n committed another brutal murder (Konenwetter, 25). Between 1988 and 1993 fourteen percent of death row inmates had received two or more death sentences (Gottfried, 35). In 1994, the state of California enacted the “Three Strikes Law”. The Three Strikes law significantly increases the prison sentences of persons convicted of felonies that have been previously convicted of a violent or serious felony. At the end of August 1994, just six months after the enactment of the law, there were more than seven thousand four hundred second and third strike cases filed statewide (Three Strikes Law).A major purpose of criminal punishment is to deter future criminal conduct. The death penalty is the most effective means of crime deterrent. It not only punishes those who commit the crimes, but also prevents future crimes by scaring those that may murder with the consequence that they will pay for their actions. “My twelve years’ experience in the Philadelphia District attorney’s Office convinced me that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime. I saw many cases where professional burglars and robbers refused to carry weapons for fear that a killing would occur and they would be charged with murder in the first degree, carrying the death penalty” (Schonebaum, 18). Supporters of capital punishment believe that, in certain circumstances, people who take human life deserve to lose their own lives. Many supporters argue that the threat of death discourages crime more effectively than the threat of prison does (Zimring). Deterrence is not concerned with the convict. Deterrence is a message for the public at large. Punishment of the offender deters others by telling them “this will happen to you if you violate the law.” Deterrence protects the social order by restraining members of society, not the actual offender, who still can be deterred (van den Haag, 60-61).Many people that oppose the death...
