|
In Support of the Death Penalty
One afternoon in 1994, Megan
Kanka, a little girl of 7, was riding her bicycle outside
her home in New Jersey when a neighbor asked her if she wanted
to see his new puppy. He then took her into his home, raped
her, and strangled her with a belt. The man, a twice-convicted
sex-offender called Jesse Timmendequas, was sentenced to death
in 1997. For gruesome murders like this, the death penalty
is the only appropriate punishment. Justice is served only
when the death penalty is given to a criminal who has cruelly
taken the life of another person. Besides, there is no doubt
that by executing those who murder innocent victims in cold
blood, society can prevent future murders. Also, the appeals
system that is in place today for defendants in death penalty
cases and the availability of advanced forensic technology
and DNA analysis have dramatically reduced the possibility
of executing the innocent by mistake. Therefore, society should
continue to apply the ultimate punishment to deal with the
most heinous crime.
No other punishment deters future
murders as the death penalty does because people fear death
more than anything else. As Professor Ernest van den Haage,
professor of jurisprudence at Fordham University, argues,
people especially fear "death deliberately inflicted
by law and scheduled by the courts." Throughout history,
there have been a variety of methods used for carrying out
the death penalty, such as the gas chamber, the electric chair,
and more recently the lethal injection. Society should make
use of this fear and apply the death penalty in order to prevent
murder. There have been some inconclusive studies which claim
that the fear of being given the death penalty has no deterrent
effect on murder. However, even if there is some truth to
these studies, it is because the death sentence is rarely
given, and even when it is, the actual execution is carried
out too late to be a lesson for potential murderers. Only
if a punishment is swift does it serve as a powerful deterrent.
Even if one has doubts about preventing future murders by
means of the death penalty, one cannot deny the simple fact
that a killer that is killed will never kill again.
Opponents of the death penalty
argue that innocent people might be killed by mistake. However,
advances in technology and the close review of death penalty
cases by appellate courts have made that fear unwarranted.
Mistakes made in relation to court procedures, evidence and
witness testimony are very likely to be discovered by a higher
court that handles the appeal. Furthermore, advances in forensic
technology, particularly DNA testing, have provided law enforcement
agencies of today with foolproof crime-solving methods. Therefore,
while a handful of innocent people may mistakenly be executed
each year, most of those who receive the death penalty are
indeed guilty and deserving of the ultimate punishment.
To sum up, a society that is
faced with the terrible reality of senseless murders should
make use of the death penalty to remove dangerous killers
from its midst. By executing those who kill, society teaches
a lesson to potential murderers and preserves the balance
of justice. Besides, killing the killer of an innocent victim
lessens the pain of the victim's family and relatives. Fortunately,
we live in a time when a meticulously organized criminal justice
system and advanced crime-solving technology have made the
possibility of errors almost non-existent. Therefore, we should
use the death penalty to punish murderers.
|
