CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Crime is a part of our lives, it is everywhere! Controlling or eliminating crime and criminals is no easy task but it can not be ignored. Making sure those that are rightly accused to a just punishment is very important. There are many reasons why people commit crimes; some do it for the shear of enjoyment others do it to be able to survive. The death penalty should not be used for every crime, although I strongly believe it should be used for those who commit very violent crimes, such as murder.
Legal professor Ernest van den Haag believes that the death penalty is the good as in a punishment for terrible crimes that are committed. On the other hand professor of philosophy Hugo Adam Bedau thinks that the death penalty is not appropriate, do to it takes the lives of people that can not afford a good defense. I would have to agree with Ernest van den Haag. When a person commits a serious crime like murder, the only fitting penalty is death. "Maldistribution inheres no more in capital punishment than in any other punishment."
Rationalization of the death penalty only equates to judicial murder. The same judges inflict unnecessary pain on the loved ones of the executed. If what we are all striving for is less pain, than we should not be advocating more. There are no easy answers, nor is there a clear line of right and wrong. Individual free will leads to differences within us all.
Is it not ironic that the justice system based on the constitution should therefore seek to end life? One in support of the death penalty could argue that when a person takes a life, then they lose their right to life. That argument would be flawed because the justice system would be doing the same thing it is punishing the criminal for. It is also brutal and as Albert Camus claimed, “An execution is not simply death. For there to be an equivalency, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment on, had confined him at his mercy for months.
Therefore, no matter how you look at it the retributivists have two risks while Bedau only has one. It is true that murderers deserve to die, but how do you make sure it’s those people who die and not innocent people like Roy Roberts. Its always arbitrary and discriminatory as it is applied, while it is not even being an effective deterrent to other criminals, and its costs are twice as a life sentence in prison. Thus, if you are a supporter and you can’t come up with an answer to any of these arguments, then you are a false supporter and should re-think your views. The only argument for the death penalty is that in theory it could be agreeable because it seems as though it would deter criminals but in practice there are too many arguments against it.
Kant holds a strong view that capital punishment is the only form of punishment that is suitable for murder. Kant states, “Criminals should be punished because they deserve to be punished, because they must receive their just deserts. And murderers deserve death, and a just society will punish
I found countless reasons why the death penalty should be abolished, such as the high cost that taxpayers pay for an execution, the innocence of people that sit on death row, and the lack of relaying evidence in criminal cases. In all, these factors contribute to why the death penalty should be overturned. In the early 1800s, societies sentenced death as a punishment to any person that committed a crime. In today’s society, the act of death as a punishment is still in effect. Capital punishment is the practice in which a convicted person is punished for committing a crime so heinous that he should be punished by death.
Ernest van den Haag, a professor and author of “Punishing Criminals:Concerning a Very Old and Painful Question” wrote about the issue of deterrence: “…capital punishment is likely to deter more than other punishments because people fear death more than anything else. They fear most death deliberately inflicted by law and scheduled by the courts…the threat of the death penalty may deter some murderers who otherwise might not have been deterred. And surely the death penalty is the only penalty that could deter prisoners already serving a life sentence and tempted to kill a guard, or offenders about to be arrested and facing a life sentence.” Ernest van den Haag stated that capital punishment or the death penalty is the strongest deterrent that society has against murder, which has been proven in many cases. “Since society has the highest interest in preventing murder... ... middle of paper ... ...dant with a nonblack victim, regardless how severe the murder committed. Black-on-black crimes is less likely to receive a death sentence, followed by crimes by other defendants, regardless of the race of their victims.” It is important to note that in these cases, race may more easily become the deciding factor in who lives and who dies.
People who commit crimes such as murder (mass or only an individual killing), rape and kidnapping should all be punished for what they have done. For example, the current issue with the Balibombings "mastermind". Amrozi Bin Nurhasyim is up for trial and if proven guilty, the death penalty will be imposed. Although he himself believes that he is a hero, I believe that as he killed so many and injured many more, the death punishment is the only fitting and adequate punishment. Many people oppose the death penalty because they consider it cruel.... ... middle of paper ... ... that Capital Punishment is the best way to go to punish people who murder and commit other drastic crimes.
They fear most, death deliberately inflicted by law and scheduled by the courts….Hence, the threat of the death penalty may deter some murderers who otherwise might not have been deterred. And surely the death penalty is the only penalty that could deter prisoners already serving a life sentence and tempted to kill a guard, or offenders about to be arrested and facing a life sentence.” Ernest’s argument is that capital punishment is the strongest deterrent society has against murder. Isaac Ehrlich cond... ... middle of paper ... ...e the applicable punishment, which in some cases may be the death penalty. Capital punishment can be a difficult topic to approach because people tend to have extreme views on it. The death penalty is a benefit to society; it deters potential criminals as well as serves as retribution to criminals, and is in no way immoral.