Death Penalty In America

CRJ 131S
9-20-13
Punishment in America The corrections system in the United States is known for having the highest incarceration rate than any other country and some people believe our punishments are either too harsh or too lenient. In my opinion I believe it depends on the type of crime correlating with the punishment. Not necessarily all of our punishments for crimes are too lenient or too harsh, I would say it relies on the type of crime committed and even specifically the technicalities of the crime. There will always be room for improvement for our sentencing and punishments for crimes, but our penal code and our laws are written quite well, it’s all about how you depict the law and what a judge decides on as far as the punishment
I along with many people in America today still believe that the death penalty is very important in that we use it as a tool in fighting violent pre-meditated murder. One big downside to the death penalty is the possibility that innocent men and women will be put to death. Also financial cost to tax payers of capital punishment is several times that of housing the perpetrator in prison. The punishment relating to this crime is quite fair, although I believe there are many cases in that a person has committed murder but has not received the death penalty for their actions. Of the 22,000 homicides committed every year approximately 150 people are sentenced to death (Death Penalty Facts, California, Death Penalty Focus, 3/31/2009). The only real problem I still see relevant to the punishment regarding any crimes that lead to the death penalty, is that there are still innocent people being put to death and obviously once this is done there is no reversing this action. Generally speaking I would say the death penalty as a punishment is fair and that we are being too lenient in that people who should receive the death penalty are given a life sentence in prison as an
As we’ve found white collar crimes usually have fair punishments but can be lenient at times just because they aren’t violent crimes and although they aren’t violent crimes they can still have a devastating effect on people’s lives. Drug crimes are deemed to be too harsh as far as punishment goes. If you are charged with a minor drug possession charge, it should simply be a misdemeanor rather than a felony which would equate to harsher punishment and longer sentences. The death penalty is a punishment which isn’t implemented enough, but on the other hand if it is implemented it can have negative effects as in executing an innocent person. Death penalty as a whole seems to be too lenient and doesn’t have the effect that it should with our communities. In the end the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and has many punishments that are considered to many as, too lenient or too harsh, but none the less I feel punishment in America is fair regarding most crimes. I feel there will always be room for improvement and speculation for how our punishments are implemented, but as a country, punishment is implemented correctly and fairly