A Permanent Death - Capital Punishment
             Essay written by Unknown
             There are five basic reasons that society uses when imposing "punishment" that
             I've been able to conclude from my readings. I will discuss these societal concepts
             and show that the death penalty does not serve to further them. As a result William
             Smith should not be subject to the death penalty and in fact the same should be
             abolished from our system of "punishment".
             Deterrence is basically defined as "the punishment should fit the crime." Under this
             concept, the individual committing the crime and society are prevented from
             committing this action again. In the case of the death penalty, an individual kills
             another human and he is "punished" for it by death. Punishment is supposed to be
             a temporary penalization for a wrongful action. Death is far from temporary. One is
             to learn from one's mistakes. How can the person learn if they are paying for their
             mistake with their life? In Ernest van den Haag's article, "The Ultimate Punishment:
             A Defense" he states, "The death penalty is our harshest punishment. It is
             irrevocable: it ends the existence of those punished, instead of temporarily
             imprisoning them." (Haag, 251). By imposing the death penalty the individual does
             not learn from their mistakes and neither does society.
             Under this concept, punishment should be economical. As Haag points out, "...the
             monetary cost of appealing a capital sentence is excessive." (Haag, 253). Further,
             "...actual mo...