Do Criminals Deserve to be Treated with Dignity - Essay Example

Philosophy Number Whether Persons Who Commit Terrible Crimes against Others Deserve To Be Treated With Dignity or Not It is a fact that all persons deserve to be treated with dignity, their innocence or guilt before the law notwithstanding. The same applies to those who have committed serious crimes that warrant death penalties or capital punishment such as murder, defilement and treason. This is in line with the United States Declaration of Independence which was issued on July 4, 1776, to the effect that all men have been created equal, having unalienable rights endowed to them by the Creator, and that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This standpoint refers to the extent of individual-individual and state-individual relations. However, it is also true that there are exceptions to the need to extend this dignity. A person’s right to liberty, pursuit of happiness and life may be curtailed by law, through the criminal justice system. A person’s liberty will be curtailed when he has been tried, convicted and lawfully incarcerated. This incarceration may also forestall the individual’s pursuit of happiness. In some countries and some states in the United States [such as Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Oregon, Texas and Virginia], the right to life may be legally forfeited if the person had indulged in, or committed capital crime. In this case, it is clear that these rights are neither absolute, nor accord anyone a carte blanche to breach the law or other people’s rights. Again, it is important to appreciate the fact that the incarceration and administration of death penalty [execution] do not actually amount to the withdrawal of this dignity. Mature democracies and civilized or stable countries have repeatedly and consistently treated short-term convicts and death row convicts with dignity, as can be seen in the case of Patrick Sonnier. Sonnier is accorded a clean cell and bedding, balanced meals, access to the library and entertainment and even the comfort and acquaintance of a pen pal who would later turn to be his spiritual advisor, Sister Helen Prejean, C. S. J. A medical officer is also assigned the responsibility of monitoring Sonnier’s health. In this case, the withholding of the dignity due to a prisoner who has committed a serious crime is the contravention of any of the rights and freedoms the prisoner in a manner that is not sanctioned by the law. The withholding of this dignity may therefore take forms such as withholding of food, total severance of links with the outside world and sexual molestation and abuse, among a litany of other unethical acts against the prisoner. In regard to the foregoing, the execution of a death row convict may not necessarily portend a dereliction on the prisoner’s right to dignity. At the time of committing capital crimes against David LeBlanc, and Loretta Ann Bourque, aged 16 and 18 [at the time] on November 4, 1977 and November 4, 1977, while in conjunction with his brother Eddie James Sonnier, Patrick Sonnier was fully in possession of his mental faculties and had a criminal intent. Therefore, in Patrick Sonnier’s execution, if at all there is a withdrawal of dignity, the withdrawal is on Sonnier’s side- not the state or its instruments of coercion. Whether or Not It Is Possible To Develop Punishments for Heinous Crimes That Are both Dignified and Just It is very possible to develop punishment for heinous crimes that are both dignified and just. The veracity of this standpoint is informed by the fact that because of the nature of man which has made both milder and more heinous crimes inevitable, man in his rational nature and predisposition to justice has also made laws and legal provisions that are to help mete out justice, law and order. Because of this, every state, country, nation-state or any form of body politic has laws that make the dignified and just punishment of heinous crimes tenable. At the same time, just as John Locke states, human beings enter contract with the state, so that the public cedes away sovereignty to the state which becomes the sole possessor of instruments of coercion so as to provide public services and utility such as security and justice. In the event that a state is too moribund to sustain proper judicial processes, the apparatuses and provisions of International law may step in to ensure that Punishments for heinous crimes are accorded in a dignified and just manner. In most cases, this happens when endemic corruption, misrule and deeply entrenched tribalism cripple state institutions such that it becomes impossible to prosecute the head of state and his henchmen who have seized state apparatuses. Some of the culprits who have been prosecuted and subjected to criminal sentencing are Ratco Mladic [by the ICTY], Slobodan Milosevic [by the ICC] and Charles Taylor [by the ICC]. Whether or Not the Most Appropriate Punishments in Such Cases Would Involve the Taking or the Preserving of Life As an experienced police officer, the admission of just and dignified punishment for people who have committed heinous crimes needs necessarily take on the preservation of life. This is as long as the crime being punished is capital crime, especially murder. The need for capital punishment as a way of meting out justice is based on fundamental issues which Sister Prejean conveniently fails to address. The first issue is that murder involves the willful taking of a person’s life, outside the provisions of the law. Since murder is the cutting short of a person’s life outside the provisions of the law, it is only reasonable that in punishing the convicted murderer, the person’s life is taken. It is being one-sided on the side of Sister Prejean and her ilk to claim that capital punishment is a disregard to the sacrosanct nature of human nature, while conveniently sidestepping that the bereaved victim also lost their lives. David LeBlanc and Loretta Ann Bourque were innocent victims who lost their lives to Sonnier’s rapist and murderous whims. This standpoint is based on the fact that there has to be retribution for a criminal justice system to be effective. For the retribution to be effective, the wrongdoer has to be assigned punishment that is proportionate to his offense. When the principle of proportionate punishment is sidestepped, the bereaved will be left unsatisfied with the criminal justice system. Over time, a society that has faced out capital punishment is to be left grappling with an eroded confidence in the justice system and the taking of the law into personal hands. In light of the immediately foregoing, one has to consider the fact that one of the main aims of punishment in a criminal justice system is deterrence. The strongest form of deterrence to murder is the legal and respectful taking away the life of the offender [in case of first degree murder]. Since it is inherent within man to preserve his life, it is logical, automatic and normal that potential perpetrators will avoid senseless murdering of their victims. There is a direct correlation between the eradication of capital punishment and increased cases of first degree murder. Cases of first degree or homicide are less preponderant in the UAE countries compared to the US which is backtracking on capital punishment. Other arguments by Sister Prejean and opponents of capital punishment to the effect that proponents of capital punishment are simply “Bible quarterbacking” are beside the point. Although all subcultures [Christian and non-Christian] are interested in capital punishment, yet, proponents of capital punishment can also adduce Biblical passages [in the Torah and Romans 13] to defend their standpoints. As wonderful as it is, Sonnier’s penitent heart is a matter between him and God, and not his relationship with the state. Again, it is fallacious of Sister Prejean to surmise that she is the one fully aware of Jesus’ inability to pull the switch. Since Sister Prejean takes Jesus as God, it will be important to appreciate the fact that it is God who has authored concepts such as justice, state sovereignty and inspired St. Paul to pen the words in the thirteenth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. Read More