On Crimes And Punishment Essay: The Problem Of The Death Penalty

The death penalty, do you think it is actually doing something to change the world we have today? Do we have a right as human beings to decide whether to take another human beings life? What makes the state so pure that it has the right to take a life? Looking at the record of government throughout history, so often operating with deception, cruelty and greed, so often becoming masters of the citizens they are supposed to serve (qtd. in Meehan). The death penalty was first established in the Eighteenth century where in a person can be killed for doing 25 different crimes (Death Penalty Information Center) but even then the death penalty was still considered a problem among the people. In 1767, Cesare Beccaria’s essay, On Crimes and Punishment, which

For example, if a murderer is caught for doing a horrible crime like killing someone he is then sentences to death too. In my opinion, it makes no sense because you are executing someone for killing another person, I find it rather hypocritical. They are trying to teach us that killing is wrong yet there so solution to said problem is to kill. Another problem is that the government is not the most honest and trustworthy people because they too are human and therefore, can be easily swayed especially when it comes to money. In an article it stated that, a number of persons executed in the United States were later cleared by confession of those who had initially committed the crimes (qtd. in Meehan). There is also the problem of racism and racial bias. Our nation’s death rows have always held a disproportionately large population of African Americans. Studies show that “black offenders who kill white victims are at greater risks of a death sentences than others” (qtd. in Bedah). So given this information, when those under death sentence are examined more closely, it turns out that race is a decisive factor after