Capital Punishment: Right or Wrong?

Capital Punishment: Right or Wrong?

All punishment is based on the same simple truth: there must be a

penalty for wrongdoing. In order for there to be punishment, there must

be both a wrongdoer and an authority to inflict the penalty. In a family,

when you break a rule, the punishment is handed out by the parents. In

society, punishment for crime is carried out by a criminal justice system

(police, courts, and prisons). In both systems, one solid rule of thumb

can be derived: if you do something wrong, you will pay for it

(Kronenwetter xi).

Our topic, capital punishment, otherwise known as death, is

considered to be the most severe penalty society can inflict. By doing so,

it deprives the criminal of his or her futures, hopes and dreams, while at

the same time taking all that is precious away. Because the death penalty

is ultimate and final, it brings about much controversy. Some agree that

it is immoral, brutal, gruesome and primitive for a ruling body to use

death as a punishment for deviance in any degree; no matter how harsh

the crime. These people are known as abolitionists. On the other hand,

the supporters of the death penalty say that it is only justice that the

death penalty be carried out for capital crimes, such as murder, rape, and

so on (Stewart 6-7).

Putting all theology aside, these views can be explained, to the

point of what fuels them. This can be accomplished by looking into the

hard-core issues that revolve around this seemingly never ending debate,

giving examples of real life cases, and analyzing scientific numbers. Each

and all of these steps can answer the following questions: (1) Is there

inequality in the courtroom?, (2) Does the death penalty deter crime?,

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...lty. Philadelphia. Temple University Press, 1987.

4. Siegel, Mark A., et al. eds. Capital Punishment: Cruel and Unusual?

Wylie, Texas: Informaiton Plus, 1996.

5. Stewart, Gail B. The Death Penalty. San Fransisco: Miner Press, 1998.

6. Wekesser, Carol, et al. eds. The Opposing Viewpoints Series: The

Death Penalty. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1991.

7. Amnesty International. “When the State Kills... The Death Penalty vs.

Human Rights.” London: Amnesty, 1989.

8. “State Death Penalty Informaiton.” Death Penalty Information. Home

page. ACLU. 26 Oct. 2000. pp. 6 & 8

http://www.deathpenalty.org/states.html.

9. United States. Department of Justice. Buerau of Criminal Justice

Statistics. Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1994.

Kathleen Maguire and Ann L. Pastore, eds. Washington: GPO.

1995.