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The capital punishment has been cited as a reasonable sentence by those who advocate for retribution. This is essentially when it comes to justice so that people take full responsibility for their individual actions. Studies have proved that the decision to take away life of a person because they committed a certain crime serves to perpetuate the crime in question. It also serves to enhance the progress of organized and violent crime. It has been noted that various flaws in the justice system has led to the wrong conviction of innocent people. On the other hand, the guilty have also been set free, and a plethora of several cases has come up when a critical look at the capital punishment has been undertaken. Killers hardly kill their victims deliberately, but they probably act on anger, passion, or impulsively. In this regard, it is not proper to convict them exclusively without …show more content…
hearing their side of the story. Indeed, capital punishment is hardly a constraint to crime, and the countries or states which practice capital punishment rarely help in decreasing crime rates, neither do states which do not practice death punishment increase crimes activities. Statistics indicate that the number of murderers and other criminals are on the increase despite the existence of death penalty. Thus, increased crime is barely a reason enough to embrace death sentence. In fact, it has proved ineffective in deterring crime. It is the justice system which is effective enough to determine innocence and guilt. This paper examines why the death penalty is not a deterrent of crimes and various reasons as to why it should be stopped or abolished. Why we Should we Stop the Death Penalty The death penalty has not proved effective when it comes to stopping violent crimes and murder incidences.
Enforcing death penalty in itself deters people from getting suitable opportunity to ensure that rehabilitation is enhanced. It is necessary to note that many individuals who have been charged with capital punishment have been emotionally and psychologically unstable. Enforcing the death penalty therefore denies them room for rehabilitation. There is a need to advance towards rehabilitation as opposed to advocating for execution. If individuals know that upon committing a capital offence they will be sentenced to death, they will hardly consider reform programs. It is also crucial to note that there is no concrete evidence on advantages derived from the death penalty. The truth is that it only aids in perpetuating death and chains of violence. Prisons should serve as centers to rehabilitate violent fellows, and then return them to the community as fully reformed and responsible individuals. It is therefore not justifiable that a death penalty should be enforced to them at all
costs. Death penalty also violates the medical ethics and the manner of oath taken. There are physicians who are required at the death site so that the lethal injection being injected is well witnessed, which is a massive revolt to the medical ethics. This is bearing in mind that the physicians are prepared to work to with the community to preserve the human life and its dignity. This is therefore at pure holds with the stipulations and the belief systems that are embraced by the American Medical Association. A physician charged with the duty of executing capital offenders will therefore be going against the ethics of preserving life of a human being by choosing to undertake this procedure. From records, it is evident that a number of doctors have been involved highly in executions for the last three decades. The death penalty therefore does a great injustice by enhancing a violation of the Hippocratic Oath as well as the various medical ethics. Additionally, it is arguable that death penalty is more of an act of enforcing revenge and retribution hence should be stopped. Many have argued that the death penalty is motivated by ensuring that there is revenge to the victims of the crime as well as to the family of the victim. The desire for revenge can be literally understood. However, it is necessary to note that it is more of motivated by unnecessary emotions, especially when these emotions have resulted from the demise of a loved one. However, the truth is that the criminal form of justice system has never been meant to be a place where decisions are based on emotional fronts and passion, but upon concrete evidences to ensure justice. Factual evidence and justice are needed to ensure that fairness and equity prevails. The truth of the matter is that the death of a criminal who has been convicted will in no way assist in erasing the prevailing loss of a loved one. Many studies have been put forward, and these entirely mean that forgiveness is the crucial factor necessary in healing, enhancing emotional fairness and even moving forward. The healing basically begins when emotions of hate and ill will subside, and this means that there is no need as to why we should uphold the death penalty.
that society has a moral obligation to protect the safety and the welfare of its
In these two short essays, one by Anthony G. Amsterdam and another by Ernest Van Den Haag both authors make two very important views. Although one supports capital punishment and one is against capital punishment, both authors have good reasons to support their case. Amsterdam believes that capital punishment is a brutal process that a murderer has to go through. Amsterdam believes that the murderer should be punished for their actions, but should not go through capital punishment. Although Ven Den Haag agrees that capital punishment is one of the harshest penalties, it should nevertheless be used. Ven Den Haag believes that a murderer should take responsibility for their actions, and they should have no mercy.
Early societies were based on a simple code of law: "an eye for an eye
Is the death penalty consistent with the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against the imposition of cruel and unusual punishments? This essay will address this question and present a short history of the death penalty in America.
Main Point 1: Imagine someone that has been accused of murder and sentenced to death row has to spend almost 17-20 years in jail and then one day get kill. Then later on the person that they killed was not the right person.
