Capital Punishment - JustAnswer



Running head: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment: Is Still Needed Today

Rebecca Smith

Axia College University of Phoenix

Capital Punishment

If we did not have the death penalty, people like Ted Bundy would not justifiably pay for their crimes. With the number of murders (among other things) Ted Bundy committed, how could anyone give him anything but the death penalty? Additionally, Ted Bundy confessed to 30 murders and was believed to have committed over 100. His confession alone would be cause for the death penalty. Unfortunately, this country has several people who will deserve the death penalty in the years to come. Even though capital punishment is considered inhumane punishment, it is a good tool to be used on serial killers and violent criminals that have been proven guilty by facts, not suspicions.

Most consider capital punishment inhumane and believe that any criminal can be rehabilitated. A rehabilitated criminal can make a morally valuable contribution to society. When rehabilitating criminals for minor crimes, the process is not difficult. Trying to rehabilitate a violent criminal that has already killed several people is not justifiable. I would not want to be the person telling the family of the victims that the person who killed their loved one was rehabilitated and set free. ***** Some of the victims listed below would not want to hear that their murderer was set free because he claimed to be rehabilitated. If you have ever heard the story about Cary Ann Medlin, you would not agree with rehabilitation for violent criminals. Cary Ann was an eight year old girl out for a bike ride with her step-brother on September 1, 1979. A friendly man approached her and seemed to know her father. He convinced her to show him where she lived. When she got into the car, it was the last time she was seen. She was molested and murdered, and her body left on the outskirts of town at the end of a field road. Robert Glen Coe was arrested and found guilty. During his confession, he told authorities that Cary Ann’s last words to him were “Jesus Loves You”. He reportedly had a criminal record which included sexually based crimes. It took 30 years before his sentence was carried out and a lot of pain for her parents. (Pro Death ) If he had been sentenced to life, instead of to death, he quite possibly would have argued that he deserved “another chance” and that he had been rehabilitated. And quite possibly in cases such as this, whether the killers have been rehabilitated is not the only consideration.

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Cary Ann Medlin

October 9, 1970-September 1, 1979

There are numerous examples of murders committed by people who have previously committed a homicide. According to the United States Department of Justice, released prisoners often are rearrested for the same type of crime. Released murders are about five times as likely as other released prisoners to be charged with new murders. (Beck, 2002). The following are a few real life examples of murderers who do not stop with one killing, but go on to kill again.

“Melvin and Linda Lorenz, and their son Richard were killed by Roger Stafford. Melvin stopped on a highway near Purcell, Oklahoma to help what he thought was a woman whose car had broken down, but instead was ambushed by Stafford and his brother, using Stafford’s wife as bait. Less than a month after these horrific murders, the trio killed six employees of a steak house in Oklahoma City”. Another example of rehabilitation not being successful on violent criminals is the story of Katy Davis. “When Katy Davis observed three strangers outside her apartment, she walked away. Returning later, she was attacked and forced to open the door by Charles Rector, on parole for a previous murder. The men ransacked her apartment, abducted her and took her to a lake where she was beaten, gang-raped, shot in the head and repeatedly forced underwater until she drowned.” (Pro-Death )

William Jennings Choyce was convicted of three murders and sentence to die. A prosecutor characterized him of exhibiting “Ted Bundy-type behavior.” Choyce stood emotionless as the sentence of death was announced. Of course, he had already been convicted and sentenced of the 1997 rapes and murders of two other women, as well as a murder in 1988 of an Oakland, California woman. (Apollo Library University of Phoenix)

As compelling as these stories are, however, there remains a large contingent of the public who do not support capital punishment. Statistics show that between states and between members of different populations, the death penalty is administered unevenly. Although a number of theories have been put forward, nothing has actually been proven. Nevertheless, this might be a reason for some of the opposition to the death penalty. Different states and different communities have beliefs that reflect these views.

The chart below shows the executions carried out from the years 1997 through 2004. The states are indicated by the colors red and blue. Red state executions per million populations are an order of magnitude greater than blue state executions (46.5 v 4.5). Blacks are executed at a rate significantly disproportionate to their share of overall population (US Politics ).

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The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty should reflect the “conscience of the community,” and that its application should be measured against society’s “evolving standards of decency. This latest report suggests that 60 percent of Americans do not believe that the death penalty is a deterrent to murder. Moreover, almost 40 percent believe that their moral beliefs would disqualify them from serving on a capital case (US Politics ).

