ot receive the death penalty. Only when a person commits first degree murder, and some cases of second degree murder should they be put to death, but not for manslaughter.If we do not impose our punishments on people who brake our laws will that not show the criminals out there that we are soft on crime. I know that people claim that life in prison is a tuff punishment, but like I said before criminals do not have it that bad in prison. Life in prison is also for only fifteen years, it is not actually life in prison. When a person commits a crime like murder he or she knows the punishments that go along with murder. So when the crime is committed the criminal assumed the risk that he or she might get caught and punished. He or she could have avoided these punishments by not committing the crime. Therefore, the suffering the criminal has to go through, is suffering he or she volunteered to go through. Like when you sky dive you assume the risk that your parachute may not open and you may die. It is the same thing for a person who commits a murder. Capital punishment is a very controversial topic in our society. Many want it to stay while others want it to go. After reading both Bedaus and Haags I would have to side with Haag. Capital punishment may be guilty of some maldistributions, but what type of punishment is not guilty of maldistribution. Capital punishment is also a good deterrent because of the fear it places in potential murderers because once it is administered to a killer he or she is never coming back. Capital punishment is also the punishment that a murderer deserves because of the suffering the victim had to go through. Further, if we get rid of the death penalty we would be showing future criminals that we are getting more easy on crime.In Bedaus paper he points out how the death penalty is not distributed equally. He quotes late supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas as saying, "One searches our chroni...
