There are multiple ways to punish one who has committed a crime, and the punishments are different based on countries and what crime it is. A few countries around the world are using death penalty as a punishment, which can be based on the saying 'an eye for an eye'. If you kill someone, it is also fair that you give up your own life, at least as respect for the family of the one you killed. How does it affect a country knowing, that if you do kill you will get killed, and is it the right way to do so?.
William Otis, the counsellor to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, wrote an article in 2006 by the name "Death Penalty Saves Lives", where he discusses the death penalty in the United States. He starts off by telling a story about a man, who arranged to have his quadriplegic son and wife killed. He hired a hit man, James Perry, who shot the victims and a private nurse. Perry was sentenced to death, and Lawrence Horn was sentenced to life in prison without parole1. By using a story in the beginning he catches the reader and sets the scene. Throughout the article he uses several statistics to prove his point, which makes him genuine. He has a good use of all three appeal forms, pathos because of the story at the beginning, logos comes to view by the use of statistics and ethos because he is counsellor of the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S Department of Justice. Throughout the article he is engaging the reader, not only by telling the gruesome story at the beginning, but also by making them think for themselves. "What punishment do you think fits the crime that James Perry and Lawrence Horn committed?" (Page 4 line 96) he asks questions to start a debate. He is not subjective as he is discussing from both points of view, which makes him a reliable source for discussing the topic. .
In the article, Otis is focusing a lot on the abolishment of the death penalty.