Deterrence of Death Penalty
The death penalty has been used for centuries as a form of retributive justice for felonies committed by criminals. The code of Hammurabi, written approximately 3,700 years ago, stated that "if a man destroys another man's eye, the offender's eye should be taken out; if a son strikes his father, the son shall have his hand cut off."(246) Early legal codes tried to provide justice by matching the punishment with the offense. This approach was also evident in numerous places within the Old Testament. For example, in the Book of Deuteronomy we read, " Life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."(8:12) However, even with these early philosophies of justice, punishment was not merely meant to serve as revenge for the victims and their relatives. Instead, punishment was intended to make life and property more secure by reducing the likelihood of a person committing a crime or a second offence.This aspect of social control is called deterrence: the use of punishment to deter people from deviance. As Plato expounded 2,300 years ago, "Punishment brings wisdom; it is the healing act of wickedness."(199) This occurs, Plato explained, "because the
In his book, Tushnet discusses why Ehrlich used 1963-1967 to research the deterrence of the death penalty. The annotation focused on recent statistics between Singapore and Los Angeles. But, what happens if ordinary people use this model and start taking justice into their own hands? 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. These investigations, in addition to numerous others, exemplify the thinking patterns of North Americans. It reveals that Westerners associate violence with violence and, consequently, when an execution is committed, there is more hostility in our society. Capital punishment became common during the eighteenth century in England where more then two hundred different crimes carried the death penalty. 21) None of these states of mind lend itself to the calm reflection required for a deterrent effect to occur. For example, since many murders result from emotional impulse, the death penalty could have, at best, only the slightest deterrent effect. A deterrent effect was clearly evident in the inhabitants of Singapore; whereas, studies revealed that the deterrent effect was not clearly evident in the inhabitants of Los Angeles. The alleged deterrent value of the death penalty is refuted by all the data on violent crime. Whereas, the astronomical rates acquired by Los Angeles was a direct reflection of their system of sanctions. The Los Angeles' populace lives a drastically different lifestyle then the populace of Singapore and, therefore, the success of the death penalty in Singapore does not prove that the death penalty in Los Angeles will be a successful deterrent. He continues that "potential murders simply act, but it is the deterrent effect, which acts on them.
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Acceptance Essays
