The Controversial Debate on Capital Punishment in the USA

Name Institutional Affiliations Date [Name] [Author] serves as the most severe punishment that the Law can subject an offender to against all odds. For this reason, the pro-capital punishment agenda has led to many hot debates globally questioning and criticizing its effectiveness concerning its effect on crime rate management. Discussions in nations that support capital punishment, like the United States of America, argue for conveniences like limited expenses in capital punishment compared to incarcerating murder among other capital offenders for life and providing for them throughout their lives. However, countries that do not support capital punishment like Kenya, Vatican, Mongolia, and others criticize this form of punishment, arguing that God is the giver of life and has the mandate of taking it away following his sixth commandment, "Thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). However, regardless of the controversies surrounding pro-capital punishment, it remains a potential form of punishing offenders in many countries. For this reason, this essay aims at providing a detailed analysis of pro-capital punishment to offer a better understanding of its meaning and background. Paying close attention to the United States of America, where the practice is legal in most states, the essay will provide reasons that lead to such States supporting murder punishments instead of exercising any other form of punishment towards offenders. Pro capital punishment is a form of crime deterrence that exposes the offender to instant death instead of being incarcerated for a certain period. For this reason, one can argue that some nations have passed a Law that supports the murder penalty for certain crimes ranging from treason, espionage, sexual assault, and murder. America is among such countries whose history of capital punishment runs way back to the 18th century. As Gould and Leon (2017) argue, capital punishment has existed in the American Laws ever since the founding of the original colonies. Burglary, treason, arson, murder, and counterfeiting are among the major crimes punishable through capital punishment within America in the mid 18th century. However, upon noting the cruelty associated with