If there are people who are in favor of capital punishment, there are also those who want it to be abolished. According to the Abolitionists, capital punishment is nothing but an act of violence.
There is nothing more inhumane than tolerating the killing of another human being. It is indeed very paradoxical that the state will allow the execution of a human person as a solution to crime and violence. It is said that: “legalized homicide as punishment is generally inconsistent with the values it is presumed to protect, and in a broader context is demeaning of the dignity of human life.Violence will never be the right solution to the rising criminality. It bears stressing that when the society tolerates execution as a solution to criminality, in effect, we are leaving an imprint on the minds of the youth that the proper approach to violence is to impose violence. Violence begets violence.
It is sad that when this happens we are legitimizing violence in our society. Thus, the Abolitionists argue that capital punishment should be abolished because it degrades the value of human life.Capital punishment is also perceived to be beneficial for the society because it deters the criminal from committing another crime and it prevents the other criminals from committing the same crime. It must however be emphasized that until now there has been no scientific literature that will prove that there is a causal connection or a cause and effect relationship between capital punishment and the commission of a crime.
Further, there is empirical research that will prove that a great majority of crimes being committed in our contemporary society are either crimes of passion or crimes that are not premeditated or planned. Logic will tell us that if a crime is committed in a fit of rage and anger then the thought of being executed for a would-be criminal offender will not serve any deterrent purpose because at the time of the commission of the crime he is no longer capable of making rational calculations about the benefits and disadvantages of his actions.Your Essay Writing PartnerThe third objection against capital punishment is that it is always possible that an inmate who is on death row may turn out to be innocent. There are flaws in every criminal justice system.
We adopt the adversarial system wherein the prosecution and defense have sufficient freedom to control the manner and process of presenting evidence. In this system, the judge acts merely as a passive arbiter who ensures that everything is in order and decides on the issues presented to him. In this system, the prosecution lawyers in their haste to “win” their case, more often than not, are obsessed not with finding the truth but with the conviction of the accused. The public prosecutors, on the other hand, are already burdened with the number of cases they are currently handling that they can no longer adequately defend the cause of the accused.The result is that we have a justice system wherein only those who can afford the best lawyers can be adequately represented or defended in court. In this justice system the accused is at the mercy of the public prosecutor.
Thus it is not surprising that most people who are languishing in jail are those living below the poverty line who have no means to pay for a competent lawyer to defend themselves in a court of law. On the other hand, those who are financially capable can hire skilled lawyers who can assist and defend them.Thus, Christina Swarns (2004) states that: “The primary reason for this economic disparity is that the poor are systematically denied access to well-trained and adequately funded lawyers. Capital defense is now a highly specialized field requiring practitioners to successfully negotiate minefield upon mine field of exacting and arcane death-penalty law.
Any misstep along the way can literally mean death for the client”.Death penalty is a process that is irreversible. Once it is imposed it can no longer be taken back by the state. In the past, there have always been cases where a convict was perceived by the public to have been arbitrarily imposed the capital punishment. It bears stressing that when a person is sentenced to death, he can no longer be benefited by any amendments in laws.
Likewise, he can no longer be benefited by the possibility that new evidence will be discovered that will exonerate him. It bears stressing that no less than scientific evidence has in the past been used to reverse past convictions. A study conducted by Bruce Robinson (2002) states that at least 350 people between 1900 and 1985 in America might have been innocent of the crime for which they were convicted, and could have been sentenced to death.”Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth.
Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole.Capital punishment is the most irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished.
“We’re only human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment.
According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which there always is), the drastic measure of capital punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process of law.District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan argued against the death penalty: “In brief, the Court found that the best available evidence indicates that, on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other hand, convincing proof of their innocence often does not emerge until long after their convictions.
It is therefore fully foreseeable that in enforcing the death penalty a meaningful number of innocent people will be executed who otherwise would eventually be able to prove their innocence.”As humans, we are an inevitable force of error. However, when a life is at stake, error is not an option. The death penalty is murder by the government. As a nation, we have prided ourselves in our government, its justice and truth.
However, can we continue to call our government fair if we do not hold it to the same rules we do its people? Murder by a citizen will have consequences, yet a government-approved murder is not only acceptable, but enforceable. What message do we send the American people, and other countries, for that matter, if we continue to be a nation that kills its citizens, a nation that enforces the most barbaric form of punishment?The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states, “We don’t cut off the hands of thieves to protect property; we do not stone adulterers to stop adultery. We consider that barbaric. Yet we continue to take life as a means of protecting life.
