Capital Punishment is an Effective Deterrent

Capital Punishment is an Effective Deterrent

Throughout history, statistics have proven that Capital Punishment has been

an effective deterrent of major

crime. Capital Punishment is the lawful infliction of death among criminals and

has been used to punish a wide variety of offenses for many years all over the

world (Bedau 16). When the death penalty is enforced, it shows society that

committing a capital crime has deadly consequences.

In early times, many methods of Capital Punishment were used to deter a

variety of crimes. For over a century, the uniform method for executing persons

in America was hanging, although starvation was very common also. There were

exceptions which included spies, traitors, and deserters who would face a firing

squad. Then in 1888, New York directed the construction of an "electric chair"

(Flanders 11). It was believed that the new harnessed power of electricity

would prove to be a more scientific and humane means of execution. The first

electrocution took place in New York in 1890.

In the past, capital crimes were much different than they are now.

Robbery and the selling of alcohol to underage customers was a serious capital

crime (McCuen and Baumgart 21). Rape was also a crime where the criminal was

sentenced to death.

In America, only thirty-seven states authorize the death penalty. In

most of those thirty-seven states, murder is the only capital crime. The

Supreme Court requires that two conditions must be met in order for a specific

murder to warrant the death penalty (Nardo 32). The first condition is that it

must be first degree murder, which is the deliberate and premeditated taking of

life. The second is that one or more aggravating circumstances must be present.

Aggravating Circumstances refer to those aspects of a crime that increase its

severity. An example of an aggravating circumstance would be torture in

conjunction with a murder. ("Capital Punishment" 32).

Every society has faced the problem of what to do with its most

troublesome criminals. Many people in the past have argued whether or not

Capital Punishment is justified and necessary.

Most societies now believe that a criminal should receive punishment

proportional to the crime committed. Most societies believe that such a severe

punishment was necessary to install fear in others.

While more social structures developed, the crimes developed into public

and private offenses. Public offenses such as witchcraft and blasphemy, were

punished by the state; while private offenses still were answered by acts of

personal retribution.

The enforcement of Capital Punishment in the early twentieth century

declined drastically because of all of the controversy.