Issues With Capital Punishment Essay Example

Every crime has its own punishment. Nowadays, minimum sentences are often legislated. However, some punishment can be unfair considering the crime. Indeed, all crimes have to go through the judgement system, and the judgement will be based on the country’s constitution or the state’s laws. The punishment methods for very serious crimes include capital punishment and solitary confinement. Currently, the prison system focuses on punishment when, in fact, they should offer opportunities for work, education, and rehabilitation of prisoners. I think that the death penalty must occur in some cases. However, solitary confinement should be prohibited because it has negative effects.
In the essay of “Hellhole” by Atul Gawande, he mentioned several interesting things. He said that human beings are social creatures. Every person needs a partner. In fact, human beings depend on each other for their survival. We are a tribal society. Isolation of a person or even animals can have a negative impact on their lives. Also, isolation results in other psychological problems. It can really destroy person’s life. According to the example shown in the article, when a prisoner in an isolated cell is moved into another cell with another prisoner, his mental processes recovered quickly. He was able to read, concentrate, and control his emotions again. Being isolated in prison is real torture. It is surprising how the American prison system can subject so many of its own citizens to such punishment. Hallucination and panic attacks become huge problems for people who are put in isolated prison cells for long period of time. The problem with solitary confinement is that it makes people unfit for social interaction. Normal behavior may be completely lost. However, the proponents of long term isolation in prison argue that such a punishment provides discipline and prevents violence. Violent aggressors may need to be kept in confinement for the safety of others. But the British government achieved great results when they reduced isolation of their dangerous prisoners by giving them good opportunities for getting a job and continuing their education.
We can see there is a problem with how we handle solitary confinement on this issue. But how does it relate to capital punishment? Justice Scalia made his views on the matter loud and clear in “God’s Justice and Ours”. We generally think capital punishment is worse, because it ends life; yet solitary confinement can affect people who will be reintroduced into society. For this reason, it is important to carefully consider Justice Scalia’s opinion.
In “God’s Justice and Ours”, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argues that the death penalty, another form of punishment, is constitutional (if you believe in the idea of a “dead” constitution- in other words, a constitution which cannot be interpreted based on what would have been accepted at the time it was written). He also argues that the religious reasons for capital punishment are not immoral to him based on his view of Catholicism (his own religion). He recognizes that those who believe in a “living” interpretation of the constitution, or people who believe the constitution should be interpreted based on the prevailing conditions at the time something is being decided and not the time that the constitution was written, would disagree. He also points out that the Catholic church also discourages the use of the death penalty, but that he disagrees with their interpretation.
Both of these papers examine topics that are key to understanding punishment in our judicial system, how it is decided what punishment a prisoner should get, and what effects that decision has. It is interesting, though, that Justice Scalia takes a position that is against the beliefs of his own church. His arguments, in fact, for both his legal and religious reasons are cemented in history. He argues that the constitution is a “dead” document, which cannot be interpreted by any viewpoint other than when it was written. His religious argument is also based on what was going on when the bible was written. He takes his justifications directly from St. Paul. It’s interesting that he thinks that both the constitution and the bible should be interpreted based on the past.
The two harshest forms of punishment, solitary confinement and the death penalty, are still executed on a regular basis in the United States. While Justice Scalia makes a good argument for the death penalty, Gawande also makes a good argument against solitary confinement. I think that, while the death penalty is usually considered more severe, and certainly must be considered carefully before any prisoner has to go through it, the consequences of solitary confinement are more important for society since it has to be dealt with after. The death penalty is normally only used in extreme cases, for people who would be kept away from society anyway because of what they did. Solitary confinement, though, is used as standard practice in many jails and prisons, many times on prisoners who haven’t committed crimes that will keep them there forever. The psychological effects it has on prisoners who will be reintroduced into society are too important to ignore.