Capital Punishment

Sheldon

Opposing The Death Penalty In The United States

The death penalty also known as capital punishment is the harshest form of punishment enforced in the United Sates today. The death penalty is one of the most emotionally driven and controversial issues in the United States today. The death penalty has been continuously debated, not only as a legal or religious issue, but also as an ethical one, historically and today. Some people think that the death penalty is a bad thing and to others it serves the people right, but taking a side can hard because there are good facts protecting both sides opposing and for the death penalty. People have used a number of arguments to support their position regarding the death penalty. Among these arguments have been deterrence, cost, moral beliefs, and the possibility of mistake. The death penalty must be abolished because it is morally and ethically wrong and serves no true purpose. The number of problems with the death penalty is enormous, and to numerous to mention ranging from innocence to guilty, and these problems will never be resolved unless the death penalty is abolished.

Many centuries ago the death penalty is something that was widely practiced in almost all cultures. Over the course of history, governments have been extremely inventive in devising ways to execute people. At one time or another people body were cut into pieces, strip by strip, sawed into pieces, or beaten to death. Others were shot with arrows, thrown from a high place onto rocks, leave to be eaten by insects, bitten by poisonous snakes or buried alive. Others still were hanged, drowned, and suffocated in bags, quicksand, whipped to death, left in a cell to die of starvation or thirst. There are two groups who argue over its many points, including whether or not it is a fitting and adequate punishment, whether or not it acts as a deterrent to crime and whether or not it is morally wrong. These two classes of people can be grouped together as the supporters or the opponents. One side argues that two wrongs don't make a right, while the other says that it is fair retribution.

The death penalty is the taking of a life by the government for crimes and has been around for thousands of years. Supporters of the death penalty see this punishment as civilize or legalize form of revenge, to deter others. They are most concerned with the protection of society from dangerous criminals. In spite of all this however, the death penalty is not a good form of criminal punishment for many reasons: it is morally wrong, it does not act as a deterrent for crime, it is irreversible and can be inflicted upon people who are innocent, it is more expensive than imprisonment and those who are convicted commonly use the costly process of appealing the decision and making restitution. People that favor the death penalty agree that capital punishment is a method of retributive punishment. When a murderer takes the life of someone family member the first feelings would be intense emotions driven by revenge and retribution. Yet, these emotions are what fuel the need for violence and capital punishment is the most violent response to the crime. This is an emotional response, not a rational one. According to the journal the penalty of death "People that favor the death penalty agree that capital punishment is a relic of barbarism, but as murder itself is barbaric, they contend that death is a fitting punishment for it" (Jayewardene, 1977, p. 87). The death penalty should not be carried out in any case. Some look at it as an eye for an eye, but as Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind."

Supporters agree with the principal of "an eye for an eye," and say execution is the only way to truly satisfy the public as well as themselves. Murderers cause sorrow and anger to the victim's family and friends, and the only way justice could be served in there eyes is for criminal to die. As far as they are concerned the criminal brought his punishment upon himself and deserve death. Death penalty supporters claim that a prisoner's expulsion to life in jail is torturous and inhuman and execution is not. Supporters explain that if murders are not put to death it leaves open the possibility after parole or escaping and causing another death. According to The Death Penalty in America "we think that some criminals must be made to pay for their crimes with their lives, and we think that we, the survivors of the world they violated, may legitimately extract that payment because we, too, are their victims." (Bedau, 1982, p.317). Even though the supporters pose some interesting arguments, the abolitionist perspective contains much stronger backing and more reasons for opposition, the first of which is that the death penalty is wrong morally because it is the cruel and inhumane taking of a human life. The methods by which executions are carried out can involve physical torture. In a report by Amnesty International Report The Death Penalty "Electrocution has on occasion caused extensive burns and needed more than one application of electric current to kill condemned" (Amnesty, 1979.p.6). On the Contrary, there is also the issue of death penalty being a deterrent. The views of supporter for the penalty is that dead criminals cannot commit any further crimes, either within prison or after escaping or being released from it. The death penalty keeps repeat offenders off of the streets and proves much cheaper and safety for the rest of us than long in the term. Those against the death penalty will argue that though it is considered to be existent as prevention for crime, in actual practice, it does not have any influence on crime at all. But does the death penalty really deter crime? The supporters of the death penalty want you to believe the answer to this question is YES. But, in fact, it is a astounding NO. According to a study done by Kentucky University department of Justice and police studies Cost, Deterrence, Incapacitation, Brutalization and the Death Penalty the Scientific Evidence "the scientifically established facts of the death penalty are obvious that death penalty has no deterrent value to society. No proof sustaining either a general preventive or a specific preventive impact exists and no proof supporting a deterrent exists. The death penalty does not obtain any crime control in any manner." (Potter,2000,Vol 22. No.1).

With this in mind, the US is the only Western nation that still allows the death penalty, and we also have one of the highest crime rates. As a result, to popular belief the death penalty does not act as a deterrent to crime and no evidence exists that it prevents crime. it can be