Introduction
Capital punishment has been one of the most controversial elements not only in the twenty-first century but also in the twentieth century. America has been at the center stage in the debate over capital punishment for first-degree offense/murder. Other nations such as China, UK, Philistine, Germany and the European Union have been actively involved in creating the worldview of the issue at hand. A great proportion of the nations around the globe have already abolished capital punishment. The public, through public opinion polls, has expressed varying views about capital punishment, which are essential in understanding capital punishment in the contemporary society.
Capital punishment cases around the globe
A significantly large proportion of prisoners around the globe is or has been placed on the death row. In 2000, the American prisons had over 3500people who were awaiting death sentence (p. 54). Towards the end of the twentieth century, Russia had more than 700 death sentences. However, due to interventions by political leaders or rather government, some of the prisoners awaiting execution have been commuted under different circumstances. For instance, “between 1972 and the end of 1992, only 41 death sentences in American jurisdictions were commuted to prison terms through power of executive clemency” (Radelet & Borg, 2000, p. 49). Towards the end of the twentieth century, capital punishment was rampant in the United States, Iraq, Iran, China and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The executions carried out in these five nations accounted for 80% of all the executions in the world (ibid).
Factors that cause the difference(s) in public opinion
The proponents of capital punishment have given several reasons as to why the support the type of punishment. They believe that capital punishment plays a pivotal role in preventing individuals from committing murder especially first-degree murder. This serves to ensure that the members of any given society remain safe. They believe that other forms of punishment for murders are rather lenient and may not scare would-be murderers from committing the crime. The alternative for capital murder as proposed by different nations is life imprisonment without parole. Eminent criminologists have supported this view. Edward Sutherland and Thorsten Sellin, through their research found out that “death penalty has greater deterrent effect on homicide rates than long-term imprisonment” (Radelet & Borg, 2000, p. 45). Statistics show that nearly 51% of the Americans who are in favor of capital punishment are driven by the deterrent effect of the punishment. However, this percentage has exhibited a declining trend over the past decade.
Another reason that has made most people especially in the American community to favor death penalty is incapacitation. It is based on the fact that execution renders the individual in question unable to commit other similar crimes. Research has shown a relatively small percentage of people serving death sentences will commit the same crime if released. The proponents of capital punishment tend to generalize the belief that “once a murderer, always a murder”. They do not consider the possibility of a change of behavior in an individual who once committed murder. On the other hand, abolitionists believe that it is not justifiable that the behavior of one person should be used in judging all people. Radelet and Borg noted “figures suggest that 100 prisoners would have to be executed to incapacitate the one person who statistically might be expected to repeat” (2000, p. 46). Additionally, abolitionists argue that capital punishment would have been effective during the period when most governments did not have adequate resources to build and run prisons for individuals serving life sentence. In the contemporary society, most nations are able to support long-term imprisonments, which can serve the purpose for incapacitation of the individuals in question thus no need for capital punishment. They advocate for life imprisonment without parole. However, the results of a public poll carried out in the U.S. towards the end of the twentieth century showed that half of the American population support death penalty. The same poll showed that if given a chance to choose between life imprisonment and the abolition of capital punishment, 44% of the population would support the banning of capital punishment in favor of life imprisonment (ibid). Therefore, 56% of the population prefers death penalty to life imprisonment as far as incapacitation is concerned.
In delivering their verdict or rather sentences for murder crimes, judges who served in the American courts before 1970 were believed to be biased. They exhibited high levels of racial discrimination an aspect that made more whites than blacks to be executed even if they had committed the same crime. The proponents of capital punishment argue that the current judicial system in not only America but also other parts of the world has overcome racial segregation and that no individual will be judged unjustly. On the other hand, abolitionists believe that such cases are still experienced in the twenty first century and citizens should not sit and watch racial discrimination claim the lives of more whites. Besides racial discrimination, class discrimination has also led to a major division of the public as far as capital punishment is concerned. Suspects of murder crimes with renowned defense lawyers have very low chances of being given a death penalty as opposed to individuals whose attorneys are not public figures. Additionally, individuals whose attorneys offer the lowest bids are more likely to be given a death penalty as opposed to their counterparts who are able to afford the services of attorneys with the highest bids. The proponents of capital punishment believe that there are no such cases in the contemporary judicial system whose main agenda is ensure justice to all individuals. Abolitionists argue that it is not easy to assess the level of justice based on such issues that it is better to do away with capital punishment to ensure that no one suffers based on their social status. This claim gained support in the 1999 Gallup poll in which over two-thirds of the respondents agreed that poor people were more likely to get a death penalty than the middle and upper class individuals for the same crime (Radelet & Borg, 2000, p. 49).
