preview

Persuasive Essay On Capital Punishment

Decent Essays
Open Document

To deny humane treatment at the hour of death, is it a correct step to be taken? Does death penalty violate a person’s rights? Is eye for an eye the right approach to justice? We all know that every individual needs to be treated with kindness and dignity. Though considered to be a detterant and a silver bullet for criminals, it is desirable to abolish capital punishment as it is inhumane, irreversible and a violation of human rights and has been abolished in many countries. “It has been said that capital punishment is cruel and unusual because it is degrading to human dignity.…But the dignity of human life comes not from mere existence, but from the ability which separates us from the beasts – the ability to choose; freedom of will. When we say that a man - even a man who has committed a horrible crime – is not free to choose, we take away his dignity just as surely as we do when we kill him. Thomas Baal has made a decision to accept society’s punishment and be done with it. By refusing to respect his decision we denigrate his status as a human being.”

The purpose of criminal law is to rehabiliate the convict and this very purpose is defeated when a punishment such as death sentence is awarded as the convict is no longer alive to learn from it. He/she is taught precisely nothing at all. I find it really strange that a country would condemn the practice of murder by committing the very same act. By doing so, we’re essentially advocating the right to life by taking it from

Get Access