Death Penalty - Research Paper Example

The dark chapters of dealing with the provisions of death penalty must be removed from legal literature once for all. Much ambiguity and hesitation exists in the area of awarding the capital punishment in USA. Elucidating the scenario Franklin E. Zimring writes, “Some States reverse eight out of every ten death sentences on appeal, while other States affirm eight out of ten. And the current system of American capital punishment seems to be hated in equal measure by the opponents of capital punishment system and by those who support execution but desire more certainty and less delay.”(8) The undercurrent of displeasure against the death penalty is evident.

The protagonists who insist for retaining the death penalty quote the progress made in the field of scientific research for investigation of crimes. DNA testing and other methods help to establish the guilt beyond doubt. The chances of innocent persons put to death are impossibility. The advocates of death penalty have certain strong arguments that appeal to the emotions. One of them is the grave issue of terrorism. The need to provide exemplary punishment to such enemies of humankind cannot be brushed aside easily.

Some merit exists in the above arguments, and yet an enlightened society has to rely on options other than death penalty, which is a cruel procedure. It is the duty of the state to make a condemned prisoner a worthy individual. Since death penalty applies closure to the life-force of the convict, where is the chance for him to reform? The family members undergo untold miseries and some of them will suffer from life-long shocks that may result in severe physical and psychological problems. Instead, prosecutors need to have a variety of other types of punishments to teach a hard lesson to the one condemned to death sentence.

This is a better procedure to serve the ends of justice. Punishment should be appropriate to the magnitude of the crime. Someone