The death penalty should remain legal
Why?
One position on the death penalty is that it is a valid punishment and should remain as part of the criminal justice system. These supporters believe that capital punishment is the most effective way to punish serious criminals. One reason they cite is that this is the only way to ensure that dangerous criminals will not reoffend. Sentencing a murderer to death ensures that they will never kill again, whereas putting them in prison for life poses a risk to other inmates, guards, and even the public in the event of an escape. Supporters also believe that having a punishment of death for crimes like murder will help prevent crime by acting as a deterrent for other would-be killers. This means that people would be less likely to commit murder because they would be too afraid that they could lose their own life as a result of their actions. Another reason this punishment is supported is the concept that a punishment should be the equivalent of a crime, or “an eye for an eye.” By this reasoning, the only fair punishment for committing murder is death. It is unfair to the victim and their families that someone has killed the victim yet that person is allowed to stay alive, even if incarcerated. Many people who support this view believe that prison is too good for violent offenders like murderers and terrorists, and therefore death is the only punishment fit for them and fair to the victim. These people tend to believe that the idea of punishment in the criminal justice system should be centered around the goals of deterrence, retribution, and incapacitation, and less emphasis should be placed on the goal of rehabilitation.
says who?
People who support this idea include many prosecutors, criminal case judges, and victims’ families. In a capital case, prosecutors often have to try to persuade juries in the penalty phase of the trial that the crimes committed by the defendant are heinous enough that execution is the best and most just option. Criminal judges have to listen to capital cases and hear every gruesome detail and piece of evidence there is, and also be willingly to impose a death sentence should a jury decide it to be justified. While some victims' families oppose the death penalty, many others are angry and heartbroken over the tragic loss of a loved one and do not believe that their killer has the right to life, since the victim had their right to live stolen away.
How could this be achieved?
In the United States, there are currently 31 states, along with the US government and military, that continue to employ the death penalty. While some of these states are slowly moving towards abolition, others are highly unlikely to stop using capital punishment unless a federal governing agent, such as the Supreme Court, rules that the death penalty itself is unconstitutional and causes a permanent nationwide ban. However, it is unlikely that a federal ruling could be made that would force states that have abolished the death penalty to reinstate it, so capital punishment will most likely never be legal everywhere in America again. The death penalty system will probably remain as it is now, with the legality of and legislation surrounding the punishment at the discretion of the states. Under this system, capital punishment will remain legal in most of America in the immediate future.