Capital Punishment - Essay Example

Capital punishment raises many issues concerning morality, where some people support it claiming that it is morally justified while others do not (BBC 2013). This paper will contend to show the reasons why capital punishment should be allowed based on the evidence given in the paper. Capital punishment is a legal process approved by a country, which permits for the termination of a criminal’s life, especially one who has committed murder. Capital punishment has been abolished in many countries including the United Kingdom.

The United States of America is the only Western country that has not abolished capital punishment. The main questions raised about capital punishment concern the morality and whether the act deters crime. It is also debated that the act could possibly bring more good than harm, therefore, bringing an intense debate between its supporters and those who oppose (Janet and Oxley 2). Capital punishment is only utilised by the state, therefore, making it use by non-state organisations like the Al shabaab, illegal.

It is exclusively utilised as a penalty for especially heinous crimes such as murder, adultery, fraud, treason, and rape depending on the country. Many people find capital punishment morally unjustifiable but in the event of an atrocity towards their families, they support the process. Many countries have decided to abolish capital punishment due to the extended network of activists and lobby groups, who over the years have seen to it that capital punishment is abolished. The places which have not ceded to the demands of these activists are some Muslim countries like Iran and Iraq and some states of the United States of America.

The United Nations does not support capital punishment as it stands for an individual’s right to life. Countries that have not succumbed to International pressure to ban capital punishment insist that the act is non-discriminatively and unarbitrary, therefore, helps keep everyone off some crimes due to its deterring effect (Dezhbakhsh and Shepherd 512). There are many people who consider capital punishment to be morally impermissible. Some debate that it is unconstitutional, barbaric and cruel.

They claim to oppose capital punishment because it violates the human right to life, which is a fundamental right. They believe that human life is so important such that even the murderers’ lives should not be destroyed even after conducting heinous atrocities. Other people oppose capital punishment on the grounds that it the justice system is at time marred by mistakes, therefore, accusing some people falsely, which leads to the loss of innocent lives. They claim that the damage that is committed upon such individuals and their families would be irreversible, thus opposing capital punishment (BBC 2013).

There are people who are opposed to capital punishment based on the theory that it reflects arbitrariness and discrimination. The antagonists contend that there is evidence particularly in America, where those charged with killing white people are four times more likely to be sentenced to capital punishment compared to those people who are charged with killing non-white people. This is evidence of racial discrimination and it is used to oppose the need for capital punishment in a country (Sunstein and Vermeule 2).

Vengeance and retribution have been viewed as morally unjustifiable acts that cannot be used to support capital punishment. This is particularly common in religions where they do not justify the taking of