The Death Penalty is Not Effective (Essay Sample)

The Death Penalty is Not Effective
[Name]
[Institutional Affiliation]
The Death Penalty is Not Effective
Many states in the United States of America and across the world still admit the death penalty in their systems of justice. Most of them view it as the best form of punishment and a possible deterrent to criminals and would be criminals. However, there is a wide divide between supporters and opponents of the death penalty. Despite many beliefs that it can scare away individuals intending to commit murder and other capital crimes, various studies indicate that there is no direct relationship between capital punishment and reduction in capital crime. If anything, other scholars point out that comparative analysis between states admitting death penalty and those that do not indicate otherwise. Cases of murder are less prevalent in states without capital punishment (Radelet & Lacock, 2008). Considered on legal, ethical, and functional grounds, the death penalty is not effective in deterring crime and as a form of punishment.
As analyzed by Banks (2012), there are six outstanding reasons why offenders are punished by the law. The first two relate to the punished offender and other possible offenders. As it stops the offender from committing further crimes, it also discourages others from the same. The third and fourth reasons focus on offended victims and the society at large. Besides clearly informing victims, relatives, and others that the society does not approve of evil against them, the law seeks to protect all of them from such evil. Finally, punishment gives offenders opportunities to reconcile and depart from evil. It seeks to express the fact that punishment is deserved, and instituting laws must be adhered to.
Reviewing capital punishment against these justifications reveals some astounding realities. Whereas it successfully satisfies three, it only achieves partial satisfaction of two and no satisfaction at all for one. It is true that capital punishment informs victims of the society’s disapproval of evil in an effective way. Similarly, it protects the society and impacts the understanding of the need to obey laws. However, numerous studies indicate that very few individuals fail to commit murder because they dread capital punishment (Radelet & Lacock, 2008). This is because the drives that make individuals commit murder may not closely associate with the possibility of being caught or punished. In as much as the death penalty may stop an individual from committing more crimes, this may not be the case for other offenders as circumstantial causes of murder differ substantially (Bedau & Cassell, 2004). These two reasons satisfied partially form the very basis of capital punishment. Although punishment should allow offenders room for reconciliation and making amends, the death penalty eliminates this by taking away life.
An article by Radelet and Lacock (2008) concurred that the death penalty is not an effective way of deterring murder and other heinous crimes. After interviewing leading criminologists from the American Society of Criminology it emerged that 94% believed that not much evidence supported the fact that the death penalty is a crime deterrent. At the same time, 78% indicated that murder...