Persuasive Essay On Criminal Punishment

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.

In “How the Death Penalty Saves Lives”, written and published by David B. Mulhausen on September 29, 2014, Mulhausen speaks of the reasons why the death penalty is a proper way to bring murderers to justice. He believes that “some crimes are so heinous and inherently wrong that they demand strict penalties” (Mulhausen). Not only does he believe that the death penalty is useful to set criminals to justice, but he also believes that the enforcement of the death penalty deters crime rates.

As Ghandi once said, “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty”. Canada is a society based around democracy; if the government grants themselves the absolute power to end a person’s life with a single sentence, there are bound to be negative repercussions. It is human nature to makes mistakes, but it is a virtue to learn from them. Instead of resulting to the death penalty as a punishment for committing a serious crime, society should have faith in that person’s ability to change, improve, and be rehabilitated. Moreover, the death penalty is an ineffective way to punish criminals when it comes to serious crimes. If anything, it is an escape for those who have no remorse for their actions. There is no reason to end the life of a human being, no matter how malevolent they are, as it does not benefit society in any way, shape, or form. One could argue that the offender would no longer be able to harm others, but that same result could come from a prison sentence. Furthermore, the rights outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are fundamental human rights that are not subject to a select group of people, but all of humanity. Capital punishment, no matter the reason, is essentially still murder, as the life of another human is being taken. Limitations must be set in order to separate humanity from the criminals it harbors. Society

As of 2008, fifty-eight, about one-third of the world’s countries, favor the death penalty, including the United States (Death Penalty Information Center). Currently, thirty-five out of the fifty states, including California, Florida, Arizona, Kentucky, Texas and even Washington, have legalized capital punishment (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). As of January 1st, 2010, 3291 inmates were awaiting their punishment on death row (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). California holds most of them, with 697, followed by Florida with 398 (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). The 2009 FBI Uniform Crime Report showed and stated the South has the highest murder rate of all areas of the country and is therefore directly related to being responsible for over 80% of all executions. Also, consistent with previous reports, the Northeast has the lowest homicide rate of the nation and is only responsible with a small 1% of execution (Death Penalty Information Center, 2010). Now, in regards to Canada, the death penalty is a sentencing that the country does not justify. However, it has not always been this way. It wasn’t until 1976 that the death penalty was removed from the Canadian Criminal Act, where it was then replaced with the mandatory life sentencing without the chance of parole for the first twenty-five years. This was true for all first-degree murders (Munroe, 2010). Following that date, in 1998 capital punishment was removed from the

However the research does not imply that death penalty is having a brutal effect on countries with capital punishment; it only shows that capital punishment is not resulting in a decrease in the number of homicides that are committed in those countries per year.

As Cass R states… “Capital punishment may be morally required, not for retributive reasons, but rather to prevent the taking of innocent lives”. Death penalty is one of those extreme punishments that would create fear in the mind of any person. If murderers are sentenced to death and executed, potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life.

In conclusion not only is the death penalty a cruel and unlawful punishment, but when the right to live freely is denied it is also a violation of basic human rights. There are around 140 countries that have abolished the death penalty, with still no international law forbidding the use of it. Nevertheless, Canada has spent around 15-20 billion on the Criminal Justice system in hopes that it will help solve crime. In the end, most Canadians would agree that bringing back the death penalty is a dishonest punishment, with permanent results and in no way promises that it will help decrease the crime rate and keep Canadians safe.

Capital punishment has been around since the eighteenth century, but it ceases to exist in the modern era for countries like Canada. Canada’s death penalty law was instated in 1759, but later abolished in 1976 (Statistics Canada).Along with being an extremely controversial topic, capital punishment has been sought to be safer for crime victims, cheaper and a better deterrent than prisons. However when looking at the facts it can be argued that the death penalty not only decreases crime rates and costs less, it is simply morally wrong.

A life sentence is sufficient deterrent, and many would argue more so than the death penalty. There is no evidence that countries that still apply the death penalty have lower crime rates, in fact the opposite seems to be true with the US. The greatest deterrent in crime is the fear of getting caught, not the resultant punishment. If criminals knew that they would get caught and would have to spend a long time in a prison that would make them think twice. If they can be confident that they won 't get caught, even though the punishment is a death sentence, some would take the chance. Countries with effective criminal justice systems, catching people early before they descend into worse and worse offending have the lowest crime, not contries with the harshest penalties. Willie Trottie is a case in point. As a society we will do better to learn about him, what he did, what

More than two third of the countries in the world have abolished the death penalty in law. More than 58 Nations who have not abolished it, and only 18 are known to have carried out the execution. After the law of 1988 in Canada capital punishment was removed due to free votes and then some more countries have stopped executions in practice. But why? Does criminals have rights to live their lives, even breath, even have respect from country, even have peace? How come a criminal deserve this? Nowadays, for a criminal killing someone is paying fines or some year of jail but with the capital punishment, crime will tend to be a fearness if the justice becomes equal to every individual Of the citizen of Canada. Capital punishment in Canada should

Firstly, rape is not just a violent crime but it also a violation against humanity and does not have a right to be tolerated in our great nation. A person who sexually molests another human being and potentially scar them mentally for life shouldn’t be allowed to walk free one day. The victims shouldn’t have to cope knowing that their rapist will roam the streets again and potentially rape other people too. According to a research done by the Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2006, 88.3% of all sex offenders will repeat the same crime they committed before they were convicted. This is where the death penalty comes in. Why should we as a nation, let these sick and disgraceful people back onto our streets? By bringing back the death penalty, we can roam the streets freely at night without the thought of being raped in our minds. Rape shouldn’t be in our society and if any one does commit this heinous crime, they must get the death penalty as it is the only final solution to the problem.

First, death penalty should be remained because the rate and number of serious crime(murder) changes before and after the countries the abolition of death penalty. According to the data of Canada, Canada has not executed since 1962, moreover, abolished death penalty in 1966. Since then, the number of murder per hundred thousand people and the number of murder is clearly increasing. Then, let’ look another data, France, which abolished death penalty in 1981. The data shows that the number of murder per hundred thousand people and the number of murder is clearly increased per 10 years. These data say that when countries abolish death penalty, the number and rate of serious crime such as murder must be increased.

Society agrees on the matter that crime is corrupt and the criminal justice system needs to find a way to put a stop to it. The death penalty seems sensible and logical in every way, until we ask the question: do we need the death penalty to be ‘tough’ on crime? The answer is yes, we do.

Last but not least, from a sociologic perspective, capital punishment does not work as intended, to deter crime rate, rather, it might brutalize individuals, at the same time does nothing good to the victim’s family other than brutal vengeance. The origin of death penalty is served as a vehicle to put a warning for those potential future criminals that such kind of behavior will lead to death. However, so far, no clear evidence can be seen that capital punishment, as a mechanism of deterrent, actually cut down the local crime rate. Ironically, a reversal trend was found by Death Penalty Information Center (2010) in the USA that the death penalty leads to an increase in local murder rate. To die might be too easy for the mindless murderers. Also, for the relatives or friends of criminals put into death through capital punishment, they are more likely to be

“Americans have always had ambivalent feelings about crime and punishment” (71). Many say our American System of Justice is broken, for they believe the system is looking to just punish those who have done wrong and is not looking to rehabilitate them, especially for juveniles. Then there are some who say, the American System of Justice does not need to change for it already punishes criminals with due process, and rehabilitates them. The American System of Justice should change the way they punish criminals, because those who are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes are taking up space in our prison system, juveniles are being put in solitary confinement and coming out more damaged than they were, and lastly some offenders are serving to long for the crime they committed.