With the opinion of multiple authors present, individuals are left to make their own decision concerning the rights of capital punishment. To begin with, Lydia Child is the author of Against Capital Punishment; Child has a negative view towards those associated in supporting capital punishment. With this in mind, Child believes human life is a sacred gift and should not be discriminated against. In addition, Walter Rodgers expresses his feeling throughout the article America’s New Drug of Choice: Revenge. Rodgers reminds citizens life is not all about vengeance. Also, Rodgers reminds people about the history of executing innocent people in our nation. The two previous authors show a few perspectives regarding capital punishment.
The only crime in the United States that is legally punishable by death is criminal homicide. While the definition of murder has undergone rigorous analysis, legal scholars often ignore the theoretical justification for capital punishment. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling in 1976 that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, there is little debate on the justificatory aspect of the death penalty in law. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the moral permissibility of capital punishment for murder based on ethical principals of punishment by death. To do this, it is important to take into account some alternate moral theories as potential sources for theoretical justification and to consider the observations of many renowned philosophers including Immanuel Kant, John Stewart Mill and Aristotle.
Offenders given mandatory life in prison on charges of murder, on average only serve 16 years before being released back into society. One in three of these killers carries out a second murder even under the supervision of the probation officer.1 If we allow murderers to spend life in prison we run the chance of them getting out and killing again. Capital punishment can also deter future perpetrators from committing such a heinous crime, and it will end the prisoner’s suffering by giving them a humane death and give closure to the victim’s family. Without a concrete meaning of “life in prison” we need the death penalty to put an end to the most evil of people.
Have you ever thought about if the person next to you is a killer or a rapist? If he is, what would you want from the government if he had killed someone you know? He should receive the death penalty! Murderers and rapists should be punished for the crimes they have committed and should pay the price for their wrongdoing. Having the death penalty in our society is humane; it helps the overcrowding problem and gives relief to the families of the victims, who had to go through an event such as murder.
Capital Punishment Essays - For the Common Good. Putting to death people judged to have committed certain extreme Terrible crimes are a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States. in the second half of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in 1977. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard' Although capital punishment is what the people want, there are many.
A death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and some other capital crimes. Capital punishment can also be applied for treason, espionage, and other crimes. The death penalty, or capital punishment, may be prescribed by Congress or any state legislature for murder and other capital crimes. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment 's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
During the spring semester I read Evangelium Vitae: The Gospel of Life. Paragraphs 27 and 56 of this encyclical prompted a discussion of the death penalty with other students. Their first reaction was that the Pope was against it and that he was saying that the penalty has no justification. There was general resistance to the suggestion that while the Pope's attitude toward the death penalty is, to put it mildly, unfavorable, he did not flat out say that it was immoral, wrong, without justification.
The use of capital punishment has progressively become problematic since the very first day it was put into practice. There are many great arguments both for and against capital punishment, but in my opinion the benefits of capital punishment outweigh any possible negative aspects. Although capital punishment sounds extreme, sometimes it is necessary when people execute extreme crimes. I would like to argue that in certain situations the use of capital punishment is morally acceptable.
Capital punishment has been a controversial topic in association to any person condemned to a serious committed crime. Capital punishment has been a historical punishment for any cruel crime. Issues associated to things such as the different methods used for execution in most states, waste of taxpayers’ money by performing execution, and how it does not serve as any form of justice have been a big argument that raise many eyebrows. Capital punishment is still an active form of deterrence in the United States. The history of the death penalty explains the different statistics about capital punishment and provides credible information as to why the form of punishment should be abolished by every state. It is believed
Crime is everywhere. Wherever we look, we find criminals and crime. Criminals have become a part of our daily lives. Does this mean we let them be the darkness of our society? No, definitely not. Eliminating crime and criminals is our duty, and we cannot ignore it. Getting the rightly accused to a just punishment is very important. Some criminals commit a crime because they have no other option to survive, but some do it for fun. I do not advocate death penalty for everybody. A person, who stole bread from a grocery store, definitely does not deserve death penalty. However, a serial killer, who kills people for fun or for his personal gain, definitely deserves death penalty. Death penalty should continue in order to eliminate the garbage of our society. Not everybody deserves to die, but some people definitely do. I support death penalty because of several reasons. Firstly, I believe that death penalty serves as a deterrent and helps in reducing crime. Secondly, it is true that death penalty is irreversible, but it is hard to kill a wrongly convicted person due to the several chances given to the convicted to prove his innocence. Thirdly, death penalty assures safety of the society by eliminating these criminals. Finally, I believe in "lex tallionis" - a life for a life.