Capital_Punishment

Should the U.S. continue to use capital punishment' CRT/225 CLARENCE MITCHELL April 5, 2009 Should the U.S. continue to use capital punishment' Should the U.S. continue to use capital punishment' I say absolutely! I believe that fear of sever punishment is a deterrent for many people that may cross the line of decency and commit heinous crimes. We really need to look at examples of other countries that have gone away from capital punishment and see where they are today. I would like to look at England. They started to slowly remove crimes from the capital punishment list in the 1970’s and then finally in 1998 they removed High Treason and piracy with violence as capital crimes, thus effectively ending capital punishment. As Robert Matthews a journalist for Focus an English magazine once wrote, "Some people argue that the absence of capital punishment in this country [England] is the mark of a civilized society. I believe we are rapidly becoming uncivilized. Some of the things that happen on our streets and in people’s homes certainly do not constitute civilized behavior."(1) Here he infers that the English streets are not becoming safer but more dangerous. He also infers that the rate of public displays of uncivilized conduct, are also increasing at a dramatic rate. I would like to point out that the audio report states that many people believe that the capital punishment system is prejudice. What I have found is that there are more Whites on death row than and other people group. 50% of the people on death row are White, and the next closest people group are the Blacks which make up 41% of the population on death row. Deaths that were completed in 2008 were 37, of that number 20 or 54% were White and 17 or 46% were Blacks. So that shows that there is no prejudice going on. According to Isaac Ehrlich's study, published on April 16, 1976, eight murders are deterred for each execution that is carried out in the U.S.A. This show you that capital punishment needs to stay and we need to execute more to set the example and let criminals know that we are serious about keeping the crime in our neighborhoods down. Below are some stats that show some facts. The Bureau of Justice Statistics had these numbers for 2007 and 2008: • In 2008, 37 persons in nine states were executed -- 18 in Texas; 4 in Virginia; 3 each in Georgia and South Carolina; 2 each in Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, and Oklahoma, and 1 in Kentucky. •   Of persons executed in 2008: -- 20 were white -- 17 were black •  All 37 inmates executed in 2008 were men. •  Lethal injection was used in 36 executions in 2008; 1 execution was by electrocution. •  Thirty-seven states and the federal government had capital statutes at yearend 2007. • Of persons under sentence of death in 2007:    -- 1,804 were white    -- 1,345 were black    -- 26 were American Indian    -- 35 were Asian    -- 10 were of unknown race. • Fifty-six women were under a sentence of death at yearend 2007. • The 362 Hispanic inmates under sentence of death at yearend 2007 accounted for 13% of inmates with a known ethnicity Based on all these facts I believe that the capital punishment system is fair, needed, and a vital part of keeping America a free safe nation. References http://www.studyworld.com/moral_issues/capital_punishment/debate_over_capital_punishment.htm http://www.cyberessays.com/Politics/12.htm http://www.socialpc.com/Philosophy/Capitol-Punishment.html http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm'abstract_id=961495# http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm