death penalty :: essays research papers

roughly 18 years ago an innocent wife and mother to two, named Sarah Bryne, accredited a call by her husbands old college roommate. He explained to her that he and his wife were staying at a secluded motel near her convey and were just now staying for the weekend. She left work early to go and meet him and his wife. When she arrived he was alone. Once she was inside and the door closed he raped her. aft(prenominal) raping her he stuffed her inside a small trunk, put the trunk in the bandaging seat of his car and drove away. She made a admirer me sign in red lipstick and slid it through the trunk. Many motorists byword this plea and called the police. But before they could catch up he stop on a secluded farm road, ripped her out of the trunk, strangled her with a necktie, broke her neck, and then finally finished the torture by groovy her 14 times. He then put her mangled body back in the trunk and drove home to his wife and kids (1). There is only one offence in the state o f Washington that you can recover the death penalization for and that is aggravated put to death in the first degree. To apprehend this punishment one must plan out his act and in committing the crime commit an aggravating circumstance (3). Stabbing + raping + breaking a neck + strangulation all add up to an aggravated circumstance. Its for people like this that we have instituted the death penalty. The death penalty is a just punishment, but like any system it does have rough flaws. Although the death penalty does not work too well as a general deterrent it does work as a particular deterrent. Specific deterrent means that the penalty is keeping the offender from re-offending (2). Studies steer that those who commit murder, if given the chance, re-offend. But some may wonder, isnt feel in prison keeping them from committing the crime again? The Criminal referee Legal Foundation states that the leading cause of death among prison inmates is murder by other inmates. A murder er serving a spirit sentence has no reason at all to refrain from cleanup other inmates or guards, or from hiring other criminals outside of prison to murder those who helped convict them. But on the other hand the death penalty offers the opposite effect when it comes to general deterrence.