Reily Cannon

Ms. Gardner
English 2
8 May 2014
Capital Punishment: a!ing Many "i!es #y Ending $ne
%e&em#er 14' 1(()' *athan %unlap +illed ,our inno&ent people at a Chu&+ E. Cheese
restaurant in -urora' C$. .hree years passed' he /as still li!ing' #reathing' and smiling. 0n order
to prote&t our &ountry1s &iti2ens ,rom people li+e %unlap' &apital punishment is a ne&essary
sa&ri,i&e. Capital punishment is de,ined as in,li&tion o, the death penalty as punishment ,or
&ertain &rimes. 3or years' this ,orm o, punishment has pro!ed to #e &ontro!ersial. People ha!e
argued o!er /hether or not it is moral to put someone to death ,or a &rime' /hat many seem to
miss /hile &ontemplating the ethi&s #ehind &apital punishment is the eminent danger that arises.
4ithout the death penalty' %unlap as /ell as many other murderers /ould still #e ali!e today'
ali!e and a#le to ta+e a/ay more inno&ent people5s li!es /ith 6ust the shot o, a gun. Capital
punishment prote&ts us ,rom the monsters that surround uspeople' li+e %unlap' /ho lose all
rational thin+ing' and &ause others to su,,er ,or their #ad de&isions. Capital punishment is
ne&essary ,or e7treme &rimes #e&ause it promotes 6usti&e' pro!ides e&onomi& sta#ility' and
esta#lishes prote&tion ,or our nation.
-t ,irst' many /ould argue &apital punishment should #e a#olished. 3or instan&e' many
&iti2ens inter!ie/ed #y the Buffalo News agree' 8other ,orms o, punishment /ill get the 6o# done
/ell enough' in&luding li,e in prison /ithout parole8 9:End Capital Punishment;<. $thers seem
to thin+ there is a ,la/ in the system used to ,ind the &riminal. -s an arti&le ,rom the Buffalo
News reports' they #elie!e the system does not /or+ and ne!er /ill in the ,uture' at least not /ell
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enough to ensure the &orre&t person re&ei!es punishment 9:End Capital Punishment;<. .hose
/ho oppose &apital punishment do not ha!e enough ,aith in the system to trust that the &riminal
/ill #e the person /ho is e7e&uted. .hey are so /rapped up /orrying the /rong person might
end up e7e&uted= they are /illing to put the nation in danger to pre!ent an unli+ely mista+e.
4hile this /orry is !alid' >ir+ ?loods/orth' an e7onerated death ro/ prisoner' #rings up an
interesting statisti&' 142 people ha!e #een sa!ed ,rom death ro/ 9?loods/orth<. ?y the time
someone is a&tually at the point o, e7e&ution' the 6usti&e system has ta+en plenty o, time to
o!erturn the de&ision and pro!e their inno&en&e. .he pro&ess o, appeals in our &ountry is
e7hausti!e and rarely lasts less than a year. 142 people /ere /rongly &on!i&ted' #ut these same
142 people /ere sa!ed and not /rongly punished. Capital punishment is ne&essary to maintain
sta#ility' sa,ety' and 6usti&e in our nation. 4e may ma+e a mista+e at ,irst' #ut /e ,i7 the mista+e
#e,ore it &auses damage #eyond repair.
-dmittedly' &apital punishment ro#s a person o, their li,e. @o/e!er' this person
&ommitted a horri#le &rime that /arrants punishment o, some sort' and other punishments are
not ne&essarily more humane or 6ust to the &riminal than a speedy e7e&ution. Pas&alAEmmanuel
Go#ry' a senior resear&h analyst and /riter ,or The American Scene' re&alls' 80n any penal
system' #ut espe&ially in our o/nAA /hi&h &an #e #rutal' o!er&ro/ded' ri,e /ith rape and other
,orms o, !iolen&eAA a li,elong prison senten&e &an pro!e more &ruel and unusual than a speedy
e7e&ution8 9Btd. in %outhat<. Capital punishment pro!es to #e eBually humane' i, not more than
6ail. People on death ro/ are not ,or&ed to su,,er in misery ,or C0 more years o, their li,e rotting
in a 6ail &ell. .hey are not ,or&ed to li!e in !iolent prisons and in dan+ &ells until they die' as they
/ould #e in a li,elong prison senten&e. Many a&&use &apital punishment o, !iolating the Eighth
-mendment against &ruel and unusual punishment' #ut a Bui&+' nearly painless e7e&ution is not
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nearly as &ruel and unusual as the indignities e7perien&ed in 6ail. 0n addition' Ross %outhat ,rom
