Death penalty With the possible
exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the
united States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective
deterrent to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that
the death penalty reduces the number of murders. The principal
argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it
is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is the mark of a brutal society, and
finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime
anyway. In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil.
Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in
every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder. But
some are more extreme than others. For example, it is one thing
to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly
plot and carry out the murder of another one or more people in the style of a
butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree.
While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first
instance should be merely isolated from society, such should not be the fate of
the latter type murderer. The value of the death penalty as a
deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of
citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is
reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For
example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed in
California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each
100,000 population, Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only once, and
the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp
climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no
coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many
murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed, innocent
people will be murdered—some whose lives may have been saved if the death
penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of
thousands of innocent people must be protected. The passage attempts to establish a relationship between ______.
A．the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty B．executions and human rights C．the effects of execution and the effects of isolation D．the murder rate and the importance of the death penalty