Death Penalty is Acceptable in Some Cases PDF

Preview

Summary

free...

Description

1

Death Penalty is Acceptable in Some Cases Mustafa Ahmed ENGL 123 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Death Penalty is Acceptable in Some Cases The death penalty is the act of taking away one's life as a punishment for a crime, usually in capital offences such as genocide, rape, and murder, among others, depending on a country's laws. However, the debate over whether any criminal justice system should have a death penalty as a punishment is open to controversy. There are many arguments against the death penalty. However, some proponents argue that it should be allowed because there are some heinous crimes where no other form of punishment can guarantee justice to the offended parties. Hence, the death penalty should be allowed in some cases. Death penalty should be an option for capital offences such as genocide, murder, and rape, among other crimes that befit capital punishment. Capital punishment may be applied in reasonable crimes that evoke serious concerns about humanity. The criminal justice system ought to reconsider execution when faced with a severe crime where no other form of punishment could amount to justice. According to BBC (n. d), "guilty people deserve punishment in proportion to the severity of their crime" (n. p). Besides, they should consider the possible risk they expose to society when they let a capital offender free or in life imprisonment. Some are hardcore criminals who may mysteriously escape and perpetrate even more heinous crimes against innocent populations.

2

Capital punishment is reasonable in the case of murder. When someone kills another person, they take away their rights to life. Therefore, they should not also enjoy their right to life when they have denied another person his or her right to life. However, it may not apply in a case of involuntary murder or murder that occurs in the line of self-defense (Stein, 2017). There is no ultimate justice to the family of a murdered person than murdering the criminal. In such an instance, the death penalty is reasonable, although it may have no corrective potential. Capital punishment is the most befitting punishment for criminals convicted of heinous crimes against humanity, such as genocide. They must receive a punishment that deters them ultimately. By killing a genocide perpetrator, they have no chance to commit such a crime in the future. The public supports the death penalty in such cases (Blocher, 2016). It is the best lesson for people in power who commit crimes against humanity. It would also discourage brutality against the public, mainly by influential people. Many of those who commit murders are often hardcore criminals. Some have been in the wrong arm of the law on different occasions before. By killing such a criminal, they have no chance of committing such crimes again. Essentially, a death penalty silences one forever. After all, most of the capital offenders are people convicted of past offences (Sharma, 2018). Some have committed even more serious offences after incarceration and then graduate to murders and capital offences (Chelsea, 2015). Therefore, it is important to eliminate the criminal completely to make society safer, especially when the risk of recidivism with a capital crime is exceptionally high. There is no other punishment that will eliminate the criminal than the death penalty. Capital punishment is likely to discourage hardcore criminals among other people from engaging in heinous criminal activities. The knowledge that they could be subjected to the death penalty discourages potential criminals from committing capital offences (Blocher, 2016). It is

3

imperative to note that capital offences make society very unsafe. Capital punishment is a permanent solution to the risk of recidivism. Society is likely to be safer if the criminal justice system eliminates capital offenders, who increase the risk of insecurity. The death penalty is cheaper when compared to life imprisonment. Notably, when people receive life imprisonment instead of the death penalty, they become expensive to maintain and congest prisons. It is imperative to note that the prison department consumes a significant share of national resources as maintaining a pool of lifetime prisoners cost much (Garrett, 2017). The death penalty would reduce the number of inmates in prisons significantly, thus cutting a high cost of running these institutions. It is important to note that many of the inmates are people serving sentences for capital crimes (Mai & Subramanian, 2017). Subjecting these criminals to capital punishment would decongest these jails considerably. Besides, it would reduce the verge of overcrowding in prisons. There can never be justice to the families of the offended in a case of murder than the death penalty. Well, that may not benefit the bereaved family much as death is final. However, they may be convinced that the ultimate justice has occurred as the murderer will not be around to torment them (Wozniak, 2017). In some instances, there can never be justice if not murder. Some crimes are so serious such that no reasonable punishment could beat the death penalty. Although capital punishment is open to controversy, it can be acceptable sometimes. The criminal justice system may reconsider it in cases of capital crimes such as murder, rape and genocide, among others that may be considered serious crimes. There are some serious crimes where there cannot be any other punishment for the offended party. When the criminal justice system practices the death penalty in capital offences, it cultivates a sense of law and order into society.

4

References BBC. (n.d.). Arguments in Favor of Capital Punishment. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/for_1.shtml Blocher, J. (2016). The Death Penalty and the Fifth Amendment. Nw. UL Rev., 111, 275. Chelsea, A. (2015). The Use of Criminal Profilers in the Prosecution of Serial Killers. Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science. 3, 1. Garrett, B. (2017). End of its rope: How killing the death penalty can revive criminal justice. Harvard University Press. Mai, C., & Subramanian, R. (2017). The Price of Prisons. Vera Institute of Justice. Sharma, M. (2018). The Development of Serial Killers: A Grounded Theory Study. Eastern Illinois University. Thesis. Stein, R. A. (2017). The History and Future of Capital Punishment in the United States. San Diego L. Rev., 54, 1. Wozniak, K. H. (2017). The relationship between perceptions of prison and support for the death penalty versus life without parole. Journal of crime and justice, 40(2), 222-237....