Capital Punishment Essay
Capital punishment is the process of executing someone as punishment for a specific crime after a proper legal trial. It can only be used by a state. There are various methods of execution, such as crucifixion, stoning, drowning, hanging and beheading. In recent times, executions are usually carried out by lethal gas or injection, electric current, hanging or firing squad.
There has been a long debate for and against capital punishment. Is the death penalty a deterrent? Some adhere to the philosophy of “an eye for an eye” or “a life for a life”, while others believe that killing is wrong.
Although killing is generally immoral, some types of killing are justified. Among them is killing in self-defense and in defense of other members of society. Most proponents of capital punishment believe that it is justified for one or more of the following reasons:
By means of revenge/justice,
As a deterrent to others,
To prevent any threat of river financing and is cheaper than life imprisonment. In which the criminal will spend the rest of his life in prison on taxpayers’ money.
It is also often argued that capital punishment provides closure for victims’ families. But some human rights organizations oppose capital punishment for one or more of the following reasons:
Killing someone is always inhumane and legal murder,
There is no evidence of a deterrent effect ( In fact, the available evidence seems to have no effect. ),
Saving money can never justify taking a life, and mistakes are bound to happen.
The most common argument against capital punishment is that, sooner or later, innocent people may die because of mistakes or failures of the justice system. According to Amnesty International, as long as human justice remains flawed, the risk of executing an innocent person will never end. Capital punishment does not rehabilitate or reintegrate the prisoner into society.
If the experience of the past century is to be taken as a guide, it is clear that capital punishment has been a complete failure as a measure to end sexual violence. In 1965, only 23 countries abolished capital punishment. But after that, criminal justice systems around the world lost faith in this method of punishment. Today, more than two-thirds of countries have abolished capital punishment, either in law or in practice.