The capital punishment or a life in prison both are extreme punishments. Both of these punishments are regarded as worst of the worst. Also the death penalty is almost only used for the crime of murder in the United States. However, there are crimes besides murder that are punishable by death, such as raping children, treason against the United States, and terrorism. So, the value of the death penalty is not just to deter the crime of murder and rape, but also to deter organized crimes that might place the entire country at risk, such as treason or terrorism. The death penalty is an important option on the list of capital punishments because it prevents potential crimes, though is in decline. It brings closure, and also the methods of executions have changed over the years based on the standard norms and values of societies, which invalidates the argument of Cruel and Unusual punishment. (Incapacitation)
Deterrence signifies to punish someone as a possible example and to build fear in people for the consequence. Death penalty is among those extreme punishments that could create concern and fear inside the mind of just about any sane individual (Tonya). Every person fears from dying, even animals. Most bad guys would think carefully if they realized their very own lives were at risk. Although there isn't any statistical proof that capital punishment deters crime, but we need to agree that a majority of us fear death. Assume there isn't any death penalty in a state as well as life immurement without parole is the utmost punishment. What exactly is preventing a prisoner who is dealing with a life immurement without parole to make another killing inside the prison? (Paul Van). As described that “Attacks in prisons throughout US, both in opposition to fellow inmates and against employees, have exceeded during the past decade (Christian Science Monitor, the Internet).
There is absolutely no stopping these inmates from carrying out further criminal offenses inside the prison, when they are already facing the utmost punishment. Anti-capital punishment supporters believe that imprisonment by itself could stop criminals. They feel that we don't need to navigate to the intense step of killing the actual criminals to stop crime. As per the document, "Capital Punishment and Social Defense'" describes, "Crimes could be deterred only by frightening the criminals (Hugo). However, the ever-growing population inside the prisons shows otherwise.
In some way, just immurement isn't enough for a few people to stop them from doing a crime. The amount of criminals is growing annually. In 1990, there have been 42,733 criminals in Alaska, while in 1999, it elevated to 68,599 (Death Penalty USA). A few criminals might think that they might never be captured, and just keep doing crimes. An ideal illustration for this could be serial killers. For these kinds of people, capital punishment must be there, to ensure that other people, who think about carrying out such criminal offenses, learn a lesson that every single criminal is ultimately caught. It is evident from the statistical data that the countries where the concept of capital punishment or death penalty is largely practiced such as in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), UAE or other Middle East countries, there are always less cases of murders, rape and so on. From these statistic figures when can easily infer that capital punishment or the death penalty is having positive influence on the society.
Anti-capital punishment supporters feel that death penalty is permanent and could turn into a reason for irreversible mistakes. Once an individual has been sentenced to death and therefore, death penalty adept, there's nothing that you can do to undo the consequence if the charged person happens to be innocent. I believe that death penalty is definitely irreversible, but the risk of making a blunder in death penalty is incredibly low.
Death penalty is recognized as a serious punishment and also the judiciary takes plenty of care in finalizing the particular decision. For this reason, there is very less chance that there is any mistake in the final decision pertaining to the death penalty as the judiciary always considers the every aspect of the case before making the final decision pertaining to the death penalty as it is all about taking one’s life. Therefore, it is evident that there is very less chance of making blunder or mistakes from the judicial end.
Secondly, there are numerous safeguards ensuring protection of the legal rights of the people dealing with the death penalty. For instance, "Death penalty could be imposed only if guilt is established by clear and genuine proof leaving no space for a different reason of the facts," "Any person sentenced to death shall obtain the right to approach the court of upper jurisdiction", etc. (Capital Punishment: Life or Death).
There are many other legal rights presented to the guilty that ensure that death penalty is offered to the rightly charged person. As outlined by Federal Justice Statistics, in 1998, there have been roughly 5000 criminals sentenced to life prison in contrast to 74 criminals sentenced to death penalty (Internet). This signifies that judiciary itself is extremely cautious with death sentences. Even when we believe that there are odds that an innocent individual is executed, it's the issue with the trial, not with the punishment (Tonya).
A lot of people may think that death penalty is insensate and brutal, but ask those individuals who may have lost their much loved or whose lives are actually tied to a hospital bed due to some brutal person. I believe they might be very disappointed to find out the one who ruined their lives just obtaining a couple of years of imprisonment or simple rehabilitation. (Haag) Anti-death penalty followers think that capital punishment or death penalty is brutal. Well! So is killing. Death penalty isn't vengeance. Instead, it is actually an issue of putting a stop to a life which has no worth for other humans. Sentencing a killer to death is actually a big favor to the society. Regardless of the moral debate regarding the inhumane treatments for the criminal, we get back to the "dynamics" of the criminal offense committed. In my opinion, if one cannot value the life of some other person, then a person's own life doesn't have value.
Death penalty is great and provides an absolute reason for reducing crime along with delivering justice to the criminals as well as innocent. To be able to serve its objective, it has to be adjusted and made more efficient and effective. The justice system has transformed significantly during the past thirty years to make certain that the rightly charged is brought to justice. In my opinion, the death penalty shouldn't be removed, as it guarantees the protection of the society, provides justice to the people who may have suffered and more importantly assists in decreasing criminal offenses and criminals from the society. Death penalty is very important to maintain the brightness of the law and to ensure the public safety.
Works Cited
Browning, Tonya. "Capital Punishment: Life or Death." Computer Writing and Research Lab, University of Texas. Online. Internet. 27 April 2000.
Bedau, Hugo Adam. "The Death Penalty in America." New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Haag, Ernest van den. "On Deterrence and the Death Penalty." Reserved reading for Philosophy.
"Incapacitation." "Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary." 1981.
Slambrouck, Paul Van. "US Prisons - Under Pressure - Show Increase in Violence." The Christian Science Monitor Online. 6 August 1998. Internet.
