Answer to Question 1
Arguments for the Death Penalty:
Executions have always been used, and capital punishment is inherent in human nature. The Bible describes methods of executing criminals. The death penalty seems to be in keeping with the current mode of dispensing punishment. The death penalty is sometimes the only real threat available to deter crime. Death is the ultimate incapacitation. The death penalty is cost-effective. There appears to be little racial difference in the rate of capital sentencing over the past 30 years. The feelings of the victim's friends, families, and survivors need to be considered.
Arguments against the Death Penalty:
The death penalty has little deterrent effect; abolitionists claim that capital punishment has never been proven to be a deterrent, any more than has life in prison. Executions may actually increase the likelihood of murders being committed; this is a consequence referred to as the brutalization effect.. Capital punishment may be tarnished by gender, racial, ethnic, and other biases. Homicides involving strangers are more likely to result in a death sentence than homicides involving nonstrangers and acquaintances. Capital punishment may escalate the seriousness of criminal acts. The death penalty is brutal and demeaning and capricious. The death penalty is not equally supported by the general public; support for capital punishment among whites is skewed by racial attitudes; research suggests that most people may accept capital punishment in principle but also believe it should be used only rarely. Opponents object to the finality of the death penalty. It is better that a thousand guilty go free than that one innocent person be executed.
Answer to Question 2
c