preview

Arguments Against The Death Penalty

Decent Essays

The primary reason why people argue against the reinstation of the death penalty is because of the execution of innocent people which in turn, leads to serious miscarriages of justice. This is the primary argument as to why Capital Punishment should not be reinstated because, there have been unlawful executions of innocent civilians who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. This argument aims mainly towards the Derek Bentley case as Derek Bentley was wrongly executed for the murder of a police officer when it was his accomplice, Christopher Craig who pulled the trigger and killed the police officer. It was the phrase “let him have it” that was interpreted to state that it was Bentley who told Craig to kill the officer instead of surrendering the weapon. This case was one of the main pieces of evidence required for protestors to protest about having Capital Punishment abolished in the United Kingdom as Bentley was only 19 when he was executed. The conviction for Derek Bentley was eventually abolished in 1998. Mahmood Hussain Matan was another example of a wrongful execution as he was executed in 1952 after being wrongfully convicted for the murder of Lily Volpert. His case was eventually quashed in 1998 by the Court of Appeal making it the first case referred to the Court of Appeal under the new Criminal Cases Review Commission. This proves why people want the Death Penalty to stay abolished because, over time, there have been serious miscarriages of justice towards the

Get Access