The Significance of Death Penalty - Essay Example

Topic: Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction Death penalty in the US was rein d in 1976 after having been suspended for a period of 4 years (Banner 2003 p 25). Since then, approximately 1500 executions in total have taken place through out the various states that practice it and approximately 3500 convicted criminals awaited execution as at the year 2008. Most of these criminals have been proved to have committed crimes related to murder and arson. This penalty is practiced in 37 states although there have been calls to do away with it by activists who base their arguments on the moral grounds and the possibility of executing people who are innocent. In total, only 13 states have disregarded the death penalty including Alaska, Hawaii Minnesota etc. A convict, Cameron Willingham, was one such victim who was executed for alleged murdering by arson only for investigations to prove later that he was innocent (Dow 2005 p 16). This raises the question and doubt on the significance of this penalty but in this essay, I will be supporting the penalty and my arguments will show that death penalty is good for the welfare of the government and the society as a whole. Death Penalty should be used in the US Death penalty is a viable solution for crimes that are of heavy magnitude which could be a threat to peace in the society. This is because it serves the importance of punishments which is to incapacitate the offender to deny him the chance of committing the offence again (Pollock 2006 p 34). For example, a criminal who commits the offence of murder and sentenced to imprisonment, have chances that sooner or later he may have to be released from prison. If he has not been fully rehabilitated, he would find it easy to commit the same crime again and if the process of administering justice is the same, he may have the ability of killing a lot of people before he is eliminated. These kinds of people exist and therefore the first chance of eliminating them should be utilized. Once they are found guilty, they should be sentenced to death to avoid reoccurrence of the crime (Pollock 2006 p 48). Most of the criminals sentenced to death in the US for example, 65% of them had a record of other counts of crime by the time they were committing the offence and 8.4 % had a history of committing homicide while 14 % had more than one death sentences awaiting them (Bedau 2004 p 21). These statistics prove that once a criminal always a criminal and the probability of a crime reoccurring is real. Therefore, the criminals should be eliminated through death at the first time he commits the crime to save innocent people. Terrorist activities have become prevalent with attacks being directed to the US and its affiliates. An example is the attack on the world trade center which killed almost 3000 people, and attacks directed on the U.S embassies in Africa Kenya and Tanzania in the recent past killing more than 300 innocent people (MMWR 2002 ). If the culprits are arrested, there would be no justice enough for them and the victims other than to serve them with the same brutality. This is because the terrorists have well organized networks like the Al-Qaida which have connections through out the world and may be in prisons (Bajoria 2008). If they are arrested and imprisoned instead of being executed, they could plan attacks from inside prison through their agents and as a result, many more people would die. This is as in the case of Saddam Hussein who through his rule in Iraq saw countless killings and abuse of human rights. He deserved to die, so that families of the victims could be accorded equal justice otherwise, it would have been ironic to try and jail him in the same prisons that served under his command. A person who deliberately takes away the life of another is a threat that should be eliminated. He goes not only against the constitution but also the holy bible through the Ten Commandments that prohibits such acts. Opponents of the death penalty will use this as a way of justifying their claims on the basis of religious teachings but even so, the death penalty did not start in the US (Bedau 2004 p 45). When Moses disobeyed God and broke the tablet that contained the Ten Commandments, his journey to Canan was cut short and he died before he could reach the Promised Land. After Samson underwent torture under the hands of his abductors, God still gave him power to demolish and kill his enemies as a way of punishing his them not to mention David who was a God chosen king but still had the power and authority to kill Goliath who was a threat to his people. Human life is important and that is why any one who carelessly or intentionally harms and kills his fellow human being without a reason enough to convince the jury, should be sentenced to death because life cannot be replaced and the dead cannot come back to life to fight like David or Samson. The government has the role of ensuring that the dead are accorded equal justice which can only be achieved by the death penalty. Opponents of this penalty argue that there is a possibility of executing an innocent person (Dow 2005 p 53). To some extent this is true with example of Cameron Willingham but the errors are very few since the process of conviction is one that takes time to give the offender time to prove his innocence. The government does