Mencken believes that if a criminal kills a man, that criminal deserves to be sentenced to death if he is found guilty. Mencken argues that the only thing that is cruel about the death penalty is the way that the process is dragged out. Mencken claims that dragging the punishment process out hurts not only the guilty, but the victims of the crimes as well. Mencken wants the reader to be aware of the torture …showed first 75 words of 738 total…

…showed last 75 words of 738 total…crueler to force a criminal to undergo months of psychological torture than to hang him. Mencken also wants the reader to be aware of the pain that the victim’s family goes through while they wait to discover the killer’s fate. Mencken sees no reason why the legal system insists on dragging this process out. Like taking off a band-aid, Mencken argues that the quicker you get it over with, the less it hurts.