Did you know that a poll from 1994 showed that 80% of Americans support the death penalty? The death penalty has been in effect since the founding of our country and still remains to this day. It has been proven effective, yet there are many opponents of it who call it cruel or flawed. We should maintain capital punishment because it deters crime, helps the victim 's family and provides justice, and is better than life imprisonment.

One reason to use capital punishment, is that it deters crime. For example, the most common argument for the death penalty is its use as deterrent and in “Capital Punishment”, the author states that many Americans agree with, "claims that the death penalty deters serious crime"(1). This illustrates that capital punishment would deter crime. By being the most severe punishment possible, it makes potential killers think about committing a murder. By killing a few criminals, we save many civilian lives. In addition, there is solid proof that it works as a deterrent. Kevin Kane, Connecticut’s chief state attorney noted that there were, "A series of academic studies over the last 6 years[that] concluded...between 3 and 18 lives would be saved by the execution of each convicted killer(1).” This shows that each execution helps protect the public. If there was no capital punishment, people know they wouldn 't be executed for murder so they would be less hesitant. Therefore, capital punishment serves as an effective deterrent for crime.

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