As part of their American National Government studies, six Illinois Valley Community College students presented a Constitution Day "Death Penalty Debate" Wednesday in which they argued the pros and cons of the ultimate punishment controversy.

Neal Pierson, a freshman from La Salle, led the pro-death penalty team and McKenzie Price of Manville organized the con-death penalty group.

Pierson opened the debate with references to the tragic story of Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville who was killed 26 years ago and the bizarre saga of Brian Dugan who was recently sentenced to death for the 10-year-old's brutal murder. Dugan was sentenced to death in La Salle County for the 1985 murder of Melissa Ackerman of Somonauk.

Former Gov. George Ryan commuted Dugan's and 166 other Death Row inmates as one of his last acts before leaving office in 2003. At the time, Ryan claimed the process in Illinois was seriously flawed because several people sentenced to death had their verdicts overturned in recent years.

That moratorium continues today even though - counting Dugan - there are 16 Illinois inmates currently on Death Row.

The 18-year-old Pierson told the dozens of students and faculty attending the debate, "A convicted man (on Death Row) can prepare for death, the victim cannot. The family of the convicted person can spend time with him (before execution), the victim's family cannot."

In rebuttal, sophomore Lauren Data of Ladd called the death penalty a blemish on the face of America that should be abolished. She cited case after case where defendants were placed on Death Row only to be exonerated before their execution date. "And, when you consider all factors, it costs more to execute a prisoner than it would to keep them in prison for life," she said.

Brenden McCormick, a criminal justice major from Ottawa, disagreed. He disputed Data's statistics with his own research, calling it a fallacy that capital punishment is more expensive than prison time.

Price, a 19-year-old sophomore, countered by insisting the justice system should be based on absolutes not emotional responses. "An eye for an eye is not justice. We do not rape rapists. We do not rob robbers. We should base our justice system on logic, not emotional mob rule."

Freshman David Zallis of Ottawa argued if the capital punishment was inevitable for all murders, the murder rate would certainly decrease. He reminded the audience of the simple fact the death penalty deters crime because the executed person cannot ever kill again.

Tara Ferrari of Tonica offered her own data which proved to her state-sponsored executions do not deter crime. The 19-year-old sophomore said, "The controversy must move away from the emotional and toward prison reform, which would prevent many of the repetitive crimes we have become used to."

"The death penalty continues to be a controversial subject in American politics," said Amanda Bigelow, faculty adviser and professor of political science. "The battle between Chicago prosecutors, Northwestern University's School of Journalism's 'Innocence Project' and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's recent remarks that innocence is not a constitutional protection against the death penalty are all recent examples of how the nation remains divided over this issue."

Bigelow and all the students did agree on one thing. The capital punishment debate, especially in Illinois, continues.