The Need For Capital Punishment In the past, people have invariably felt that if they had been wronged in some way, it was his or her right to take vengeance on the person that had wronged them. This mentality still exists, even today, but in a lesser form because the law has now outlined a person's rights and developed punishments that conform to those rights, yet allow for the penalty for their crime. However, some feel that those laws and punishments are too lax and criminals of today take advantage of them, ie. organized crime, knowing very well that the punishments for their crime, whether it be murder, theft, or any other number of crim