When talking about social injustices, capital punishment is the worst one of all. It is the final straw of any government sanctioned disciplinary action. There is no going back, no reversing or patching up mistakes. When a government makes the decision to exact capital punishment on someone, that’s it. They can no longer redeem themselves, atone for their sins, and try to contribute to society in a good, well-mannered way because they will no longer exist in this world. This act of ‘justice’ is clearly a violent, totally unacceptable way of dealing with criminals. Everyone should be given another chance no matter how serious their crimes are; the life sentence is punishment enough, there is no need to murder someone. The definition of …show more content…
These injustices are still happening today, and for what reason? Well, the main reason for capital punishment is that governments believe it is a good way to deter crime – and they are right, capital punishment has been proven to prevent crimes from happening because would be criminals are too afraid to commit. But is that a worthy, acceptable reason for killing a fellow human? Capital punishment is only justified until you realize the gravity of the sacrifice. Capital punishment also happens because people say the cost of an execution is many times less than putting someone behind bars for a life sentence. First of all, money should in no way affect someone’s decision to take another’s life on account of justified retaliation. Second, these ‘facts’ are not even accurate. Each person sentenced to the death penalty in Texas costs approximately 2.3 million US dollars. The cost of putting someone in a maximum security prison for a life sentence is about one third of that. Not only is jailing a criminal the morally correct decision, but it also costs less than the alternative. Another reason the death sentence occurs is because people honestly believe that the death of these criminals is the proper level
Capital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. If then history makes it clear that murder was not part of the crimes to be punished by the death penalty, then the state should not have any legal justification for taking anybody’s life for what so ever reason it may be. In this light of the above mentioned, I will stand for the point that capital punishment should totally be abolished and never be practiced in modern times.
Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics in today’s world. Many people believe that it is morally wrong to have capital punishment as a sentence to a crime. People also do believe that it is morally permissible for a severe crime. Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty. It can be given as a sentence when somebody is convicted of an extremely violent crime. The biggest issue that can be seen with this is that somebody could be innocent and sentenced with the death penalty because of the nature of the crime that they have been accused of even if they didn’t commit it. I believe that there is a moral line between using the death penalty and using other forms of punishment.
“Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect,” stated John F. Kennedy at Berlin on June 26th, 1963. Kennedy is most certainly correct in this subject because no government is ever “perfect.” There is always room for improvement in government and sometimes there are instances in which a law needs to be changed or repealed. Almost everyday, it seems, that there are outrageous crimes being committed and the criminals are being jailed rightfully so. Sometimes, a judge would decide that that criminal should receive the death penalty or capital punishment. Capital punishment has evolved over centuries from the ancient method of “an eye for an eye”, to beheadings, lynchings, electric chairs, etc. While most of
For centuries capital punishment has been used to “punish” criminals for a severe enough crime that they committed. It dates back to hundreds of years ago and has been enacted in many different countries, some that still have it today. Death penalty/capital punishment is the punishment of death an offender receives after having a court hearing and being convicted of a crime (ProCon.org, 2008). Once someone receives a death penalty sentence, they go on death row awaiting their execution. For a very long time, the controversy regarding whether or not the death penalty is ethical or just has been a topic of debate. I believe that the
The death penalty, by definition, is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. Each state has their own determinates of why someone would be given the death penalty, for example, in Missouri, it is first degree murder, but for Alabama it is intentional murder with 18 aggravating factors.
Capital punishment should be viewed as the stripping away of humanity from a person. The death penalty itself should be "executed" because of racial inequities, the concept of murder, the possibility of error, lack of deterrence, the cost, and an overwhelmed legal system. "The goal of capital punishment is revenge" (Introduction 1). Capital punishment is simply an outlet for the bloodlust of the American people (Introduction 1).
Since the beginning of time there has always been the question of what to do with someone that has committed a serious offense that has resulted in serious injury or even death to a person. The death penalty has always been a topic of whether it is humane or inhumane to put someone to death over their crimes against another human being. The death penalty to some is either acceptable to where a person should be put t death for their crimes or is not doing anything to deter people from committing crimes. the death penalty is starting to become less of a punishment and more of a costly expense to taxpayers whom for “Each death penalty case in Texas costs taxpayers about $2.3 million.” The death penalty for some think it should be abolished while others would rather see it extended.
