? Capital Punishment, The Right or Wrong Thing to do? Support for the death penalty in the U.S. has risen to an average of 80% according to an article written by Richard Worsnop entitled, "Death penalty debate centers on Retribution." Capital punishment is the execution of criminals by the state for committing heinous crimes such as rape and murder. It is proven that Capital punishment lowers the murder rate and just its use as retribution alone is good enough reason for handing out death sentences. The debates over the merits of capital punis ....