Debated Issue in Contemporary Politics: Death Penalty - Coursework Example

Death Penalty Introduction Amongst the most discussed issue in the modern life is capital punishment. With both the protagonists and antagonists giving various justifications for their stand, makes death issue a very controversial one. In the U.S.A, the latest case of the death penalty is the execution of Bonne Terre on April this year. From ancient America to the present Capital punishment has received mixed reactions with some in favour while others object to it. With the first victim of the death penalty taking place in 1607, the U.S.A had suspended capital punishment from 1972 before resuming it in 1976. The present day American public opinion about the death penalty is still diverse with each part giving justifications for its course of action. In Nations like India, It has death resulted in politics and resentment over criminal brutality. The latest research in South Africa shows that approximately 90% of the present generation are in favour of the death penalty owing to high crime levels and brutality. Grounds for capital punishment According to Kyle Gibson in his article on the significance of the death penalty. He argues that the death sentence must be used as a deterrence against the most heinous and inhuman crimes done in the U.S. He gives examples of the recent bombing during the Boston marathon that claimed several lives and the deranged shooter amongst others where people had suffered for no wrong. He further feels that the death penalty serves as justice to the citizens as well as a crime control mechanism (Gibson, Para. 1). Kyle in his article quotes recent opinion polls that indicated a majority of the Americans supported the administration of the death penalty despite the media’s swayed reporting that indicated majority to be in opposition to the death penalty. Kyle further feels that it’s necessary to administer capital punishment since it’s the final revenge mechanism for the victim and close relations. By use of this rationale, the suiting penalty for murder and life-threatening crimes should be capital punishment. Capital punishment has also been used as a means of getting revenge for the affected victims. This tends to provide lasting peace since the victim feels secure that the criminal won’t be walking around scot-free and maybe injure someone else (Gibson, paras. 3-5). Kyle further uses an economic approach where he feels that humans respond to incentives with relevance to the law. He states that sentencing someone to 30 years in prison has no deterring effect unlike the death penalty (Gibson, Para. 7). On the other hand, execution served as a corrective mechanism for protecting the society from repeat attacks with a higher success rate (Gibson, Para. 9).He had also observed that the majority of criminals on death row are naturally violent and inhumane often requiring to be placed in segregation. Thus for the good and safety of the prison warders, fellow inmates and the general society should a criminal break from jail. In the application of the consequential theory under utilitarian, it’s better to execute a criminal of such nature than suffer the consequences later. The cause and action will justify his/her execution (Gibson, Para.12). Through capital punishment the felons are prevented from doing further crimes thus saving the state resources hunting for the person again in case he/she was paroled (Gibson, Para. 13). Gibson argues that keeping a criminal in death row segregation for several years is inhuman as it results in tension and suffering as a consequence of the anticipation. This in return makes the suffering more severe than executing the criminal at once. Since it’s ethical to promote euthanasia in medicine, it’s also ethical to hasten a criminal’s death rather than allow several complicated non-production years behind bars in segregation. In the case of a paedophile or mass murders, there is an unwritten policy that other inmates make your life a living hell. Despite the paedophile being slapped with a death sentence, he will spend a good number of years behind bars. For his protection, he will have to be housed in solitary confinement but in case fellow inmates got to him he may end up dying before his execution time reaches (Gibson, Para. 8-10). Reasons Against the death Penalty According to Al Sharpton, human rights activities have for very long lobbied for the abolishment of the capital punishment globally. They have come out strongly to term it inhuman since it violates a person’s right to live. They argue that even though the offender may have committed murder on his part, two wrongs won’t make a right. The human right activists have gone further to term execution as painful and barbaric despite methods being used to ease the pain being applied. These activists believe that life imprisonment on its own is punishment enough to a criminal in comparison to the death. As a result of inadequate judicial and policing system in conducting investigations, most capital penalty victims are usually innocent only to be later proved innocent when it’s too late. It has caused. As a result, execution of people for crimes they never committed in their lives. Several religious scholars hold the belief that by executing someone shall amount to blasphemy through playing God. According to them, Death should be natural since because the lord is the one who can author and terminate life. On the other hand, other religions believe that the death of its part is part of nature and should not be justified in executing someone else. Theologises have further argued that executed felons have limited times and the likelihood of reconciling their wrong ways and getting spiritual salvation. While philosophers like Niccolo Machiavelli felt that that religion and salvation are not issues of concern to the state. Whenever capital punishment is applied to an individual, his family members, and immediate kin suffer in both emotionally and financially. The families of the murder victims as well as the criminals family both experience for a considerable long period due to elongated legal procedure that includes having to testify and re-testify in court severally which is like reopening the wound. On the felon’s part, his kin endure seeing him daily in the hope that he is going to be freed until when judgement is passed. This prolonged legal extends the agony experienced by the victim’s families. The major contributor in determining if a defendant will be subjected to the capital punishment or not is the quality of legal representation he is provided with in court. In the case of Coker vs. Georgia his legal defence argued that only poor men and those who lacked adequate legal backing were subjected to capital punishment thus terming it as discriminative and inhuman (Sharpton, Paras. 1-5). It was also discovered that race was a contributing factor towards the administration of capital punishment. According to the U.S office of Accounting, those who murdered or committed grievous offences to white people were most likely to receive the death penalty as compared to killing coloured people. It was also discovered that more coloured people were sent to the gallows unlike the white people (Sharpton, Paras. 6-8). The international community with the majority of Europe and American countries have abolished capital punishment. With the total number of states in the death sentence rising day steadily as a result of international pressure, its time the death penalty was done away with Common Ground Although both groups have divergent views on the issue of Death penalty, both sides agree that the inclusion of capital punishment into the judicial system does not in any way deter crime nor reduce crime rates. This is because grievous crimes that fit death are still rife in countries that practice capital punishment unlike those that don’t. As a result of these observations, capital punishment should be done away with. My Position My view with concern to this topic is the elimination of capital punishment since it lacks judicial or legal objectivity but rather oppression and discrimination of people. Through manipulation of the law, most individuals with an active legal defence have managed to evade capital punishment and majority of people convicted of murder charges have later been found to be innocent. The overturned conviction is coming in rather late in life can never be. In addition, death penalty denies a criminal the chance to change to become a good citizen. It also subject the family members to suffering especially if the offender was a bread winner his/her children may even drop out of school as there is no one to take care of their needs. Therefore, I would strongly urge the government for the removal of death penalty. Conclusion After a careful consideration of the reasons for and against capital punishment, both the antagonist and protagonists agree that the death penalty does not in any way serve as deterrence towards crime. This is this is because crime rates in countries that still subject criminals to capital punishment have higher crime rates compared to those that do not (Sharpton, para.5).Through the respect of human life and human dignity, the international community has found death to be non-objective since it has no scientific backing on crimes deterrence rather than vengeance thus should be globally. Work cited Al Sharpton. ‘The Death Penalty Must Go’ Retrieved from < http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-al-sharpton/the-death-penalty-must-go_b_5268594.html> Web. 12 Dec 2014 Gibson, Kyle. Death Penalty Repeal: It is Necessary to Use Capital Punishment in a Free World.Mic. Nap. 2013. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. Read More