Important aspects of capital punishment are the methods of execution, costs, and the pros and cons.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

JOSHUA GENDRON

PRO/CON

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Important aspects of capital punishment are the methods of execution, costs, and the pros and cons. Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is currently the most severe kind of punishment used in the United States and the world. It is the most severe form of corporal punishment, requiring law enforcement to actually kill the convicted offender. Capital punishment is used to punish those that commit violent crimes such as murder. It has been banned in numerous countries; in the United States, however, an earlier move to eliminate capital punishment has now been reversed. More and more states are resorting to capital punishment for serious offenses, namely murder. Even the Bible encourages “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” mentality and people have been using it regularly for centuries.

There is a lot of debating over capital punishment today about whether or not it works, or if it is even morally right. It brings up questions like: Is the death penalty a cruel and unusual punishment or is it now just a necessary tool in the war against crime? With today’s increase in crime and violence in our society, the death penalty affects every American, whether interested or not, and it has existed for a very long time now. The use of the death penalty has actually gone down throughout the industrial World since the 19th century. In 1972, a movement in America to have the death penalty declared unconstitutional took place. During the court case of Furman vs. Georgia, the protesters declared the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment. Even though this happened, a Supreme Court decision in 1975, the court case of Gregg vs. Georgia, stated that capital punishment did not violate the eighth amendment rights, and the executions began again under state supervision. These inconsistencies and vacillations have created a major a debate.

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In my search for information I found six major things I think are big issues in the pros and cons to the death penalty. The first is that people who are against the death penalty say that it is immoral, and no person should be sentenced to death. Second, it has no place in a civilized society. Third, since the death penalty cannot be racially biased, it should be banished. Fourth, two wrongs don’t make a right, meaning that there is really no benefit to taking another life because it won’t bring back the person the criminal murdered. Fifth, the death penalty is more expensive than life imprisonment. Lawyers are paid an extensive amount of money to keep appealing to the courts. These appeals delay the date of procedure, costing more money for taxpayers. The sixth reason, which I think is the most important argument against, is that here is no real certain way of knowing if the right person is on trial for the crime. Occasionally people are released from jails that were wrongfully accused for a serious crime after spending years on death row. Death is irreversible and can be inflicted upon people who are innocent. This raises the question of just how many innocent people were put to death because of being framed or just mistaken identity or other reasons.

In terms of the Pro; there are actually some safeguards guaranteeing protection of those facing the death penalty. The safeguards for convicts are that the defendant cannot be insane, and the person’s real or criminal intent must be present. Also, minors rarely receive the death penalty because they are not fully mature, not knowing the consequences of their actions. Lastly, the mentally retarded are very seldom executed. The reason for not executing in this case is that they often have difficulty defending themselves in court, such as problems remembering details, locating witnesses, and testifying credibly on their own behalf. These safeguards are to try to insure that justice will be served without having it suffer. The cost issue is debated by saying that if there were a limit on the number of appeals allowed, the cost of the death penalty would be greatly reduced. In the end, it would cost even less than life imprisonment. Some people might say to give the murderer life in prison. Today, due to overcrowding in prisons, many prisoners do not serve their full sentence so the criminal literally gets away with murder. With new methods of presenting evidence of DNA, the likelihood of convicting the wrong person is very slight, so the process needs to be expedited up to make the death penalty a more effective deterrent. Deterrence is defined as the punishment fitting the crime. The racial bias issue is more difficult to argue. One might say that it is because there are more minorities that commit crimes. The only statistic that I could find is that the ratio of criminals in prison is higher for minorities.

In conclusion, I can understand why this topic is highly debated. There are many arguments on both the pro and con side, each with equal value. I could write a book on this topic, so I will end with some Supreme Court decisions and statements. All of these procedures are done fast, and with the least amount of pain possible, if any at all. For anyone to say that these methods are not humane would be unrealistic. The convicts who have been sentenced to walk the green mile have really gotten off easy in my eyes. Many of them have committed cruel, torturous acts on innocent human beings. Why do they deserve to die in a peaceful, humane way? They do not, but under our constitution no one can undergo cruel and unusual punishment, even though that is what they have done to others. Criminals should feel lucky that capital punishment is so humane. By 1967, legislation efforts were underway to try to convince the U.S. Supreme Court that the death penalty violated cruel and unusual punishment prohibitions of the eight amendments. The court answered by holding off the execution, waiting the outcome of the lawsuits. On July 1972, the Supreme Court again ruled on the death penalty and issued five opinions. One decision stated that capital punishment for the crime of murder was not cruel or unusual punishment. They also ruled that to be constitutional a procedure for imposing the death penalty must provide standards for sentencing authorities. In 1988 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that persons less than sixteen when they committed the crime might not be sentenced to death.