Capital Punishment: An injustice or a necessity?

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Capital Punishment: An injustice or a necessity?

The most severe of all sentences, also known as the death penalty, capital punishment involves the state in deciding whether a criminal should or should not die for their crimes is requires law to kill the criminal. Capital Punishment is a very controversial issue in today’s society, with opinion being very much divided for or against the issue and I will study to find out which is the more responsible and better for our society.

Most people believe that Man deserves the highest respect. This is not however considered crucial for the one who hurts his fellow man only for the victims of crimes and their family. Sympathy and unity with the victim causes many people to believe that the death penalty is the only appropriate punishment for murder. They believe it will give the victim’s family closure; it will satisfy their need to avenge their loved one.  If however the state murders a murderer, the state is every bit as wrong in my view. It is only adding to the cycle of violence. As the belief for respect of man states, it would also come forth that these criminals have a right to life, a natural human right and capital punishment is a direct violation to that right, which is internationally agreed upon in the UN. Most anti-death penalty organisations, like Amnesty International, base their stance on human rights arguments.

Many people believe that capital punishment makes criminals think twice leading to a safer society. The use of capital punishment means that some dreadful criminals will never again get out and repeat these crimes and in prisons the staff might also feel safer with the existence of the death penalty. It is not unusual for there to be conflicts, violent behaviour and murder in prison. Some criminals who have been sentenced to long prison terms or life would probably have refrained from cruel acts of violence and murder if they knew that it could lead to the death penalty. Today, people who are sentenced to a lifetime in prison can expect to be released early much more, and this is unlikely to prevent him from committing crimes and indeed make it possible for him to commit more. Even if statistics prove otherwise many people feel safer because of capital punishment. However it is commonly argued that that today's deterrent is just as well achieved by other means, especially life imprisonment. This in turn, would let pro-death penalty supporters argue that life imprisonment does not prevent murder within prison and that life imprisonment is less effective deterrent than the death penalty despite the number of murders and other serious crimes within prison, this issue can be dealt easily by removing the dangerous inmates to solitary confinement. Also there statistics which suggest that countries which have the death penalty do not have lower rates of violent crime than those which do got, which calls into question its effectiveness as a deterrent.

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Murderers and violent criminals will always exist in society and the death penalty can only lower their number a tiny bit. It is to be expected, however, that every executed criminal will make for safer society. A prison term on the other hand would mean that there would always be a chance for that criminal to get out and repeat their crimes.  Many people strongly believe that life should mean life, particularly in the case of murder. However this deters the convicted from possibility of rehabilitation and redeeming themselves, this is evident from the death row inmate and former American ...

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