And when asked whether they prefer the death penalty or life in prison as punishment for murder, the respondents were split: 47 percent death penalty, 43 percent prison, and 10 percent unsure. Interestingly, 75 percent believe that a “higher degree of proof” is required in a capital punishment case than in a “prison as punishment” case. (Poll margin of error +/- ~3%) (US Politics, .) In our judicial system, proof “beyond a reasonable doubt” is necessary for any criminal conviction, which should be all that is required, no matter what the possible sentence. To take this a step further, requiring a higher standard of proof would mean that to be convicted of a crime requiring a lesser sentence would not require a stringent standard of proof. Taking a human life is morally wrong under all circumstances according to the Roman Catholic Church. Some faith groups including the Roman Catholic Church oppose the death penalty as not being “pro-life”. By using this belief from the churches, here are inmates on death row using the claim that they are born again. They use this claim hoping they can get a reprieve from their sentence.

Capital Punishment is often the resulting sentence for heinous crimes, such as serial murderers. Killing one person is horrifying, but sometimes these are the result of a lover’s quarrel, or another one-time event such as a botched drug deal. The idea that a person in our midst, kills repeatedly, sometimes year after year, without detection, is almost unfathomable. The death penalty is the ultimate punishment for what we consider the ultimate crime—serial murder. Ted Bundy admitted to killing 30 people, but was believed to have killed over 100. David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) admitted to killing 40 people before he was captured. These serial killers look just like you and me. There no way of telling if the person sitting next to you in the restaurant is good or bad. (See the illustration below.)

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(Above Pictured) Ted Bundy just a regular Guy, admitted to killing 30 people, but believed to have killed over 100.

Violent criminals should receive the death penalty because of the horrible acts performed during the murders they commit. Two men picked up Troy Gregg and a companion who were hitchhiking, and for their kindness they were murdered for their car. Due to the murders along with the theft of the car Troy Gregg received the death penalty. Gregg subsequently appealed this sentence and challenged the Georgia law, contending that it violated his Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. On July 2, 1976, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 7 to 2, with Associate Justices Brennan and Marshall dissenting, that the Georgia statute was constitutional and that Gregg's sentence should be upheld. (American History Online).

Jeffrey DAHMER (1960 - 1997 )

One of the most bizarre criminals in the 1990s. Jeffrey Dahmer was accused of sadistically murdering, mutilating and cannibalizing male victims in his apartment. Court records noted he allegedly dismembered fifteen men or boys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was sentenced to fifteen life terms in prison since Wisconsin does not have a death penalty. He was clubbed to death in a prison bathroom. (Dr. Jim Adamitis)

The victim’s families of all these violent crimes are paying the price for the criminals still being in prison instead of receiving their punishment. The families of the victims below are still waiting for justice to be done for their loved ones. “In 1985, 13-year-old Karen Patterson was shot to death in her bed. Her killer was a neighbor who had already served 10 years of a life sentence for murdering his half-brother Charles in 1970.” (Pro Death )

There is no end to the horror stories like these I have mentioned. Jurors, who represent us, hear about horrific crimes and make tough but appropriate decisions. With a yearly average of 15,000 murders, the fact that we are reaching 1,000 executions in only a little more than 30 years is proof that capital punishment has been reserved for the worst of the worst.

With people like Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz and Robert Glen Coe living in the world, we need the death penalty. The states attorney’s office in every state should be responsible for making sure the only way a trial takes place where death is the sentence than the evidence is 100% verifiable. No reasonable doubt should be able to be made. People like Robert, David, and Ted deserve the death penalty and we should continue to use this tool the way it was suppose to be used.

With serial killers and violent criminals we need the death penalty for what it was intended. The most dangerous of criminals, killers, are unlikely to be rehabilitated and may even be released to kill again if they only receive a life sentence for their crimes. The crimes against Cary Ann Medlin and others like her demand retribution and a life sentence in prison will not justify the way these victims lost their lives. If someone in your family went through what some of the victims in this story did what would you want from the person that did the crime, life in prison or death? What would they deserve in your eyes?

References:

(n.d.) Pros and Cons of the Death Penalty (Capital Punishment) Retrieved (8/31/09) from



Jurors sentence serial killer to death: With executions on hold, penalty largely

symbolic. (Stockton, CA) (Sept 19, 2008): NA. General One File. Gale. Apollo Library-Univ. of

Phoenix. 4 Sept. 2009

"Gregg v. Georgia." American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. Retrieved (09/04-2009)  ?

ItemID=WE52&iPin=E11970&SingleRecord=True 

Who Speaks For the Victims of Those We Execute? Retrieved (10/7/2009) from:

Beck, A. J. (2002, June 2). United States Department of Justice Recidivism Statistics. Retrieved (10/7/09) from United States Department of Justice Web site:

Dr. Jim Adamitis, Criminal Justice Program, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Write State University, Famous Criminals Retrieved: (10/7/2009) from

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