NAME OF PARTICIPANT: Garima Parakh
NAME OF INSTITUTION: Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow
YEAR OF STUDY AND BATCH: IInd year, Batch of 2018
CONTACT INFORMATION:
E-mail id – garima.bossini@gmail.com
Phone number – 8953529743
Unique Submission No. RRSA/RNSNLEC14/000130
DEATH PENALTY FOR SEX OFFENCES: TOWARDS A BALANCED APPROACH
ABSTRACT
The recent spate of violent sexual crimes that rocked the country is a subject of passionate discussion. It has resulted in a nation-wide demand for the execution of sex offenders as they believe that such heinous crimes deserve nothing less than the maximum penalty. However, that would amount to equating the crime with murder which can lead to further unpleasant consequences.
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The unending conundrum between the retentionists and the abolitionists has no resolution as the subject involves subjective moral considerations which differ from society to society. India has adopted a novel mid-path where the judiciary has considerably restricted the scope of death penalty without expressly declaring it unconstitutional. This balanced model, however much criticized, is working reasonably well in the current scenario. INTRODUCTION
Right to life is the most basic requirement for human existence and means much more than mere animal existence. It includes the right to liberty as well, since without possessing the liberty to do what one must in order to realize one’s full potential, the grant of right to life would only be an empty promise. But, however fundamental a right may be, it does have certain exceptions. For instance, the right to life can be taken away by the State “through due procedure established by law ”. The death penalty awarded by the courts for certain grave offences is a facet of this exception. But that would mean saying that capital punishment is an exception to the right to life doctrine which is contrary to what the Indian courts have laid down on the subject while justifying the award of death penalty. However, the Indian courts have established the principle of ‘rarest of the rare ’ to restrict the meting out of capital
Women who commit sex offenses was largely overlooked by the public, until recently (Cain & Anderson, 2016, p. 5). It is normal for one to automatically associate men with sex crimes. Yet past research as well as previous criminal cases has proven that women commit sex crimes, just as men do. However, women and men are not treated the same by society or the judicial system, nor do they have the same impacts on their victims. Although it is very rare instances when women commit sexual offenses, more research and advancements made towards the specific topic of female sex offenders. It is also clear that majority of the research on sex offenders fails to even consider the female sex offender (Carpenter, 2013, p. 162).
Capital Punishment, also known as the Death Penalty, has been a part of the United State’s justice system for the majority of the country’s existence. Today, 31 out of the 50 states still recognize the death penalty as a viable option when dealing with high profile crimes, most notably murder and sexual assault. While many people argue that the death penalty should be made illegal, there is also widespread support in favor of keeping the death penalty, leaving the nation divided on the issue. Both sides of the argument possess valid evidence that supports their claims, but in the end, the arguments in favor of the death penalty are noticeably stronger. The death penalty is an appropriate sentence that should continue to be allowed in the
Being in a world full of billions of people with billions of different stories, never truly knowing who someone is, is a fearful and anxious thought. Among those billions of people are approximately 747,408 sex offenders, found in a 2013 survey done across America (Facts). How does it sound letting children out without an adult in a world like this with those kind of sick “people”? Why put the public in danger, instead of getting rid of the fear, all together and forever? Although there are many reasons sex offenders should be sentenced to death or face life in prison, here are three main points: they are likely to commit the crime again after being released, they ruin the child and family's lives, and the safety of the public is in danger. Being a sex offender isn’t an accident, so why treat such a serious offense like one?
Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of the death penalty claim that capital punishment is unnecessary since a life sentence accomplishes the same objective. What death penalty opponents neglect to tell you is that convicted murders and child rapists escape from prison every year(List of prison escapes, 2015). As I write this essay, police are searching for two convicted murders who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York on June 6th, 2015. The ONLY punishment from which one cannot escape is the death penalty.
The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.
There have been many federal acts passed in correspondence with sex offenses that illicit feat with the public. There are many different types of ways in which Levenson & colleagues’ (2007) describes the perceptions that the public has based on certain factors. For instance, in relation to the perception about the sex offender notification system, a survey produced results of around 80 percent in favor of these registries, because these individuals felt safer in their communities knowing who was in their neighborhood. Further, due to this fear that resonated in the early 1990’s communities do have tools such as residential restrictions, civil commitment, notification procedures, etc. that aid in the protection. However, there are myths associated with sex offenders, for example legislation often states that the reasoning for new laws and regulations is due to the high recidivism rates. However, sex offenders have significantly lower recidivism rates than believed. Also, there are countless people who do not believe that sex offenders can be assisted with techniques from a psychological standpoint. Most people think that these offenders cannot be treated, however, there is research being conducted that is promising. Finally, there is a common misconception that sex offenders kill their victims, especially children more often than other killers, however this is not true.