the International Herald Tribune /arns that #y a#olishing the death penalty the go!ernment is
pro!ing to the pu#li& that our legal system is in&apa#le o, deli!ering proper 6usti&e. @e points out
it /ould en&ourage a more &yni&al and utilitarian !ie/ o, poli&e ,or&es and prisons and their
moral standards= thus leading to more o!erall in6usti&e 9%outhat<. $ur go!ernment &ontains
in&redi#le po/er. 0t en,or&es all o, our la/s and +eeps most &rime ,rom de!eloping= mu&h o, its
strength roots ,rom its a#ility to punish those /ho do not ,ollo/ the la/. 0, our punishments
/ea+en' &iti2ens /ill #egin to Buestion authority and its a#ility to deli!er 6usti&e' thus &ausing
&rime rates to in&rease and our la/ systems to &ollapse. 3urthermore' Greg %o##s' an e7e&uti!e
editor and reporter ,or The Denver Post' !ie/s the 8guaranteed and e7hausti!e8 pro&ess o,
appeals as 6usti&e itsel,. .he people these &riminals +illed ne!er re&ei!ed time to prepare ,or their
death /hile the &riminals do 9%o##s<. .he long appeal pro&ess guaranteed in our nation gi!es the
murderer plenty o, opportunities to plead their &ase and' not to mention' to prepare ,or their
death. .hey re&ei!e plenty o, time /ith their ,amily and ,riends to share last moment laughs and
tears #e,ore they inherit the ,ate they sealed ,or their !i&tims in a matter o, se&onds. -s %o##s
mentions' Gary Gilmore' a man &on!i&ted ,or murdering t/o men 8got to &hoose his last meal'
and hug a ,e/ relati!es /ho spent his ,inal night /ith him in a holding &ell AA e!en dan&ing /ith
a &ousin /ho #rought a #oom #o78 9%o##s<. 0n summary' i, the death penalty is more 6ust and
humane to the &riminal than 6ail itsel,' /hy put the /hole nation in danger #y lo&+ing someone
up in a &ellD
0n addition' &apital punishment preser!es e&onomi& sta#ility' #y lo/ering the &osts o,
prison up+eep. Charles Eohnson' a /riter ,or the Los Angeles Times' notes' 8?y some estimates'
it &osts F100'000 a year per prisoner to +eep Cali,ornia5s G18 inmates ali!e on death ro/
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9Eohnson<. .his statisti& pro!es the e7pense o, +eeping only one inmate ali!e ,or only one year.
0, the death penalty /ere a#olished' these people /ould #e spending H0AC0 years in 6ail. .hat
amounts to FH'000'000AC'000'000 per person that /ould #e /asted. $ur nation &ould do so mu&h
more /ith that moneyAA something #ene,i&ial to the /hole &ommunity. Perhaps' this immense
sum o, money &ould #e used to impro!e the te&hnology /e rely upon to determine the &orre&t
murderer in a &rime s&ene #e,ore e7e&uting them. imilarly' Eames -ustin' e7e&uti!e !i&e
president o, the *ational Coun&il on Crime and %elinBuen&y notes' 8I*e/J prison &onstru&tion
/ould &ost at least F)GC #illion' and annual operating &osts /ould #e F1)) #illion8 9Ga!2er<. -s
it is &urrently' imprisonment rates are in&reasing and i, /e add possi#le death ro/ inmates to this
total' more 6ails /ill need to #e #uilt. 0, &apital punishment /as a#olished e!en more prisons
/ould #e needed' thus ta7ing our e&onomy ,urther. *ot only /ould more 6ails need to #e #uilt'
#ut also the &ost o, &are ,or &on!i&ts in 6ails /ould in&rease. 3or instan&e' uperintendent .ony
Gammon re,le&ts on a prisoner /hom he helped ta+e &are o, in the last year o, his li,e' /hose
intense medi&al &are resulted in &harges in e7&ess o, F200'000' e7&luding all other &harges
9Ga!2er<. Medi&al &are is an enormous e7pense ,or prisons. 4hen people get older' naturally'
they need more medi&al &are. 0, these people li!e in primiti!e &onditions' su&h o, that in a prison'
the aging pro&ess a&&elerates due to their situation= thus &ausing their stay to #e&ome e!en more
e7pensi!e. 4ithout all o, these e7penses &ru&ial to housing people in prisons ,or li,e' our
go!ernment /ould possess more money that &ould #e used ,or important items' su&h as
edu&ation' se&urity' and the en!ironment. 0, our go!ernment goes into de#t' e&onomy #e&omes
unsta#le and other areas o, li,e are at ris+.
