After reading a classmates blog regarding the death penalty I was inspired to gather some information to paint a slightly different picture. The blog was primarily anti-death penalty as the author believes that the death row inmates could be innocent. She also stated that the death penalty is “not our best option and it’s not our most humane option.” She asks us as a society to “turn the other cheek and believe in kindness, hope and love.”
I found a quote from Professor John McAdams of Marquette University that exactly described my feeling on the subject, "If we execute murderers and there is in fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims. I would much rather risk the former. This, to me, is not a tough call."
My classmate speaks of rehabilitation and to then “set them free on the world again.” Currently 56% of violent felons are repeat offenders and 61% of all felons are repeat offenders. How can we possibly consider rehabilitating someone that has committed murder? We are not taking the chance that another robbery will happen; we are taking a chance that another innocent person will be murdered. We are socially irresponsible if we allow these types of criminals back on the street. Additionally, we are socially irresponsible to keep these people in prison where they can cause harm to other inmates. Our society is based on rules to keep people safe. Every able person knows that killing someone is against those rules. Everyone knows that there is a consequence. These people sentenced to death row knew what they were doing. They knew the consequence to their actions. I say, if you make it clear that the consequence to murdering someone is the death sentence then let the burden of guilt be placed on the murderer for killing an innocent person as well as themselves.
