Capital Punishment
The death penalty is not a new idea in our world. Its origins date back over 3,700 years to the Babylonian civilization, where it was prescribed for a variety of crimes. (Capital Punishment p.10). It was also greatly used in the Greek and Roman Empires. It continued into England during the Middle Ages, and then to the American colonies where it exists still today. In the colonies, death was a prescribed punishment for crimes such as: murder, rape, arson, and perjury. The death penalty is necessary and has a positive effect on society today. It is an effective deterrent of crime as well as a safeguard for society, it helps to keep order in our cities. I feel it is a just and effective punishment for those who have committed crimes heinous enough to deserve death. Does the death penalty truly deter crimes and murder? This question is at the heart of a heated political controversy over the punishment. Opponents of the death penalty say "no" because of the large number of people on "Death Row" today. They also say that States which use the death penalty have a higher crime rate than those that do not, and therefore it is not effective and even contributes to the problem. (http://www.rit.edu/~wwl2461/c
I must point out however, that States with the death penalty are usually highly urbanized areas which are likely to have high crime rates because of the large populations. It has proven effective throughout history, and will hold strong through the ages as long as people continue to be corrupt and commit crimes. (The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints p. This proves not only is it a safeguard but it also helps deter crime because in the hundreds of years before England had one of the lowest murder rates in the world. In the second half (July-December) there were only 21 murders, an almost 20% drop in the murder rate. Layson found that states with execution of a murderer deters, on average, 18 murders (http://www. States that utilize capital punishment do so because of high crime rates, not vice versa.
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Acceptance Essays
