Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment Capital Punishment Sentencing criminals to the death penalty is a practice that has been going on since ancient times. However, it has become a very controversial issue for the latter part of the twentieth century. My home state of Florida is a state that practices capital punishment for murders. As a strong supporter of the death penalty, I feel that my state and its citizens are safe because of it. Many people have had very public debates on issues of public safety, sentencing equity and deterrence, among others. According to Muhlhausen, David (2010) In Gallup's most recent poll, 67 percent of Americans are in favor of the death penalty for convicted murders, while only 28 percent are opposed. From 2000 to the most recent poll in 2006, support for capital punishment consistently runs a 2:1 ratio in favor. Abolitionist claim that states that do have the death penalty have a higher crime rates than those that do not. They say that criminals do not fear the death penalty because they do not think about the consequences of their actions. I don’t think that this is necessarily true. I feel that if people who commit crimes do not have a strong consequence for there actions, they will continue to commit crimes. According to the website of Pro-Death Penalty (2008) during the temporary abolishment of capital punishment from the years of 1972-1976, researchers collected murder statistics across the country. In 1960, there were 56 executions reported in the USA and 9,140 murders reported. Then in 1964, there was only 15 prisoners executed and number of murders had risen to 9,250. There were no executions performed in 1969 and therefore, 14,590 murders committed. After an additional six more years without executions, 20,510 murders were committed in 1975. Then in 1980 the amount of murders committed after two executions in 1976 was 23,040. In review, between the years of 1965 and 1980 the number of annual murders committed in