibility. Our society would simply be one of no morals or ethics.

Granted, the death penalty may not be a pleasant thought for those on death row; however, it is not meant to be. There should not be sympathy for cold-blooded killers; after all, what sympathy have they shown for their victims? Do victims and family members not have a right to receive retribution for the horrific crimes inflicted upon them? Opponents of the death penalty seem to worry more about the rights of offenders and whether or not they are wrongly put to death. While no one on either side disputes the concerns of executing an innocent person, extensive research from authorities both for and against the death penalty have no documented proof from their findings of any innocent person being executed since 1900. Furthermore, with the technological advances that exist today, such as DNA testing, the possibility of this occurring is no more so than those with which are wrongly incarcerated.

This leads to another argument from those opposing the death penalty. Life imprisonment for these criminals is better; on the contrary, putting these people behind bars for life is not always enough. There is the inevitable chance, through changing laws and parole boards or escapes that these criminals will strike again. According to the U.S. Justice Department, the average sentence served for murder is only five to six years. There is also undeniable proof that murderers will harm and kill again, if given the opportunity. Whether they are currently incarcerated, improperly released, or somehow escape, it happens.

• Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1977-Man with prior murder conviction kills woman one year after released from prison.
• Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1999-Man with previous murder conviction kills again; only seven months after being paroled (featured on America's Most Wanted).
• Oklahoma, 2000-Man is found guilty in the murder of boy; previously killed two other children as a teen.
• Holman Prison, Alabama, 2001-Murderer serving life without parole kills another inmate.

The cost to taxpayers for keeping inmates fed, housed, and clothed is also expensive. Some argue that the death penalty is costly as well. The fact that these cases can often linger in appellate courts for years, while society foots the bill, is not disputed. However, this does not have to be the case. Allowing appeals relevant only in proving one's innocence rather than those which are used simply as delaying tactics would save millions of taxpayer's dollars. Furthermore, with approximately 250 death penalty sentences each year, only 40 or less are actually executed. Speed up the process; cut the costs.

The death penalty is meant for those who commit the most heinous of crimes. It may not be pleasant; it may not be cheap, but it is an essential and just consequence with which those who choose to partake in capital crimes must be held accountable for.