Some people say that revenge is sweet yet sentencing capital punishment on another human being for murdering another is rather extreme. It’s absolutely barbaric and makes zero sense to execute a person for killing someone else. The death penalty does not illuminate anything, nor does it settle any issues or issue one might have. We as people ought not be given such power over someone else's life. Someone’s right to life is far more precious than a few week trial. Rather than having just one person’s life taken away from them, you now have two people stripped of their life on this earth. There are numerous upsides and downsides to dealing with the argument of the death penalty. A portion of the facts, assessments and opinions of this issue may
Capital Punishment has evolved over the years. This act of discipline seemed necessary to some individuals as punishment for committing the most heinous crimes. Even though the justice system has progressed, there are still many imperfections relating to Capital Punishment. The Capital Punishment seems unjustified and should be abolished because know one should be given the right to take another person’s life.
Capital punishment, which is also known as the death penalty, is the punishment of a crime by execution. This extreme retribution is reserved for those who have committed heinous, or capital crimes against society, therefore considered an ongoing threat. Capital punishment was abolished from the Canadian Criminal Code in 1976. It was substituted with a compulsory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders. However capital punishment is still practiced in over 30 of the 50 states in the USA. Some say that Capital Punishment is an unjust solution to crime, and others say that it isn’t a solution at all, as it is subject to flaws just as any system can be flawed. Dating back, before the Eighteenth Century B.C., Capital Punishment has been an integral part of the judicial system in the majority of countries. Considered to be the ultimate punishment, few criminal offenders will receive this ultimate form of retribution. The State of Texas has the highest record of executions at 300 since the 1970’s. Those executed are murderers and those who have committed serious offenses. The idea is "an eye for an eye", but as Gandhi wisely stated, “An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind”. Shockingly, there have been convicted criminals executed only to be proven innocent later, this is far too late after they have long been
In an effort to make sure that innocent men and women are not wrongly convicted in capital punishments cases, they are given a wide range of appeals procedures. Immediately following sentencing an automatic appeals process called Direct Review begins. It is during this process that appellate courts review the lower trial court’s decision, checking for errors and making sure the case was tried on sound judgment. If any errors are found
People on death row are not really dying. “In 2010, a death row inmate waited an average of 178 months (roughly 15 years) between sentencing and execution. Nearly a quarter of deaths on death row in the U.S. are due to natural causes.” (Wikipedia, 2015). We are paying tax dollars to have people sit in prison for up to 15 years, and to have three quarters of them executed. Should we even have capital punishment?
Capital punishment can act as a source of relief to the loved ones of those who have been affected and can be helpful in promoting healing for the affected victim's families. And this is because of the assurance that the victims cannot be in the position to hurt them again. It is clear that if the offender is not sentenced to death the family members and loved ones will remain living in fear, thinking one day this offender will be on the streets again. This can result in revenge and retaliation that will lead to more crimes in society. It may give rise to the increase of the question as to why somebody who has hurt an innocent person will still be living in this world and yet they are supposed to suffer, and why criminals are given so many
Has the death penalty become non-effective? For centuries, death has been viewed as the highest form of capital punishment. However, this is strictly dependent on the idea of equivalent exchange. Ideally If a person causes death, in return, they deserve death as well. However, this ideal does not compensate for the pain and suffering that is forced upon the friends and family of the victim. Death is not the only circumstance we must consider. The distress that is forced upon the families of the victims cannot be compensated by simply sentencing the culprit to death. This base ideal of equivalent exchange overlooks these circumstances. On top of this, the judicial system has a very common problem with sentencing innocent people to death. Is this really social justice? Not only do studies show that this form of capital punishment been has proven as overall non-effective; furthermore, judicial inaccuracy has only contributed to the continuation of pain among societies.
Perhaps we should give the judge a knife and tell her that if she has