aimed that he would kill a guard if necessary to escape from prison, and that the only way to stop him would be to kill him. Although rare, there are inmates on death row that would also go to similar lengths in order to escape. These obsessive murders, like Dodd, who know no alternative to killing, need to be executed to protect both prison guards and society. This view, while shared by many, is perhaps best illustrated through the words of Judge Alfred J. Talley of New York who explained "if I as an individual have the right to kill in self defense, why has not the state, which is nothing more than an aggregation of individuals, the same right to defend itself against unjust aggression and unjust attack (Kronenwetter, 1993)? In addition to preventing murderers from repeating their crimes, the death penalty also serves to discourage other potential murderers. This is, in fact, the most common argument used by proponents of capital punishment. Opponents, on the other hand, claim that it does not deter crime. They claim that most murders are not premeditated; that they are committed "in the heat of the moment." Although this is true, there are the professional hitmen who kill for money, husbands and wives who kill their spouses for the insurance money, and the other murderers that plan their acts. It is these people, even if they are in the minority, who would be deterred by a more liberally and frequently used death penalty. Preventing these premeditated murders would not only reduce the total number of senseless killings, but would also go a long way toward curbing violent crime in the United States. Illinois state attorney Robert E. Crowe states it best saying that "it is the finality of the death penalty which instills fear in the heart of every murderer and it is this fear of punishment which protects society (Kronenwetter, 1993). If the United States demonstrates that it is serious about using the death penalty through an increas...
