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Analysis of Kant´s Ethnics, Punishment, and Dealth Penalty Essay

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Death penalty means sentencing the convicted to execution as carried out by the state and the judicial system. Set it in stone that the definition of death penalty is much more deeper than this. The argument of the death penalty is something that might not see an end anytime soon. It is deemed controversial because at stake is the life of an individual,his values, his morals, and dignity. Whether he still obtains morals and dignity is in the eye of the beholder but nonetheless should be taken into account. Ideals of utilitarian as well as retributivism are taken into account when discussing the death penalty and whether it is morally just, or immoral as well as ethical. Retribution along with the key words previously stated are just as…show more content…
The death penalty was also used as a mean to deteriorate the rise of murders. A way to scare people from committing the act. This of course is not the case(Depauw). Marshall and Bedau saw the death penalty and retributivism through a similar microscope. Marshall who was against the thought of the death penalty as retribution stated in his dissenting opinion of the Gregg v. Georgia (1976) case: “ The notion that retribution can serve as a moral justification for the sanction of death... I find to be the most disturbing aspect of today's unfortunate decisions…”(ProCon). According to Marshall retribution was a form of revenge which is low as it can get in his opinion. To allow the death penalty to him was to allow revenge to occur and not the laws of the land to prevail. Thurgood Marshall wanted justice to be served in reactions to crime, not revenge or allowing the emotions which was in high demand to conquer the court system. This is what he suggests about the theory of retribution. This in itself is also a form of utilitarian because in order to please others they will give the murderer the death penalty. Utilitarianism is to maximize utility or to maximize happiness. In order to fulfill this, to maximise happiness, it would be at the expense of the convicted.
Marshal also states “"The death penalty, I concluded, is a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.” (ProCon). According to the Bill
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