Reasons For Capital Punishment example essay topic

Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment. It is now virtually abolished in Western Europe. But it is still used in America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and so do the reasons for capital punishment out weigh the reasons against? Should the Death Penalty be brought back? In 2002 at least 1,526 people were executed in 31 countries and at least 3,248 people were sentenced to death in 67 countries.

But where all of these people guilty? Since 1973,107 prisoners have been released from death row in the USA after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. In this essay I will explore and discuss the reasons for and against the death penalty. There are both pro and anti arguments for The Death Penalty, but which one is right? People could argue that the death penalty should be brought back for many reasons like incapacitation the criminal cannot commit a crime again and prove much cheaper and safer than long term or permanent imprisonment, but I think that rehabilitation for murders will prevent murderers from killing again. Murders have one of the lowest recidivism rates of all offenders.

In fact, people who have served time in prison for other offences are more likely to commit murder upon their release than are convicted killers. Also the cost can be a point for capital punishment. Capital punishment is said to be a cost-effective alterative to life imprisonment. But it has been proved that it may cost more to execute a prisoner than that person serving a life sentence. In 1982 a study in New York found that the average capital murder trial and the first appeals cost a US taxpayers $1.8 million, this cost would be far less for life imprisonment. People who support capital punishment use retribution as justification for capital punishment.

The desire for retribution is the desire to see a person be punishment for what they have done. So the murderer should be executed because he or she deserves to. I believe this is untrue as life is sacred and killing is always wrong, whether done by the state or an individual. Also how do we determined who has the right to decide that another must die?

Does the death penalty deter? Many would say it does as it is suggested that executing murderers will decrease the homicide rate by causing other potential murderers not to commit murder for fear of being executed themselves, a US poll shows that 68% of respondent's agreed that death penalty deters crime. There are a number of arguments against the death penalty. The most important one is that certainly innocent people will be executed and that there is no possible way of compensating them for this miscarriage of justice. Mistakes like these can carry a huge affect on many peoples lives, as the innocent person knows they have not done wrong but they are still being punished by the cruellest of punishment.

Not only the person but also the families of the innocent person has to deal with the death of a love one which could have been avoided if the death penalty was abolished in countries like America and China. Also a person that convicted of murder that really should have really been convicted of manslaughter then it really comes own to the skill of the prosecution and defence lawyers. A second reason, is the moral issue, this is the most compelling category of arguments against capital punishment. All most all religions have a basic belief that one should not kill humans begins unless failure to do so would result in immediate death at the hands of that individual. The use of the death penalty cheapens the value of human life by allowing humans to make the determination of who deserves to live and who is not. The economy factor is an argument against the death penalty but many people believe it is cheaper for a criminal to be put to death rather than life imprisonment but convincing evidence shows that the cost of a death penalty case, from the initial sentencing to execution, can cost any where upwards of $1 million in America.

This is compared to the annual cost of incarceration at a maximum-security prison, which is about $250,000 - depending on the state. So capital punishment is not even cost-efficient. It must be remembered that criminals are real people too, who have the ability to feel pain, fear, regret and all the other emotions that the rest of us are capable of feeling. But for multiple murderers this is easy not think about, but less so when discussing a eighteen year old girl who was convicted of drug trafficking, Singapore hanged two girls for this crime in 1995 who were eighteen at the time of their offence. China shot an eighteen girl in 1998 for the same offence. So in conclusion Capital punishment is harsh punishment for any crime as killing is killing it cannot be justified no matter if it is by the government or a person.

If a person killed a murderer that has not been convicted doesn't it still make the person who killed the murderer a murderer him / herself in the eyes of the law? So how can it be right if it is the government? There has to be one rule for everyone. Capital Punishment is wrong and should never be brought back in Britain. It should be abolished in America and every other country in the world.