The Death Penalty - A Just Punishment for MurderThe essay has format problemsThe death penalty has always been and continues to be a very controversial issue. People on both sides of the issue continually debate for additional support for their movements. While opponents of capital punishment are quick to point out that the United States remains one of the few Western countries to continue to support the death penalty, Americans are also more likely to experience violent crime than citizens of other countries (Brownlee 31). Justice requires that criminals receive what they deserve. The punishment must fit the crime. If a burglar deserves imprisonment, then a murderer deserves death (Winters 168). The death penalty is necessary and the only punishment appropriate for those convicted of capital offenses. According to Turner, 75% of Americans support the death penalty because it deters some would-be murderers and also ensures moral and legal justice (83). "Deterrence is a theory: it asks what the effects of punishment are (does it reduce the crime rate?) and makes testable predictions (punishment reduces the crime rate relative to what it would be without the credible threat of punishment)", (Van Den Haag 29). The deterrent effect of any sanction depends on the speed with which it is applied (Workshop 16). Executions are so rare and delayed so long compared to the number of offenses committed at the Capitol that statistical correlations cannot be expected (Winters 104). How many would-be murders are deterred by the threat of the death penalty may never be known, just as it may never be known how many lives are saved by that threat. However, we know that the death penalty has a definite deterrent effect on those who are executed. Life in prison without the possibility of parole is the alternative to execution presented by those who consider that words live up to reality. Nothing prevents persons so convicted from being released on parole under subsequent laws or court decisions. Moreover, nothing prevents them from escaping or killing again in prison. After all, if they have already received the maximum sentence available, they have nothing to lose. For example, in 1972, the United States Supreme Court banned the death penalty. Like other states, Texas commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment. After being right in the middle of the paper......take back by force what a thief took by force. It would be wrong to imprison someone who has illegally imprisoned someone else. It would also be wrong for the police to exceed the speed limit to watch for someone who is speeding. The death penalty is a just and deserved punishment for murder. This deters some killings, saving an unknown number of innocent lives. These reasons explain why, despite all the controversy, three-quarters of Americans continue to support capital punishment. King James version. Brownlee, Shannon, Don McGraw and Jason Vest. “The place of revenge”. US News and World Reports June 16, 1997: 24-32. Hartsburg, Hendrick. “Burning question.” The New Republic February 20, 1989: 4+. Norton, Mary et al. A people and a nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Inc, 1990. Turner, Richard. “The taboos of the death penalty”. Newsweek June 30, 1997: 83. Van Den Haag, Earnest and John Conrad. The death penalty: a debate. New York: Plenum Press, 1997. Winters. Paul (ed.). The death penalty: opposing points of view. San Diego: Greenhaven Press Inc, 1997. Worsnop, Richard. “Debate on the death penalty”. QC Researcher. Flight. 5. 1995: 193-213.