It seems to be the case that capital punishment can be justified on moral grounds as it does more good than harm. In John Stuart Mill’s “Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment,” he argues that capital punishment is the most appropriate “mode in which society can attach to so great a crime the penal consequences which for the security of life it is indispensable to annex to it.” He argues this for many reasons. His first point is that capital punishment is more humane to the criminal than the prison system. At first glance, it appears that the death penalty is cruel and unusual because we, as humans, are scared to inflict death on another human, no matter what crime has been committed. However, Mill argues that while the “short pang of a rapid death” seems merciless, caging a criminal “in a living tomb” for a “long life in the hardest and most monotonous toil…debarred from all pleasant sights and sounds, and cut off from all earthly hope” is far crueler than it seems (Mill). This is seen in examples from Aaron Rodriguez to Mark Salling to Adolf Hitler. All of these people would rather commit suicide and die than be sentenced to life in prison. Thus, it can be argued that prison is “less severe indeed in appearance…but far more cruel in reality” (Mill).

Because of capital punishment’s appearance of severity, it serves as an effective deterrent for crime. Someone who is thinking of committing a horrible crime might not do so if he knows there is a possibility of death if he is caught. Some would argue that capital punishment does not deter crime, but Mill responds to this by asking, “Who is there who knows whom it has deterred?” to make the point that we cannot be certain how many people were or were not deterred from committing a crime because of the threat of the death penalty. Furthermore, he points out that the “influence of a punishment is not to be estimated by its effect on hardened criminals,” but rather the “impression it makes on those who are still innocent” (Mill). While it may seem that crime is not being deterred, the threat of capital punishment does influence people to not commit crimes. Imagine if there was no alarming threat of punishment for murder; certainly, there would be more murders. Capital punishment deters crime, which thus prevents unhappiness.