Capital Punishment, Fair or Unjust
Death penalty or capital punishment is an expression used to describe the action of putting an individual to death after a conclusive court process. This decision comes after judgment by a legal system either as a form of retribution or a deterrent measure aimed at preventing the culprit from ever committing the crime. According to Hugo, capital punishment is an old practice that dates back to the hundreds of centuries (9). Most societies used this form of punishment to deal with the culprits of atrocious crimes. Currently, numerous countries around the world practice the capital punishment. Other countries, however, consider capital punishment as a barbaric and immoral form of punishment. This paper gives arguments against capital punishment and urges authorities to abolish punishment by death.
I believe the death penalty violates the basic rights of humans to life. It also violates the right to fair hearing and the due process of the law. Besides, the government should not give itself the right to take away human life and kill human beings. The state should not commit premeditated murder all in the name of punishing a criminal in the name of the people. Capital punishment should not be tolerated at all and denies humans of their basic human rights. It is not consistent with values of humanity like the sanctity of life. A democratic system of government is one that takes care of the people and respects all their rights (Bohm 36).
The death penalty is one that is uncivilized and seems unfair to humanity. Through legislation and advocacy, Capital punishment should be abolished because it is barbaric. The capital punishment in many places is not fair because people have the ability to influence the way the justice system works. Many criminals have gotten away simply because they could afford a really good lawyer. Research has shown that coloured people are more likely to be executed than white people. This is especially true if whoever has been hurt happens to be a white person.
The death penalty is also one that has no public safety and in my opinion a total waste of money that belongs to the taxpayer. Research has shown that capital punishment does not actually deter people from committing more crimes. If anything, police officers and local authorities rank it among the least effective ways of reducing crimes. Instead, they propose that police officers are very important in reducing crime. Other measures that need to be put in place include reduction of drug abuse among the youth, creation of employment to avoid idleness. Most states that have capital punishment have been known to have higher cases of murder.
Innocent people have also been known to be executed wrongly. This kind of punishment is very cruel and should be abolished as it belongs to the olden days when people were enslaved, branded and corporal punishment was the order of the day. Like these old practices that were barbaric, capital punishment should not be found in our civilized society today. The most ironic fact is that the United States of America of all places is the one place that still practices capital punishment. What is worse is that those criminals that are usually sentenced to death are randomly sampled. This means that the people who are executed sometimes are not the real criminals. Capital punishment contradicts the human rights endorsed by the constitution. It has been known to be applied randomly and not fairly. Colour, status, profession and sometimes religion have been known to influence the death penalty. Besides, it has not been known to prevent crimes for occurring again and again.
Capital punishment should also be abolished because it does away with the due process of the law, rendering the entire justice system useless. When one is convicted and put in a correction facility, they have a chance to appeal later in the event that new evidence is found. Capital punishment does not allow for any appeal as the person does not live to do so. The implications of capital punishment cannot be revoked as they are permanent. New laws should be put in place to ensure that people are given the chance to appeal or correct their past mistakes through a correctional facility like serving a jail term.
Although, those who argue that capital punishment should be used maintain that it is a way of showing sympathy for the murder victims, a lot of thought should be given to this matter before any conclusions are made. It has been said that two wrongs do not make a right and it is true. Killing a human for killing another human does not correct the initial mistake of murder. If anything it encourages lack of respect for the sanctity of life. Killing, whether premeditated or not is immoral and cannot be revoked. Although some politicians have argued that it is the best way to give closure to the families of the victims, research has shown that not even the death of the criminal can make things better for the bereaved families (Mandery 43).
Capital punishment also wastes resources that are already limited. Time that could have been spent doing some productive work is instead wasted on a project that is dead end. The juries, courtroom and law enforcement personnel who could have been involved in protecting the city from further crimes are instead used for capital punishment. Many of the changes that have been done on capital sentence have been known to be cosmetic and not very effective. Finally, any society that has respect for human life should not kill deliberately. Killing of criminals is seen as trying to present homicide as a solution to crime.