not take pleasure in killing and that is why expertise and evidence form the basis of the sentence. If the opponents were to make their case and the penalty dropped, what would become of the society? Terrorism cases would escalate, repetitive occurrences of crime by the same offenders would be witnessed and more criminals would join the crime gangs. One of the reasons why the punishment should be used is to instill fear in those people with intentions of committing crimes that are a threat to humanity and at the same time punish the offenders accordingly (Pollock 2006 p 62). If every one including the human rights activists could understand that championing for a murder’s rights would amount to championing for human rights violation, then they would support the death penalty. The issue of cost has also been used to oppose the death penalty with the opponents claiming that the process it is too expensive for the offender and the government in case the offender makes an appeal (Bedau 2005 p 50). However true this might be, the damage that may result from the lack of implementing the sentence would be of higher consequences than the cost itself. To avoid this cost problem, the offender should have it within himself to accept and take responsibility of his crime and save himself and his family as well as the government the extra costs that arise from the appeals. The process of appeal is allowed by the government in order to accord fair trial to the offender by giving him the chance to defend himself beyond reasonable doubt so as to avoid executing innocent persons (Entzeroth 2002 p 32). That is what makes the death penalty effective and error free, a reason that the opponents should see and put into account when they question the credibility of the trials leading to death penalty. The moral question on the government’s using the penalty has also risen with the opponents arguing that executing criminals found guilty of capital offences puts it in the same level as the offender (Pollock 2006 p 101). There is a great difference between the offender and the government on the bases of their involvement. Where as the government is administering justice to the victim and the offender, the offender on the other hand is a criminal and cannot go unpunished. In fact, the moral question would come in if the government fails to punish the offender. The role of the government is to protect its citizens from any harm that may be caused by criminals. Think of a person like Caryl chessman, California 1987, for example, who rapes and murders a young girl of 16 years (Entzeroth 2002 p 65). This is a heinous act that cannot be supported by anyone. It is immoral and the only way to accord justice was to execute him. This cannot mean that the government is equally wrong and that it has no morals. If this person was imprisoned like the opponents would suggest, there would is no guarantee that by today he would not have been released and possibly committed the same crime to several other young girls. The danger is that, before these criminals are arrested and prosecuted, they may commit many crimes without the getting caught such that by the time of their arrest, several victims will have suffered on his hands. Conclusion Death penalty should be used across all states in the US. Those states that have dismissed it since it was reinstated in 1976 though less than 40 should ensure that they join the other states in according justice to criminals who pose a great danger to the welfare of the society. This is to prevent the reoccurrence of crimes that may be facilitated by imprisoning offenders with charges of capital offences. These offences include and not limited to murder, treason, homicide etc and could vary according to the different definitions in the various states. Since the re-introduction of the penalty in 1976, approximately 1500 offenders have been convicted and executed in the US alone. Those convicted and awaiting execution were approximately 3500 by the end of year 2008. This means that there is a high occurrence of capital offences in the US and therefore dropping the sentence would not be a solution but a failure. The use of this sentence has been opposed by a section of people whose reasons negate the spirit towards achieving a crime free environment that is safe for all. Though some of the reasons could be valid, they cannot provide enough reason to stop the use of the death sentence in the US. The key reason for applying this sentence is to incapacitate the offender by removing him from the society completely so as to prevent reoccurrence of the offences and to prevent the offenders from controlling their crime gangs to committing crime while they are serving their time in jail. Bibliography 1. Bajoria J. Council Foreign Relations, 2008. 16 Sept. 2009 2. Banner S. The Death Penalty: An American History Harvard University Press, 2003. 3. Bedau H. Debating the Death Penalty: Should America Have Capital Punishment? Oxford University Press, 2004. 4. Dow D. Executed on a Technicality: Lethal Injustice on Americas Death Row Beacon Press, 2005. 5. Entzeroth C. Capital punishment and the judicial process Carolina Academic Press, 2002 6. MMWR. Deaths in World Trade Center Terrorist Attacks, 2002. 16 Sept. 2009. 7. Pollock J. Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice (Ethics in Crime and Justice), Wadsworth Publishing, 2006. Read More