The Death Penalty

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

The Death Penalty

The death penalty is the hardest punishment that a convicted person can get. This kind of penalty can end the life of the punished person in two ways. The first way is by using intravenous injection of a toxic fluid, which is made specially for the purpose of killing human beings. Another way in which the death penalty can end the existence of the punished person is by using the electric chair. Since the death penalty is the hardest punishment that leads to the termination of a life of the sentenced person, it is sentenced for horrible murders some of which are killing children or rapes. However, the death penalty should be abolished, and human beings should not be killed under any circumstances. In my opinion, there are three main reasons for the abolishment of this punishment: innocent people are sometimes killed, it costs a lot of money and killing is ethically wrong.

The first reason why the death penalty should be abolished is that there is a possibility for innocent people to be executed for crimes that they did not commit. Unfortunately, there are still in the world individuals and groups of people who are discriminated. The racial discrimination, for example, can be one of the reasons why some people can be unjustly sentenced to the death penalty. Our society has an imperfect system of justice, and there is always a possibility that that imperfect system of justice turns into a killing machine.

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The second reason why the death penalty should be abolished is that it costs a lot of money. Due to the fact that proceedings are very expensive, the states that are in favor of the death penalty pay huge amounts of money for it. I recently listened to the radio that some states pay for each person around $2 million more than they would pay to imprison that person for life. This means that the average amount of money that these states spend on the death penalty is around $120 million a year. In my opinion, it would be more convenient for the whole society if that money were used to raise level of security of some correctional institutions. Therefore, the death penalty wastes government resources that could be used to increase security of our society. The increased number of police officers, for instance, could help in prevention of crime that would increase security. Moreover, those resources would increase security without killing people.

The third, and probably the most important reason for the abolishment of the death penalty is simply the fact that killing is morally and ethically wrong. How can a murder be punished by another murder? It is true that everyone gets what he or she deserves, but it should not be the case when it is about taking somebody’s life. After all, God is the only one who gives life and he is the only one who has the right to take the life. Why would any judge play the role of God? Moreover, there are no other species in the world that purposely kills members of the same specie; why should the human race be an exception?

Although I oppose death penalty, I think that sending murderers to ordinary jail is not well balanced with what they did. It seems unfair that these people simply go to the kind of jail in which they can eat three meals a day, watch TV, play basketball, lift weights, and meet other people. They should be imprisoned in places in which they could not see other people and could not have the benefits that they have in the regular jail. It is clear that they have to pay in someway for what they did, but the issue is the way in which they should be punished. The punishment should be more severe than a simple imprisonment. A person who committed a serious crime should be compelled to suffer for a longer period of time, even for the rest of his or her life. Waiting for death in that kind of jail would probably be a bigger punishment than the death penalty.

Furthermore, people who are in favor of the death penalty usually state that it brings retribution. Personally, I do not feel that need for revenge or retribution by knowing that somewhere in the world is a person who is going to be executed, even if he or she committed a terrible crime. It is true that this punishment brings relief to families of victims, but it brings no good to the society as a whole. In addition, those who are in favor of death penalty think that this punishment can be used as a big warning to future criminals. When they see that the government is capable of handling that kind of punishment, they will think twice before committing a similar crime. However, the government and the representatives of justice should not behave in an unethically wrong and violent way, because their role is to fight those who act in that manner.

To conclude, the death penalty should be abolished because there is no justifiable reason for killing a human being. If the death penalty is not abolished, these legal killings are going to continue. Although there is a difference between killing an innocent person and a convicted murderer, the final outcome is the same, and that is death. Since God is the only one who gives life and who has the right to take the life, nobody should be allowed to steal the human life. Therefore, murderers should be punished in cruel manners, but they should not be executed.

The Death Penalty