Death Penalty Deterrence? Blog #4

     A controversial topic upsetting many Americans today is the legal system usage of the death penalty.  Death penalty laws date as far back as the 18^th century, B.C.   The Code of Hammaurabi codified the death penalty into 25 different crimes (DPIC, 2008).  Actually, Great Britain heavily influenced the American use of the death penalty.   European settlers came to the new world and brought with them their system of capital punishment (DPIC, 2008).  In the nation’s earliest history, executions were usually administered as a public spectacle in the town square.   The event would serve as a warning and a deterrent to those of similar thoughts.  (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, & Simonsen, 2007).  Today, many argue that capital punishment inflicts excessive cruelty on the perpetrator and violates the Eighth Amendment against cruel and unusual punishment.

          Dozens of states that have chosen not to enact the death penalty have statistically lower homicide rates than states with the death penalty.  The data gathered by the FBI shows that half the states with the death penalty have homicide rates above the national average.  Booner and Fessenden (2000) reported that over the past 20 years, states with the death penalty have homicide rates 48% to 101% higher than states without the death penalty.  Death penalty opponents claim that these figures suggest that execution rarely acts as a deterrent for capital offenses.   These figures deter many non-capital punishment states from enacting capital punishment laws.  The claim is that if the death penalty were in fact, effective, no crime would occur (Allen, Latessa, Ponder, & Simonson, 2007, p. 417).  A study done in 1993, however, shows that many people in favor of the death penalty would support incarceration alternatives (Johnson, 2008). 

     Prosecutors argue that there are numerous reasons to carry out capital punishment.  Many people believe that rehabilitation is ineffective.  Violent criminals make dozens of free moral choices that ultimately result in the loss of another citizen’s right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.   Prosecutors also use the death penalty as a “plea bargain” chip, which allows a legal resolution of the crime, but at a lower level of punishment.   

     The main issue in California is not guilt or innocence but whether the defendant deserves to be put to death.  California spends the most money on capital cases and has the highest record of death row inmates in the country.  California also has more attorneys per capita than most states.   Citizens of California would be mildly concerned if all of a sudden the rate of executions began to climb.  Of course, these same citizens are greatly concerned if imprisoned offenders are release into their own neighborhood.   As Professor Karver stated, “citizens should care, because we do not want this offenders in our backyard.”  “The whole thing is a mess,” said former state Supreme Court Justice Edward Panelli, a conservative who voted to affirm most death sentences he reviewed.  “It wouldn’t hurt me at all if they just changed the law” (Mintz, 2002).

     Capital punishment and the death penalty have existed as early as the eighteenth century.  Supporters of the death penalty felt that if it is “swift and certain”, administered in the public’s eye, they would be less inclined to commit crimes.  However, many states that have enacted the death penalty actually have higher reported homicide rates than others.  This may suggest that the death penalty has little to no deterrent effect on the occurrence of crimes.  The rate of death row inmates continues to climb, with California having over 600 death row inmates.  In an effort to punish these offenders, California taxpayers incur the astronomical expense of ensuring these offenders pay the “ultimate” price for the crimes they committed.  Families of victims suffer mental anguish as the appeals process can take up to 20 years.  There are survivors who feel that if the offender is executed this will still not necessarily bring them closure for their loss.  Capital punishment proponents believe that immediate execution will bring closure and survivors can move on.  Capital punishment opponents believe the offender’s execution represents another form of murder.

     Great controversy exists over states implementation of the death penalty.  Ignored is the fact that eliminating the perpetrator removes the desire of the survivors to retribute the crime on their own.  I feel that people who commit heinous crimes against others do not deserve comfort from society.  A hard-line stance on violent crime is a requirement for our society.   Why are the victims left to basically suffer alone or with little help?  The limitless legal help and money thrown at society’s miscreants is an obscene waste.  Certainly, mistakes have and will continue to happen in the justice system.  They also happen and will continue to happen in the surgery room of the hospital.  Yet, nobody is stopping surgery.   It is absurd that these violent offenders receive better treatment than the average law-abiding citizen who finds his tax-dollars wasted on the incarcerated.

Work Cited

Allen, H.E., Latessa, E.J., Ponder, B.S., & Simonsen, C.E.  (2007).  Corrections in America: An introduction.  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:  Pearson Education Inc.

Johnson, K. (2008). California death penalty system 'dysfunctional'. USA TODAY,p. A.3.  Retrieved November 15, 2008, from ProQuest Newsstand database. (Document ID: 1503635781).

Mintz, H. (2002). Death sentence reversals cast doubt on system- Courtroom mistakes put executions on hold. San Jose Mercury News (CA) Morning Final ed., 1A. Retrieved November 24, 2008 from NewsBank on-line database (America's Newspapers) on the World Wide Web: <http://infoweb.newsbank.com>.