The Death Penalty

The death penalty policy is a controversial one.  It is the ultimate deterrence tool.  There are many aspects of this issue to examine and it gives great perspective into this policy depending one ones view of whether they are for the death penalty or they are an opponent of the death penalty.  There are pros and cons, as well as socio economic and racial aspects to be examined.  This is a complex policy and is being under consideration by different states.  Some states have the death penalty and are avid believers in the death penalty policy such as Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.  Other states are deciding not to have the death penalty.  There are issues of what is cruel and inhumane, and unusual punishment.  There is also the issue of economics which also factor into this issue.  The policy will be expanded on and contrasted as both sides of this issue are delved into.

The policy came into effect to be the ultimate deterrence for heinous crimes.  This is a get tough aspect of policy in how the criminal system will process certain criminals.  Do the crime and pay the price.  This is a get tough on crime policy.  This policy sends the message that the community/states will not condone certain crimes there.  Serial killers are usually in this select group.  Ted Bundy, along with others is a great example of why people for the death penalty believe and want the criminal justice system to continue the death penalty. It is crimes like this that cause a public outcry and rage against these outcasts of society.  The news media is filled with horrific crimes committed by demented and sadistic individuals or occults that commit killings.  This contributes to the awareness of the death penalty and what they deem as necessary to get the killers off the street and out of society for good.” Since the death penalty provides a higher cost than alternative punishments, it is expected to generate a larger deterrent effect, ceteris paribus.( http://www.swcollege.com/bef/policy_debates/death_penalty.html) The deterrence perspective is that the offenders weighed their choices out and made the decision to commit these crimes and they also understand the punishment for committing certain crimes will be the death penalty.  Basically they walked in with their eyes wide open.  The death penalty policy enforces codes of ethics and laws and a zero tolerance perspective. Another good example is a lw enforcement officer feels pressures to find a serial killer and get him off the street to relive the public hysteria about a case. The officer finds some one who fits the criteria and arrests him/her but that may not actually be the real offender but it keeps the public happy.  An good example to expound on this issue is in 1990-1991 in Gainesville Florida there was a university rapist and there was much media attention on the case.  They did arrest someone but it was later discovered this person was not the real offender as they later arrested the offender.  This makes one ponder was this arrest a effort to appease the public or an honest case of probable cause. The problem is that sometimes the police has a lot of stress and pressure to keep the streets safe and it is their duty to get the criminals off the street for the public good. Now with this said, let one explore the perspective of the opponents of the death penalty.