Persuasive Essay Against Capital Punishment

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Recommended: Capital punishment must be abolished

Persuasive Essay Against Capital Punishment

“Kill. (Verb) To make someone or something die.”

Does anyone really think they have the right to take another person’s

life? Apparently yes.

Perhaps we should give the judge a knife and tell her that if she has

decided that the accused is guilty, she should stab him herself.

Perhaps then she would hesitate. But if many people (hundreds or

thousands who operate the judicial system) are involved, it spreads,

or even divides the feeling of culpability among many. They may feel

less guilty, especially if they believe that they are representing the

whole society of their country. What makes it seem more “humane” is

the official perspective of it. Death here is a matter of paperwork,

not actually a case of ending someone’s life.

I am absolutely opposed to the death penalty. In this essay I will try

to explain why I think society should not accept this barbaric

punishment.

The most common argument in favour of the death penalty is that it is

a deterrent, i.e. someone who has murder in mind will think better of

it when he realises that he could be facing death. However, I do not

agree with this. When a murderer commits a crime he believes that he

will not be caught. Numerous studies have tried to prove the

deterrence factor, but have been unable to. A criminal dreads a

lifetime prison sentence more than, or the same as, the death penalty

in any case. There are two types of murders: crimes committed on the “spur

of the moment” (i.e. passion crimes which have not been planned) and

pre-meditated murder. If it is a crime of passion, the murderer is not

thinking of the consequences at t...

... middle of paper ...

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are then disbarred. They have little incentive to fight for the case

when their salary may be under £4 an hour.

Finally, who are we to play with the lives of other people? Each

person is just one life – how can one life be allowed to designate

when the other must finish? Man is man, not God. Only God should have

a divine right over a man’s life. Man is equal to man, and for him to

take on the role of a superior being can only cause chaos.

I believe that it is the duty of a system of justice to protect

society from criminals, either by psychological rehabilitation or by

imprisoning them for life if necessary; not by murdering them.

Capital punishment is used to condemn the guilty of severe crimes.

This means: to teach a criminal how to be humane, they must be killed

inhumanely.

Does this seem logical?

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