Are you for or against the death penalty?

Death penalty is perhaps the cruelest form of retribution in the world.
It is usually issued for First-class murders in most of the countries and can be often given for cruel rape cases involving child abuse. Though it may seem appropriate to punish by capital punishment for crimes like these, I personally disagree with the death penalty and reasons given to justify it.

A punishment is often given to deter more crimes and if a punishment fails to fulfill this criterion, can it be doomed as being ineffective? Well it can, because a punishment is not given to seek revenge or to vent our anger. It is given for the benefit of the society as a whole. According to Amnesty International, capital punishment does not deter crime as much as other punishments do.

In fact, in Iraq, where capital punishment is still in use, the number of deaths and homicides has increased largely compared to two years ago when the capital punishment was not in use yet. Supported by the passage, criminologists have shown, statistically, that in US states where convicts are executed, serious crimes have not diminished. Moreover, recent crime figures from abolitionist countries fail to show that abolition has harmful effects. In Canada, for example, the homicide rate per 100,000 population fell from a peak of 3.09 in 1975, the year before the abolition of the death penalty for murder, to 2.41 in 1980, and since then it has declined further. In 2006, 30 years after abolition, the homicide rate was 1.85 per 100,000 population, 40 per cent lower than in 1975 and the second lowest rate in three decades.

From this it is clear that death penalty is failing to achieve concrete results.

Some people might argue that it is a beneficial trade off if by the execution of one we can save three lives. However, what we must ask ourselves is although in the short term it may be beneficial however in the long term death penalty will still fail to serve it basis for implementing- to deter crimes. Thucydides, in recounting the Athenians’ discussion of what penalty to impose on the rebellious Mytilenians, noted that “the death penalty has been laid down for many offenses, yet people still take risks when they feel sufficiently confident; it is impossible for human nature, once seriously set upon a certain course, to be prevented from following that course by the force of law or by any other means of intimidation whatsoever.” This clearly indicates that death penalty is not the way to go if we want to deter crimes.

Moreover, death penalty holds the serious danger of executing the innocent.

Since 1973, 124 prisoners have been released in the USA after evidence emerged of their innocence of the crimes for which they were sentenced to death. There were six such cases in 2004, two in 2005, one in 2006 and one so far in 2007. Some prisoners had come close to execution after spending many years under sentence of death. Recurring features in their cases include prosecutorial or police misconduct; the use of unreliable witness testimony, physical evidence, or confessions; and inadequate defense representation. Other US prisoners have gone to their deaths despite serious doubts over their guilt. The state of Florida has the highest number of 22 exonerations.

Execution of the innocent is not only confined to the USA. It is found in almost all nations which still implement it. As long as the death penalty is maintained, the risk of executing the innocent can never be eliminated.

Of course some people would say that if that is the case, give the death penalty to only people convicted of murders and supported by strong evidences. What is more, it is unlikely that innocents will be executed now that we have sophiscated technologies like DNA finger printing in helping us to indentify convicts. But by doing this, are we near anywhere deterring crimes? It is more like seeking revenge using the law, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” it seems. Killing a life is an ungrateful and degrading thing to do. Doing it via the Law is not going to change it.

Reference: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-facts-eng

www.project-syndicate.org

The Morality of Capital Punishment by Gary S. Becker

Beyond the Death Penalty Debate by Antonio Cassese