Death penalty an effective deterrent
The Hammurabi Code of ancient Mesopotamia called for a death sentence for all manner of crimes.
Why shouldn't it be effective today? The death penalty could be the only way to make sure crime stops. I think this because people would know what would happen to them if they committed a crime. Also, it would only be fair that if you kill someone, you deserve to die, too. Last, because it could make criminals want to stop doing crime.
If people knew they wouldn't be able to commit a crime without dying, they would think twice about doing it. I know I would. However, if the person was having money problems and couldn't afford something and needed to steal for survival, the government should provide them with money.
Imagine you're a family member of someone who was murdered. Wouldn't you like to know that the killer would never kill again? You would sleep peacefully knowing that you or any other person would be safe.
What if a group of terrorists was conspiring to bomb something? This recently happened in the United States. A terrorist tried to blow up an airplane. He was caught, but maybe if he'd known that he would be sentenced to death, he wouldn't even try to do it.
Alas, the death penalty isn't used and the terrorist felt free to do what he did.
As you can see, there are many reasons why the death penalty would be useful. However, the death penalty shouldn't be used for all crimes. It should be used only for major crimes like murder. The death penalty could cost money, but it's better to cost money than to cost lives.
Jose Uribe
Prairie Knolls Middle School
Elgin