Capital punishment also referred to as the death penalty, is a judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a capital offence. Capital punishment is a serious issue in today"s society. Can it actually reduce crime rates? Each year over 3,000 people are executed worldwide. Capital punishment is often used to expand publicity for government officials, but it is sometimes used to satisfy the families of victims. It is also used to set an example for society, by allowing the intolorence of crime to be visible. Crimes that earn the death penalty vary from treason and murder to...
lot more exspensive than life in prison, due to the extra costs of the courts such as mistrials, appeals, and extra supervisions. Many of death sentences are overturned on appeal. So the cost is incurred regardless of the result. There is an ongoing debate as to wheather capital punishment reduces crime rates. The counterargument is that it doesn"t affect the crime rate, because potential criminals think that they won"t be caught, so they do not care about punishment until it is too late. There are even studies that have concluded the death penalty has encouraged crime Newson 8.