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Marquis Death Penalty

Decent Essays

More than two centuries ago, the death penalty was commonplace in the United States, but today it is becoming increasingly rare. In the article “Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?”, Diann Rust-Tierney argues that it should be abolished, and Joshua Marquis argues that it should not be abolished. Although the death penalty is prone to error and discrimination, the death penalty should not be abolished because several studies show that the death penalty has a clear deterrent effect, and we need capital punishment for those certain cases in which a killer is beyond redemption. It is said that there are better ways to punish the guilty and keep our communities safe besides capital punishment. Many people believe that “murder rates are lowest …show more content…

Evidence shows that the murder rate is decreasing due to what is thought to be capital punishment. “The U.S. murder rate decreased by 24 percent. Several academic studies show a clear deterrent effect from judicious use of the death penalty” (23). Most opponents claim that there are innocent people on death row; even if that is true,” … it has not been proven that even a single innocent person has actually been executed, so if the court can’t find something in those 12 years to prove the person innocent, it probably isn’t going to be found. The most important reason why the death penalty should not be abolished is because we need capital punishment for those cases in which a killer is beyond redemption. “Some claim lift without parole is an appropriate alternative to the death penalty” (23). Others say if you kill, you should be killed or if you commit a crime that is bad that you should be killed. “According to Gallup polls, 60 percent of Americans support the death penalty for a person convicted of murder” (23). Therefore more than half of Americans are for the death penalty/capital

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