Kltimately' &apital punishment ma7imi2es the sa,ety and se&urity o, the nation through
pre!enting murderers a se&ond opportunity to ta+e more li!es. 0, a murderer is not +illed
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immediately they pose a threat to the entire nation' as do&umented #y Eonathan >ay' a /riter ,or
the National Post' $n Euly 20'1(G8' three #rothers /ent to the -ri2ona tate Prison to !isit their
,ather' Gary .ison' /ho /as ser!ing time ,or murder. .hey #rought guns &on&ealed in an i&e
&hest and together es&aped ,rom the prison. 4ithin 24 hours o, their es&ape' the &ar they had
es&aped in #ro+e do/n in the /ilderness. - ,amily stopped to help and .ison gunned do/n the
entire ,amily' in&luding a marine sergeant and a 22AmonthAold #a#y 9>ay<. Ga!2er reports a
similar &ase' /ith the release o, Reginald M&3adden' /ho had spent 2H years #ehind #ars in
Pennsyl!ania ,or murder. %uring (2 days o, ,reedom' M&3adden +illed t/o men' and +idnapped
and raped a /oman 9Ga!2er<. .he people /ho do these things are not rightAminded human
#eings' they do not thin+ rationally. .oo many &ases o, murderers es&aping 6ails and +illing more
people e7ist to trust murderers to &hange their /ays. 0, mass murderers /ere rational people'
then yes' they most li+ely /ould /or+ hard to mend their /ays. @o/e!er' they are not. 0gnoring
history and gi!ing them an opportunity to end more li!es is too dangerous. @istory repeats itsel,
,ar too o,ten= it is time /e learn ,rom our mista+es. .he death penalty is not ne&essary ,or
e!eryone= ,or instan&e' Ro#ert ?le&+er' a la/ pro,essor ,rom @ar!ard' states the death penalty is
reser!ed ,or 8the /orst o, the /orst'8 not ,or someone &on!i&ted o, assisting a murder' su&h as
.ison5s sons. -lthough they /ere !i&ious &riminals' they /ere not &harged /ith the death
penalty' as their ,ather /as 9Btd. in >ay<. .ison1s sons ne!er +illed anyone and there,ore'
demonstrated the ,a&t that they possess the &apa#ility to &ontrol their a&tions. .hey are not in the
same &ategory as their ,ather #e&ause they sho/ the rationality to mend their /ays. *ot all
&riminals deser!e the death penalty and do not re&ei!e it. Mass murderers' ho/e!er' are a
di,,erent story. .here are many do&umented &ases o, mass murderers ne!er &hanging' es&aping
,rom 6ail' and murdering e!en more inno&ent &i!ilians. .here are too many o, those &ases to ta+e
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the ris+ to +eep &on!i&ted murderers ali!eAAthey are 6ust too dangerous. -n attempt to sa!e one
man5s li,e should not 6eopardi2e the sa,ety o, an entire nation. .he death penalty sa!es many
li!es #y ending one.
0n &on&lusion' &apital punishment is ne&essary to promote 6usti&e' maintain e&onomi&
sta#ility' and preser!e se&urity throughout our nation. .he death penalty strengthens our nation:
preser!es our !alues #y ensuring &i!ilian prote&tion and returning moral order /here needed.
4hen our nation ,irst esta#lished la/s' our ,ore,athers &reated them ,or one &ommon purpose:
8to esta#lish 6usti&e' ensure domesti& .ranBuility' pro!ide ,or the &ommon de,ense' promote the
general 4el,are and se&ure the ?lessings o, "i#erty to oursel!es and our Posterity8 9K
Constitution<. Capital punishment is ne&essary to ensure the rights gi!en to Knited tate &iti2ens
through the Constitution. 4ithout it' /e #etray our roots' allo/ing &orruption to destroy us' one
mass murderer at a time.
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4or+s Cited
?loods/orth' >ir+. 8My Case ho/s the *eed to -#olish the %eath Penalty.8 Mclatch! " Tribune
News Service. 0H Eul. 201): n.p. SI#S Issues #esearcher$ 4e#. 1G -pr. 2014.
%o##s' Greg. 8tate 0nmates Con!i&ted o, Murder %eser!e .heir 3ates.8 Denver Post. 1G Mar. 201):
%.4. SI#S Issues #esearcher$ 4e#. 1G -pr. 2014.
%outhat' Ross. 8.he Case ,or E7e&ution.8 International Herald Tribune. 2G ep. 2011: G. SI#S
Issues #esearcher$ 4e#. 1G -pr. 2014.
8End Capital Punishment.8 Buffalo News. 01 3e#. 2014: -.C. SI#S Issues #esearcher$ 4e#. 1G
-pr. 2014.
Ga!2er' ?ernard. 8"i,e ?ehind ?ars.8 Parade. -ug. 1) 1((H: 4AG. SI#S Issues #esearcher$ 4e#. 2H
-pr. 2014.
Eohnson' Charles. 8Knusual #ut *ot Cruel.8 Los Angeles Times. 0) Ean. 2012: -.1H. SI#S Issues
#esearcher$ 4e#. 2H -pr. 2014.
>ay' Eonathan. 8.he -shes o, the %ead.8 National Post. 01 3e#. 2014: -.18. SI#S Issues
#esearcher$ 4e#. 1G -pr. 2014.
%S onstitution$ Pream#le.
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