Capital Punishment Vs. Life Inprisonment essays

Capital Punishment Vs. Life Inprisonment essays What is more effective: capital punishment or life imprisonment? I chose the topic because from my list of options it appeared to be the most interesting and challenging. I also felt that it related well to current topics and controversies in todays society. It was very easy to find information on capital punishment, while it was a small challenge to find thorough information on life imprisonment. It seems as though, most critics are willing to express their views on capital punishment, but not on its alternatives. Before researching the backgrounds and uses of capital punishment and life imprisonment, I did not have a very strong opinion or viewpoint on the topic. I have never truly been for or against the use of capital punishment. Up to this point in time I have been unable to form a good opinion because I have never obtained enough knowledge of the subject. Recently, after my large study of both options, I have formed an opinion, I believe that capital punishment is more effective than life imprisonment as a permanent punishment for a criminal who has committed serious crimes. Capital punishment has a long history. The use of capital punishment dates all the way back to 2000 BC. People were put to death for crimes ranging all the way from murder down to petty theft. Today our society is said to have the most humane way of executing prisoners, lethal injection. Our countries past use of electrocution and gas chambers were even humane when compared to the methods of execution of the past. Which included being hanged, beheaded, stoned, stretched on racks, pressed to death with weights, cut into pieces, disemboweled, torn to pieces by horses, consumed by lions, burned alive, drowned, crucified and shot (Horwitz 13). In early civilizations punishment by death was used evenly at almost all times, therefore making it a good deterrent. Today however, the use of capital punishment is not meted out as evenly. Some...