Free The Pros Of The Death Penalty Essay Example

The man cannot be separated from many things. He cannot live without food, air and water. However, it’s not the complete list of items that are necessary for human existence. Humanity is also obsessed with the violence. Throughout the whole history, people invented a lot of different methods of punishment, murder and torture.
So, the human history is full of cruelty and violence. Consequently, it’s possible to talk an infinitely long time about how some representatives of humanity have punished, tortured, and killed others more unfortunate representatives of mankind. However, we’d remember only the most noteworthy moments that are connected with the death penalty - one of the most contentious issues in the contemporary society.
The history of the death penalty begins with the emergence of statehood. Before this emergence the murder meant murder. However, simultaneously with the civilization processes the killing was becoming something higher and fair. The death sentence as a means of punishment traces its history back to the Classical antiquity. It should be noted that in those times the method of execution depended on the social status of the offender.
In the Ancient Greece free citizens in a case of the capital punishment were doomed to such ways of the deprivation of life as dropping off a cliff, poisoning by venom or strangulation. Slaves, who have violated the law, were drowned or killed by stones. In the Ancient Greece the execution by crucifixion was known too, but only in the Ancient Rome it became the most widely used, as the deadly punishment for slaves, pirates and participants of riots.
Deeply religious medieval society was differed by the great love to tortures. The community of medieval fans of tortures and executions was headed by the Inquisition, of course. In the Middle Ages, the death penalty was used not only in a case of such serious crime as murder, but also in a case of the religious beliefs that church considered “incorrect”.
Moreover, we all heard about another famous method of the deprivation of life, namely the burning at the stake: women were blamed for witchcraft and burned at the stake (the question about existence of so-called witchcraft is quite another story). As a rule, these executions were public: they have also been used for the intimidation. Moreover, during the Middle Ages the death sentence was used not only by the state courts, but also by the feudal lords towards their serfs.
As we have already recalled, the history of mankind is full of cruelty and violence. Over the centuries the murder was considered absolutely normal way of the punishment for a crime. Although it’s quite possible to say that several hundred years ago the killing was ordinary as a handshake today. However, times have changed and people changed their ideas about good and evil, about crime and punishment and about the capital punishment too.
We reminisced about all these horrible medieval punishments to claim with confidence that they are outdated at the present stage of development of society; and the application of such barbaric ways of the deprivation of criminal’s life is completely unacceptable. Also there is a lot of controversy over the crimes, for which a person can be sentenced to the death. For example, in the ancient times people could be condemned to the death for petty theft or even for the nonstandard type of perception of the world. Now such things cannot be acceptable too. Nevertheless, there are some crimes that cannot be justified or even a little bit understood; and for such crimes death penalty is the most natural kind of the punishment.
The problem of expediency of application of the capital punishment exists for a quite long period of time. Moreover, in the modern society there are many opponents of the death penalty, but there are proponents of the capital punishment too.
The death penalty is called the cruelest form of punishment. However it seems to me that the life imprisonment in a solitary cell is crueler than instant deprivation of life. Therefore, the death penalty can be justified by the humane considerations in relation to the offender. After all, the criminals, who really can be sentenced to the death, as a rule, get into a solitary cell with a small window, but not in the active prison life. The life imprisonment is a life without hope; it’s something akin to a lingering death, and it’s much more painful than instant death. So, is the life imprisonment more humane that the death penalty?
Representatives of the contemporary society are accustomed to value human rights and respect even the improbable possibility that the murderer, pedophile or rapist can change. Of course, such forms of the capital punishment as burning at the stake or other barbaric tortures cannot be returned to the reality, but there are more humane ways of deprivation of the offender’s life. For example, the lethal injection is causing the immediate death.
People, who consider themselves to be humane and kind, can argue for a long time how the unacceptable the deprivation of life is, but it is worth remembering that there are certain criminals, who cannot be changed, and therefore cannot be returned into the community.
Furthermore, the punishment has three objectives: to restore the social justice, to prevent new crimes and to change the criminal in a better way. Of course, the third objective is the most difficult to achieve (here we don’t talk about a thief or a person, who hasn’t paid a parking fine, but about those criminals, whose actions cannot be justified). Therefore, the release of a dangerous criminal may cause the violation of social justice and further offenses. So, it’s possible to say that the death sentence liberates society from the dangerous criminals.
There is also a quite logical opinion that the comprehension of seriousness of the punishment for certain crimes has a deterrent effect on some offenders. In connection with this it’s worth remembering such a country as China, on the territory of which the death sentence has become completely logical and legitimate retribution for crimes. In this country, the capital punishment applies even for the bribery. The death penalty in China is currently used for a variety of crimes, and the vast majority of executions carried out in cases of the illicit drug trafficking. The punishment for such crimes as drug smuggling, drug trafficking, transporting and manufacturing drugs is also the death sentence.
So, the death penalty is a powerful deterrent factor to offenders. The fear of death "protects" people from the different unlawful acts. Moreover, there were some interesting cases, when the offender, after an attempt to kill, rescued his victim because he knew that subsequently he will die too. Consequently, the capital punishment is very important factor in reducing crime.
Undoubtedly the human life is something immensely valuable. People appreciate their lives, but the problem is that people usually value only their own lives (and the lives of their loved ones). Of course, the selfishness is incorporated in human nature, but apart from it person has instincts, including the self-preservation instinct. That is why the realization that you may lose your own life, which you value so much, forcing the offender to begin appreciate the life of another person too (or at least not to deprive him of life).
Also one of the principles of justice is the correspondence between the severity of crime and punishment. Several years in prison for theft – it’s a normal penalty. However, what punishment is the equivalent to the murder? It’s unlikely that the life imprisonment can be fair with regard to the serial killers or terrorists, who killed a lot of innocent people. Therefore, the death penalty is a natural punishment for such a serious crime as intentional killing.
It’s also worth noting that sometimes the use of violence is necessary to restore the order in community, or even in the whole country. The death penalty has always been a common practice throughout various social riots, revolutions or civil wars. So, one more convincing argument in favor of the death sentence is that it should be preserved in the conditions of crisis or anarchy in the state. People believe that the severe measures are necessary in order to constrain the offenders in the conditions of economic hardship, political instability, etc.
In conclusion it can be said that the capital punishment goes back to the ancient times. Humanity was accompanied by the death penalty throughout a long period of its history. Moreover, at the contemporary stage of development of society the death penalty remains a very controversial issue: there are both proponents and opponents of the capital punishment.
We should also note the importance of fact that the capital punishment should be applied only in a case of the most serious crimes because there are some cases, when the death sentences are fair, because there are criminals, who really can’t be justified or understood. Opponents of the death penalty may argue that the death penalty is unacceptable in the contemporary society because of the different humane reasons. However, how can the life imprisonment in a solitary cell, which is similar to a lingering death, be more humane than instantaneous death?