The right to life is the most basic right for human beings. “The International Covenant on
Sexual assault is a major global issue; sexual deviance such as sexual assault definitely needs a lot of social attention from many different societies across the globe (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). It is a very serious problem that needs to be continuously addressed, through research, government programs, and new fundamental treatment possibilities. As a matter of fact, it is continuing to spread rapidly with a percentage of 25% of women and 15% of men in the United States have been affected by sexual assault (Nelson, 2007, p. 7). Due to rapid growth, public awareness should be made about the different types of sex offenders. The public should be aware of their distinct characteristics and possible treatment options. Public awareness is extremely important; it allows us to know the many different kinds of people that are in this world. Different kinds of people, including sex offenders, it’s important to know what measures one would have to take and the different possible options when faced with such issues (Nelson, 2007, p. 7).
Capital punishment and the practice of the death penalty is an issue that is passionately debated in the United States. Opponents of the death penalty claim that capital punishment is unnecessary since a life sentence accomplishes the same objective. What death penalty opponents neglect to tell you is that convicted murders and child rapists escape from prison every year(List of prison escapes, 2015). As I write this essay, police are searching for two convicted murders who escaped from the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York on June 6th, 2015. The ONLY punishment from which one cannot escape is capital punishment.
In this case, we see that the Supreme Court looked at the offender’s criminal conviction of rape and the sentence of death for the offender’s punishment (Brody and Acker, 2010). The court also looked at the sentences of other similar cases from across the country to determine any precedents that have been set in other cases. The court also evaluated the framing of the death sentence in other states across the country as they related to the use of the death for that of rape of an adult (Brody and Acker,
Capital punishment, the state imposed penalty of death, continues to be one of the most controversial issues in contemporary American public policy. Since the earliest days of its employment in the colonial era until today, citizens have struggles with the issue of when and under what circumstances the taking of a human life by the state can be morally or legally justified. For some opponents of the death penalty, the simple answer is that the taking of a human life is always morally and ethically wrong, even when conducted under the auspices of state authority as a legal punishment. In contrast, proponents of capital punishment have contended with equal fervor that the death penalty is morally justified as a form of retributive justice,
Since the early 1990s, there has not been a classification of criminals who have been subjected to more extensive legislation than sex offenders. A common belief that sex offenders posed a greater threat to reoffend compared to other types of criminals had surfaced, encouraging immediate action to protect the public from such individuals. In a short amount of time, society had implemented sex offender registration laws and sex offender notification laws in which sexual offenders would have to abide by. These innovational registration laws required sex offenders to regularly provide any identifying details, criminal history, and contact information to law enforcement authorities that would be made available to the public through the use of secluded registries exclusively for those who commit acts of sexual violence.
Whether the capital punishment, the legal punishment that deprives an individual’s life, is constitutional, moral or necessary is constantly debated. Although the United States maintain the retentionist view of capital punishment that executes hundreds of criminals each year, many revolutionists are challenging our current legal system and trying to abolish the use of capital punishment. In this paper, I will discuss the theory of the capital punishment, and the controversial points of the abolitionist and retentionist debate. Siding with abolitionist argument, I will be presenting my arguments beginning with retentionist view, then move into abolitionist rejection. I will also argue against the
Section 7 as stated by the Charter states that, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice” (Constitution Act, 1982, s 7). Furthermore,
From an early age, children are taught that murder is morally wrong. In today’s complex society that is impeded by unsettling periods of civil unrest, it is an expectation for everyone to acknowledge and accept that murder is one of the worst crimes individuals can commit. Perhaps it can be said that the death penalty is one of our legal system’s biggest contradictions of itself, as, if someone commits murder (or another heinous crime of that caliber), such ‘murderers’ will, in states that have capital punishment laws, be sent to Death Row and ultimately murdered in order to prevent potential future crimes by such perpetrators. I believe that the death penalty is wrong not only as it is immoral to take a life, but also, such ineffective laws waste money and do not deter crime.