Effectiveness of the death penalty

Running Head: Effectiveness of the Death Penalty Effectiveness of the Death Penalty [Writer`s Name] [Institution`s Name] Effectiveness of the Death Penalty The death penalty has become one of the most sensitive topics under public discussion with increasing demands from human rights organizations for its complete abolition. On the one hand the international opinion is increasing shifting towards a world without death penalty, on the other many nations and some states in the United States are not ready to abolish it and still consider it a strong toll in reducing the number murder cases. The history of crime in the United States and other parts of the world has proved that death penalty has always been an effective deterrent against it. The effectiveness of the death penalty is a reality. For the United States which is always criticized by many countries in the developed world and human rights organizations for its support to capital punishment, controlling crimes has always been a daunting task. Obviously the criticism of the country by its closest allies, especially its partners in Europe, — where nations cannot become components of either the Council of Europe or the European Union unless they agree to abolish death penalty — is an embarrassment. The major issue in the death penalty is that whether it is useful in reducing the cases of murder cases or not. The United Nations, Amnesty International and many other international organizations in their reports often criticize the United States for its support to capital punishment and the country has suffered a loss of prestige which is big blow to its image as a world leader. But the continuous application of death penalty in the country is not without a reason. And this shows that death penalty has its effectiveness in creating a society where people do not find it easy to hurt other people. Extensive empirical research has been carried out on the effectiveness of death penalty as a deterrent. Capital punishment has always been an interesting subject for legal experts and they have always tried to discover whether the death sentence serves a more effective deterrent than life imprisonment for murders and other heinous crimes. Cole and Smith (2006) examined arguments both in against and support of death penalty. According to them supporters of capital punishment argue that society should apply swift, severe punishments to people who are involved in heinous crimes to address the continuing problems of crime and violence. The authors find that supporters of death penalty want execution soon after the conviction and believe that this will result in greatest deterrent value. The author find following arguments in support of death penalty. "The death penalty deters criminals from committing violent acts. The death penalty achieves justice by paying killers back for their horrible crimes. The death penalty prevents criminals from doing further harm while on parole. The death penalty is less expensive than holding murderers in prison for life." (Cole & Smith 2006, 405) The arguments Cole and Smith examined in opposition to death penalty reject the effectiveness of this punishment. They say opponents of this punishment believe tha...