Reintroduction of the Death Penalty in the UK

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Recommended: Compare and contrast the arguments for and against capital punishment

Reintroduction of the Death Penalty in the UK

How would you feel if a mad man killed someone you loved? Would you

want revenge? For many people the answer to this would be yes. But how

far are you prepared to go? Capital punishment is a very controversial

issue discussed by many. There are many reasons for crime such as drug

addictions, mental health problems, unpleasant childhood, peer

pressure and with all the violence shown on TV some people think that

murder is acceptable in society. We cannot automatically assume

society is not to blame for some of the causes so should we give

second chances or just turn our backs on the accused by condemning

them to death?

Some people would chose the first option insisting that it breeches

human rights by taking a life and then killing will become the norm

for society. People will think that if the government can murder why

can't I? Capital punishment does not deter crime and if anything

increases the chances of crime. In the USA the top 13 states with the

highest murder rates all have the death penalty. If it is a crime to

commit murder then the court is also committing a crime by murdering.

They government cannot have one rule for the general public and

another set for themselves.

Another issue is that you can nearly never be sure whether the victim

is innocent. How could you live with yourself knowing that you had

killed an innocent victim? You have then committed the same crime as

the one you thought was serious enough to be executed for. In the USA

alone 117 people have been released from death row, some only minutes

away from execution, in light of new evidence. Once someone is dead

you cannot change it. In Texas a death penalty case costs 2.3 million

dollars whereas imprisoning someone on their own in a maximum security

cell costs three times less, while in Florida it costs 51 million

dollars more to execute people.

Even the police don't believe in the death penalty and they say that

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