Death Penalty

Arguments fore and against the Death Penalty



The death penalty . . . Is it justice - or legalized murder? Does it prevent crime - or lessen respect for the law? Will it make our towns and cities more safe - or more dangerous?

Public opinion has long been sharply divided over the legal execution of criminals. To critics, capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a step backward to a more brutal time. To supporters, it is a step forward to safer streets and greater justice.

Supporters of the death penalty just dont buy arguments against it. To them the death penalty is neither immoral nor cruel nor unusual.

* The death penalty is morally right, not wrong. Death penalty supporters say that society has the moral right - and duty - to take the lives of those who kill others. Many point to the Bible, which calls for punishment in the form of life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand . . ."

* The death penalty is not unconstitutional. Death penalty supporters also strongly dispute the claim that the death penalty is unconstitutional. They point out that the framers of the Constitution specifically refused to prohibit capital punishment in the Constitution and even referred to the death penalty in writing the Fifth Amendment.