In Defense of Capital Punishment

In Defense of Capital Punishment

There are some words that often return when we defend the death penalty: justice and human dignity. These words also constitute a foundation for that which is called democracy and civilization. These two realities can also be regarded as two bearing pillars in the defense of capital punishment.

Justice is a highly regarded word in society and in politics, but within the judicial system and that which concerns crime and punishment, justice has, both as a word and as a conception, ended up existing in the shadows. People want to lift forth this truth in the light, since justice should be the foundation within the legal system. When the death penalty is discussed the aspect of justice should be allowed in the foreground first and foremost.

Man has an inviolable dignity and, therefore, deserves the highest respect. Human dignity and respect, not foremost for the one who hurts his fellowman but for the victims of crimes and his relatives, is something that should be brought forth considerably more than today, and especially in connection with the death penalty. But the prerequisite for that is that sympathy and solidarity with the victim should increase in society. In order to rightly value the death penalty it is necessary to have empathy and understanding for all the victims and their relatives.

The capital punishment makes up one link on the way to a safer society. The capital punishment means that some heinous criminals never again will walk on the streets, and that makes the society a somewhat safer place.

Murderers and violent criminals will always exist in society and the death penalty will only lower the number of criminals marginally. It is inevitable, however, that every violent criminal less that exists in a society will mean a safer society. A prison term on the other hand would mean that there would always be a pressing dark cloud of worries over a society.

Also, in prisons the interns and personnel would feel safer with the death penalty. It is not unusual with conflicts, violence and murder in prison. Some interns who have been sentenced to long prison terms or lifetime would probably deter from cruel acts of violence and murder if they knew that it could lead to the death penalty. Today, on the other hand, he who has been sentenced to lifetime in prison cannot be sentenced too much more and, therefore, he would probably neither be deterred from committing further crimes.