A Useful Scare Tactic?

The death penalty can be a very useful scare tactic that a state government can implement. But as we discussed in class, does Texas have less crime than Massachusetts? It is evident that there are different demographics and other elements that affect the crime levels in these two states. The question is if the death penalty discourages people to commit crime in Texas. In states like Massachusetts that do not execute the death penalty, it is said that people are more likely to commit crime because they can live a decent life in jail. People that live on the streets or have a poor home life may commit a crime to go to jail so that they have shelter, food, and warmth. On the other hand, people that live in places such as Texas that use the death penalty, discourage people from performing crimes because their lives will be at stake.

Although the death penalty seems like it could be useful, it also has many downfalls. The biggest argument with the death penalty is that innocent people can be killed. There may be plenty of evidence that someone is clearly guilty, but we will never actually know the truth. A great movie that shows the problem with the death penalty is, The Life of David Gale. This movie displays how an innocent man was sent to death because the jury believed that he committed the crime, when in fact he was completely innocent.

As discussed in class, racism can also play a huge role in the decision of the death penalty. Clearly this serves as an enormous problem because if a state enforces the death penalty, they cannot be racist when choosing who is going to be killed by the death penalty. Many minorities are put on death row simply because of their racial background. It is evident that there needs to be something done about these problems so that the death penalty can be enforced with faith that it will constructively discourage crime all over the United States.