” No person, government-affiliated or not, has the right to decide if another human is worthy or unworthy of life. Our natural rights as humans, which cannot be taken away by the government, include the right to life. Humans are not cold metal coins that lose value; no act, no matter how heinous, can make a person less of a human being. However, for most it is easy to forget that each of the 1,099 executed since 1977 are fellow humans, not just numbers.According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty violates the right to life.
” Capital punishment contradicts our moral beliefs and claims of a fair and just government. The U.S. must join its political allies – including Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, South Africa, and most of Latin America – that have abolished the death penalty.
The death penalty is favored by some as an effective deterrent of crime; however, it is proven that states with the death penalty actually have higher murder rates than those without. It is proven that our nation does not need this extreme threat of punishment to prevent crime. In 2006, the FBI Uniform Crime Report revealed that the area of the U.S. that was responsible for the most executions (the South with 80 percent) also had the highest murder rate, whereas the Northern areas that had the fewest executions (less than one percent), had the lowest murder rates.It can be said that the death penalty is the most overlooked form of government hypocrisy; we murder people who murder people to show that murder is wrong.
It is this contradiction in policy that confuses criminals and undermines any crime deterrence capital punishment was intended to have.Many people favor the death penalty as reparation for the wrong done to a victim’s family; however, in most cases, closure is not the result. Losing a loved one, no matter how that person is lost, is unbearable, irrevocable, and shattering. Pain like this is shocking and the victim’s family holds onto the hope that the execution of the murderer will bring relief and closure. Nevertheless, when execution day arrives, the pain is not eased.
No relief can be gained, for their pain is an unavoidable, natural process of life. Victims’ families have founded such groups as the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and The Journey of Hope, which oppose the death penalty. They believe that they are different from those who have taken their loved ones and they demonstrate their difference by refusing to sink to a murderer’s level.Capital punishment is immoral and a violation of natural rights.
It is wrong for everyone involved: the prosecuted innocent, criminals, victims’ families, and our nation. We need to replace the death penalty and capital punishment with life without parole, a safer and more inexpensive option. The death penalty does not guarantee safety for innocent victims, it does not follow the goals and promises of our nation, it does not effectively deter crime, and it does not give closure to victims’ families. Nothing good comes of hate, and nothing good can ever come from capital punishment.
It cannot continue to be accepted by a nation that claims to have liberty and justice for all. The death penalty is murder on the sly and it’s dead wrong. 3) Argumentative Essay against Capital PunishmentCapital punishment must not be implemented because it can lead to the possibility of wrongful execution. It is undeniable that there had already been many people sentenced of death penalty that were eventually executed even if they were truly innocent.
Unfortunately, the crucial evidence that would have proven the innocence of these people was only obtained after their execution. It is because of wrongful executions that capital punishment must not be implemented in society. They only create doubts into the minds of the people that they cannot rely on the justice system especially once they badly need it. This is also hard to accept on the part of the families who already had members who experienced a wrongful execution as this is something that has a permanent impact.
Obviously, the innocent people wrongfully executed can never be brought back to life anymore. Since the courts cannot be expected to make the best decisions all the time with regard to the people who deserve conviction and acquittal, it is difficult to guarantee that wrongful executions can be completely stopped in countries that have death penalty.This is why capital punishment prevents the wrongfully accused people of the due process that they deserve to have in order to prove their innocence, something that is very unfair to them. There can be instances where the evidence that can prove their innocence is just so difficult to obtain so it takes a long period of time before it gets presented to the Court. However, because there is also a limited period of time to appeal for the death penalty sentence, it is usually the case that the wrongfully accused people are already executed before the evidence that could have set them free is discovered. This would not have happened if there is no capital punishment being implemented.
Aside from this, another detrimental impact of capital punishment is that it only helps to send a message to the people that the justice system is an advocate of revenge particularly on the part of the people who got victimized by heinous crimes. The capital punishment sends a message to the people that the justice system is just there to help the families of the victims of the heinous crimes and not for the accused people who could also be innocent. This can also be interpreted as a punishment that does not provide any opportunity for the offenders to correct their mistakes. In this case, the justice system can be viewed as partial and biased as it only helps the victims and not the accused party. The lawyers of the accused party will then have to work extremely hard to gather evidence to spare their client from capital punishment.Finally, a society that values life does not intentionally kill people.
The truth is that capital punishment is a traumatic case of homicide that has been approved by the government. This practically supports killing in order to impose a solution to the problems that are being faced by society (Mandery 58). This is something that is not very good particularly on the part of the youth who will grow up knowing that the government is approved of just killing people who violated the law. The funny thing is that governments all over the world have tried to validate capital punishment by stating what they think are the advantages of death penalty would provide to the people.
The advantages of death penalty can be considered as illusory, but the chaos and the eventual annihilation of the decency of the society are very true. Thus, there is no sense to implement capital punishment.
