Positive Aspects Of Capital Punishment

            "Not the physical act, but the social meaning of murder distinguishes robbery from taxation, murder from execution, a gift from theft" (Leone 233). This quote defines the exact reason why capital punishment is an ethical form of justice. Although capital punishment may seem like an unfair form of justice, it is actually the most logical way to punish criminals who commit the most serious of serious offenses. It serves as an effective deterrent and provides an excellent form of retribution. If used in the right way, capital punishment would be more cost efficient and effective than life in prison. Capital punishment has been in use in the United States since the beginning of its history. Among the first to be put to death from crimes in the colonies were the so-called witches. The best known was the Salem Witch Trials, where a total of twenty witches had been sentenced to die by the time the trials were over. Through most of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there was much discussion over capital punishment. In the eighteenth century several hundred offenses were punishable by death, but in the late 1880's the government restricted the number of crimes punishable bye death to three: treason, murder and rape. Between 1880 and 1917 there was much flip-flopping in many states over capital punishment. From 1977 to 1995there have been 300 executions in the United States. As of 1995 only twelve states did not have the death penalty. These days the argument is over the electric chair, and whether or not it is constitutional. Just recently the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional. Bryan Stevenson said: "This will continue to be an issue that plagues the administration in capital cases until the method of execution has changed" ("High Court"). Even the nations of the world have had the death penalty for long periods of time, even if they are abolished today. Ninety-six nations currently enforce the death penalty or have carried out executions during the past ten years (Gottfried 12-24).