The cost of death penalty as opposed to life imprisonments fro nay economy has led to the development of different views concerning the subject. In early 1980s, most people were of the opinion that providing the basic needs of prisoners especially those serving life sentences was rather expensive and was wastage of a nation’s resources. Consequently, they supported capital punishment as a way of lowering the costs of the upkeep of prisoners. Following the recent technological advancements around the globe, different devices have been adopted for carrying out executions. The major factor that led to the development of new tools or rather devices for execution was the need to come up with humane methods of execution since many people felt that head-cutting and hanging methods were inhuman. Research has shown that the contemporary methods for carrying out executions are very costly compared to life imprisonment. Some of the methods include the use of electric chairs and lethal injections to terminate the life of the convicted murderers. The government incurs very high costs in the development as well as the delivery of the contemporary methods of execution. Abolitionists employ this basic factor when calling for the banning of capital punishment. They also take into account the costs that the judiciary incurs for the trials as well as the lengthy appeals that are done before the authorization of an execution.
Both death penalty proponents and abolitionists tend to agree on the possibility of innocent individuals being executed due to the existence of capital punishment. However, the proponents believe that such cases occurred in past decades only. On the other hand, abolitionists argue that no one can rule out the possibility of innocent people being put to death due to the capital punishment provision in most nations (Jianwein, 2009, p. 85). The specter of convicting the innocent has fueled the growth of a new abolitionist politics.
Retributive arguments have also caused different reactions from the public. The proponents of capital punishment believe that it is the most efficient form of punishment for individuals who commit the worst murders. Additionally, they argue that convicted murderers who have been killed several people in an inhumane manner deserve to die a painful death. On the other hand, individuals who favor the banning of death penalty argue that it inflicts more suffering to the family of the deceased because of the many hearings they have to attend before the authorization of execution. They also differ on the method of terminating the life of the convicted criminal. The proponents of capital punishment support the use of brutal and inhumane methods unlike their counterparts who insist that humane methods should be used irrespective of the type and number of murders that the individual might have committed.
The response of nations to increasing numbers of capital punishment abolitionists
As discussed above, there has been a heated debate over the issue at hand i.e. capital punishment. People from different parts of the world have supported the abolition of capital punishment especially during the past three decades. The decline of death penalty around the globe will be enhanced by several factors. First of all, nations should agree to end public executions as well as mandatory capital punishment for murderers. Additionally, the concept of degrees of murder will play a pivotal role in reducing executions. The development of more human means for terminating the lives of convicted murderers can be of great help in solving the problem. As many nations seek to ban capital punishment, the rule of law should prevail. It is the backbone of state administration since it enhances universality, operational reliability as well as stability (Jianping, 2009, p. 70). Additionally, it plays a pivotal role in minimizing the costs of maintaining social order besides protecting human rights.
More than 67 nations in the world had abolished death penalty by the end of 1998. The European Union has been on the forefront in the fight against capital punishment. Abolition of capital punishment has been set as one of the requirements that a nation should fulfill before getting membership in the European Union. Russia, one of the nations that recorded the highest number of executions in the twentieth century has banned capital punishment as well. However, several nations have remained strong proponents of capital punishment. They include Yemen, Philippines, Taiwan and the English-speaking Caribbean (Radelet & Borg, 2000, p. 55). As aforementioned, many nations support the rule of law and should accept the decision of the Supreme Court pertaining the nation’s take on capital punishment. However, the judiciary should engage the public when making laws that directly or indirectly affect human life e.g. death penalty (Jianping, 2009, p. 71; Jianwei, 2009, p. 84).
Conclusion
The public, through public opinion polls, has expressed varying views about capital punishment, which are essential in understanding capital punishment in the contemporary society. As discussed above, the factors that have led to different opinions by the members of the public include the cost incurred before the authorization of execution; deterrence; class and racial discrimination and retribution among others. Research has shown that, most individuals favor the abolition of capital punishment. Abolitionists focus on moral values and more on legal values. They use familiar language of due process, equal treatment, fairness and the incontrovertible proposition that the innocent should not be executed. They speak in the language of the “American mainstream”-of scrupulous, fair-minded people committed to the view that even in death cases, and perhaps especially in death cases, justice must be done justly. Nevertheless, some nations have not considered banning capital punishment e.g. Philippines.
References
Jianping, L. (2009). On the Application of the Death Penalty and Public Opinion. Chinese
Sociology and Anthropology, 41(4), 66-79.
Jianwei, Z. (2009). The Influence of Public Opinion on the Application of the Death Penalty.
Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, 41(4), 80-88.
Radelet, M. L., & Borg, M. J. (2000). The Changing Nature of Death Penalty Debates. Annual
Review of Sociology, 26, 43-61.
