For and Against Death Penalty

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Recommended: Arguments against the death penalty

The death penalty has been a controversial type of sentencing that has been established since the historical documents have been recorded. The death penalty has been given to criminals who have been convicted of one of the most severe crimes, murder. The United States has established differing opinions amongst the death penalty that has created viewpoints for and against the death penalty. Statistics have also been provided to help show that the use of the death penalty has deterred capital crimes related to murder. The death penalty has also impacted law enforcement by focusing the investigation on compiling the necessary evidence and witness accounts in order to correctly gather all the necessary information. The death penalty has always been controversial in history, but the arguments for and against the abolishment of the death penalty is critical in establishing a correct punishment for the crime committed.
The death penalty has been backed by statistical analysis that has provided arguments for and against the sentencing based off deterrence methods. People against the death penalty have documented states that do not have the death penalty and have shown a decrease in murder rate. David Cooper’s statistical article provides information for non-death penalty states showing lower murder rates by stating, “When comparisons are made between states with the death penalty and states without, the majority of death penalty states show murder rates higher than non-death penalty states. The average of murder rates per 100,000 population in 1999 among death penalty states was 5.5, whereas the average of murder rates among non-death penalty states was only 3.6,” (Cooper, p.1). The statistics have shown that the death penalty ha...

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...e criminal act of homicide. The process of correctly investigating the homicide that has occurred is becoming more crucial with law enforcement and has impacted them due to correctly identifying the root cause of the crime. The death penalty must always be the last type of sentencing that a court is seeking, but if the crime has enough evidence and information provided than the death penalty must be invoked.

Works Cited

Carter, J. Show Death Penalty the Door. http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000983. Procon.org. Accessed March 24, 2014
Cooper, D. Deterrence: States Without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower Murder Rates. 2014. http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/deterrence-states-without-death-penalty-have-had-consistently-lower-murder-rates#stateswithvwithout. Death Penalty Information Center. Accessed March 24, 2014.

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