The advantages of the death penaltyCrime is everywhere. Everywhere we look we find criminals and crime. Criminals have become part of our daily lives. Does this mean we let them be the darkness of our society? No, definitely not. Eliminating crime and criminals is our duty and we cannot ignore it. It is very important to bring the rightly accused to just punishment. Some criminals commit crime because they have no other choice to survive, but some do it for fun. I am not advocating the death penalty for everyone. A person who stole bread from a grocery store certainly does not deserve the death penalty. However, a serial killer who kills people for fun or personal gain certainly deserves the death penalty. The death penalty must continue in order to eliminate the waste from our society. Not everyone deserves to die, but some people do. I support the death penalty for several reasons. First, I believe that the death penalty has a deterrent effect and helps reduce crime. Second, it is true that the death penalty is irreversible, but it is difficult to kill a wrongly convicted person because of the many chances offered to the convicted person to prove his or her innocence. Third, the death penalty ensures the safety of society by eliminating these criminals. Finally, I believe in “lex tallionis” – a life for a life. Deterrence means punishing someone as an example and instilling fear of punishment in others. The death penalty is one of those extreme punishments that would strike fear into the mind of any sane person. Ernest van den Haag, in his article “On deterrence and the death penalty” mentions: “We refrain from any dangerous act because of vague, inchoate, habitual and, above all, preconscious fears” (193). Everyone is afraid of death, even animals. Most criminals would think twice if they knew their own lives were at stake. Although there is no statistical evidence that the death penalty deters crime, we must recognize that the Most of us fear death. Suppose there is no death penalty in a state and life without parole is the maximum penalty. What stops a prisoner facing life without parole from committing another murder in prison? According to Paul Van Slambrouck, “Assaults in prisons across the United States, against fellow inmates and against staff, have more than doubled over the past decade, according to statistics collected by the Criminal Justice Institute in Middletown, Connecticut” (Christian Science Monitor, Internet).