e the percentages have not changed much, the nature of the discussion has. Not long ago, it was framed in terms of practicality: Was the death penalty effective in deterring crime? Was permanently incapacitating an offender the best way to protect society? Was capital punishment fairly and evenly administered (Foster)? Increasingly, another argument for the death penalty is being voiced, one far more elemental. It centers on the right of a victimise loved ones to gain peace of mind through the death[of the killer]. In other words, [this is] the right to a form of therapeutic vengeance (Landauer). Why do Americans hold these feelings of anger toward convicted murderers? Why do they feel that it is acceptable to serve the death sentence on inmates, even though it does not deter crime? And why do Americans, with a sense of vengeance, support the death penalty as a form of retribution instead of punishment? Perhaps the answer lies in simple demographics. While death penalty foes are quick to point out that the United States is one of the few Western countries with capital punishment, it is also true that Americans are more likely to experience violent crime than citizens of other countries. Americans might not feel so vengeful if they trusted the judicial system to protect them from the worst predators. Indeed, support for the death penalty drops from seventy-seven percent to below fifty percent when people are given a choice between the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole plus restitution for victims families (Case Against Death Penalty). Such stiff penalties are now common. The fear that a criminal will be prematurely released is reinforced every time someone like Charles Manson, convicted under earlier laws, gets a hearing for a possible parole (Landauer). There is no proof that the death penalty is a deterrent to crime, nor has it ever been; it is used mainly as punishment for criminals, retri...
