penalty states show similar trends. Death penalty states usually have a higher murder rate than their neighboring non-death penalty states. (See appendix b) (Death Penalty Information Center)Retribution:The second issue in the capital punishment debate is retribution. The need for society to express sufficient condemnation for heinous murders. Supporters of the death penalty contend that the only proper response to the most vile murders is the most sever punishment possible. Therefore, society should literally interpret the "eye for an eye" principle when an individual takes a life, society's moral balance will remain upset until the killer's life is also taken. (Block, 1983, 112)Although death penalty opponents disagree society should be able to express its outrage with a vile crime by inflicting capital punishment. They suggest that they are showing outrage for taking a life by talking the life of another. (Bedau, 1982, 88) Use of the death penalty as intended by law could actually reduce the number of violent murders by eliminating some of the repeat offenders thus being used as a system of justice, not just a method of deterrence. Modern supporters of capital punishment no longer view the death penalty as a deterrent, but just as a punishment for the crime, one source said, "...in recent years the appeal of deterrence has been supplanted by a frank desire for what large majorities see as just vengeance." (Bailey, 1994, 55)Arbitrariness:The third major issue is arbitrariness determined by or arising from whim or impulse rather than judgment or reason. "From the days of slavery in which black people were considered property, through the years of lynching and Jim Crow laws, capital punishment has always been deeply affected by race. Unfortunately, the days of racial bias in the death penalty are not a remnant of the past." (NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund) Fairness requires that people who break the same law under similar circum...
