The Wiew on Death Penalty
Capital punishment, the death row or the death penalty is an officially permitted process wherewith someone is condemned to death by the government as a penalty for crime commitment. In each country which has authorized the death penalty there is a debate that occurs between the representatives of two opposing points of view. Some people consider the death row to be extremely beneficial for the society and believe it will make the country free from criminal activity. Others think that a civilized society does not regard death as the only way to penalize any misdemeanor or criminal. During its long history, the death penalty caused a lot of hue and cry. Crime is an obvious component of the public, and each person is acquainted with the statement that the government has to implement something to cope with it. Nowadays, a lot of people recognize the danger of crime in their lives. To tell the truth, the difficulty lies in the actions and means by which it must arrive at a decision. The capital punishment has been apportioned to people who have committed an enormously difficult and awful crime since the time of ancient China to present America. Nowadays 58 countries apply it, and 97 states have brought the death row to an end (the other countries have not applied it nearly for 10 years or permit it only in such exceptional cases as wartime or terrorist attacks) (Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries, n.d.).
The United States of America apply the capital punishment as well. Despite different points of view on the death penalty, all people will agree that murders deserve to be seriously punished. A jail sentence is not a proper type of penalty for a killer. Therefore, the death row is a valuable way of retribution for killing and other terrible things as it represents honesty and justice. The death penalty is an essential tool in the American justice system nowadays and there are a number of explanations it ought to continue to be used.
One of the most vital natural feelings that people have is a preservation instinct. It means that everybody wishes to be always alive and protect oneself from all the things that can hurt or damage. The death row opponents will always argue and show different arguments, that it is violent and inhumane. To tell the truth, in case the country uses the capital punishment system, people will be afraid for their lives. Having the understanding that killing somebody may possibly cost someone a life in response surely defies basic explanation of protection of one’s self. Murderer will think over the killing more carefully before committing it. This fear of loosing a life may reduce the crime rate in the country and help create a crime free society. The death penalty prevents future murders. Humanity has always used retribution to put off probable murderers from illegal actions. As society is interested in preventing criminal actions, it has to pay a greater attention to it. The strongest sentence, existing nowadays, is the capital punishment. In case different executioners are sentenced to fatality and execution, would-be murderers will think two times over their actions before killing somebody with horror of losing their own lives. Researchers have done a lot of examinations in the capital punishment field. According to Ehrlich (1975), the execution of each prisoner helped to prevent the death of nearly 7 lives because other killers were afraid to commit the following murder. Furthermore, opponents of the death penalty regard that deterrence is uncertain. They say that fast and certain sentences are the best preventions. The capital punishment may take a lot of years before the execution itself takes place. Moreover, there are some arguments that countries which do not provide the death row have lower level of murders. To tell the truth, countries which have a high rate of murders will probably have even higher rate without providing the death sentence. People fear the death more than anything else. Of course, the death penalty cannot fully protect the society, but it can probably reduce the murder rate. The capital punishment is the only sentence that could prevent criminals previously serving a life punishment and persuade to slay a police escort, or lawbreaker about to be detained and faced to life imprisonment. At last, the death row surely discourages the killer who is put to death. Fancy speaking, this is the same form of disablement as a way to imprison the robber with the aim to put him off from robbing. Therefore, fell murderers should be sentenced to death to prevent society from murdering again. For that reason, the death penalty should exist to protect the society from the fell crimes and to strive for the innocent people’s lives.
The capital punishment is considered to be more humane than other punishments. It is cruel to put the person in prison for the whole life. From moral point of view, executing may look like a more human sentence. It is difficult even to imagine that a person is imprisoned for the whole live and has no opportunity to see the broad day-light. Moreover, the person will always recollect the events in his or her mind till the death time. Faithfully, a strong level of pain experienced by a criminal could be measured as mercy. Consequently, it is better to die without any moral sufferings than to suffer the whole life without any hope to be condoned.
Moreover, life in prison cannot assure safety. It does not mean that the murderer will remain in prison for the whole life. A lot of examples are known when lawbreakers were able to receive pardon from the government. Therefore, they could be free and commit the same crimes after some time. Life sentence does not mean that the murderer will spent all his lifetime behind the bars. It can never be a proper safety guarantee for the society.
There is a credible argument for the death penalty. The death punishment is a less expensive procedure than the life imprisonment. It is more expensive to keep the murderer in prison for the whole life. According to statistics, it is true. Sharp (1997) says that a lot of opponents present as fact that the charge of the death row is extremely costly (at least $2 million per case), and that people have to choose life with no parole at a cost of $1 million for 50 years. Unavoidably, these statements are completely false. JFA guesstimate that LWOP cases will cost $1.2 million – $3.6 million more than comparable death penalty procedures (Death Penalty Paper, 1997). Therefore, it appears that it is better for the government to parole the murderer and let them live at the cost of housing.
A lot of religious doctrines support the death penalty. These are the Bible, the Quran and the Torah. In the Torah, it is said “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:23-27). Therefore, it is a religious opinion that the death row should exist. People do not have any law to argue with God’s will. From the religious point of view, the death penalty should be applied. This religious doctrine has a great influence in countries where people live according to the religious laws. These are Israel, the Middle East and still the United States of America.
The death penalty process is long-lasting and complete which can prove the legality and validity to the justice of the procedure. The legislatives find enough evidence to prove the guiltiness of the punished criminal. Of course, there are known some examples of the wrong execution. To tell the truth, such examples were in small quantity and took place in the earlier times when the legislatives did not make so many researches. Nowadays, even after the murderer is sentenced to the death penalty, some are known to have been appealing the verdict for up to thirty years by lastly getting time of implementation. Therefore, it is more probable that people sentenced to the death row are really responsible for the committed crimes.
It is believed by a lot of people, chiefly individuals of a religious point of view that this form of penalty is cruel and its performance should be brought to an end. At the same time, a lot of individuals disagree with this opinion for quite a lot of reasons. As it was stated above, death row is commonly carried out in case the crime is such a severe transgression as killing. The judges usually saw it as their duty to put the sentence to the committed crime. Hence, the verdict should sufficiently reproduce the disgust felt by the sufferers and society. Punishment should not only be suitable but should discourage the criminal from repeating the crime. To all intents and purposes, it should be provided as a preclusion, revenge, analysis and therapy, restitution, incapacitation and criticism. Misdemeanor has turned out to be so widespread in today’s civilization that citizens are not crippled with an apprehension. In societies that have abolished the capital punishment, prisons are filled to capacity and a lot of them are going over criminals who, in spite of their imprisonment are enthusiastically involved in organizing illegal actions. Therefore, it proves that incarceration is not as helpful and valuable as it has to be. If some of these lawbreakers were sentenced to death row, the amount of committed murders would probably be fewer. The chief goal of any government is to guarantee safety to the society. If people live in constant panic, it means that the public authorities have not realized the main aim.
References
“Abolitionist and Retensionist Countries”. Amnesty International. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries
Ehrlich I. (1975). The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment: A Question of Life and Death. The American Economic Review, 65(3), 397-417.
Sharp D. (1997). Death Penalty Paper. Retrieved from http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/dp.html