Arguements of Capital Punishment - Coursework Example

Capital punishment Introduction If one takes a close look at the social environment, one can not help noticing that it should be considered to be an important prerequisite for the development of the inner potential of a human being. Indeed, if it had not been for the presence of other people, a considerable number of abilities which are regarded as characteristic would not have emerged. Nevertheless, it must be noted that the society does not always provide people with the best living conditions. That is why some may become engaged in various criminal acts. The problem of crime has existed since the dawn of the society and the latter tried to solve it in various ways. This paper will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of capital punishment as a way to combat crimes and argue that it should be abolished. Definitions To begin with, it may be necessary to provide a brief analysis of the issue and practice in question. Thus, capital punishment refers to a specific kind of punishment when the government reserves a right to take life of a prison in case he or she commits a capital crime. As one can easily see, this is not a form of punishment that is used for insignificant crimes. Furthermore, it must be noted that there are certain conditions that make it impossible to impose capital punishment. For example, if the criminal is too young, one can only receive life time sentence, not death sentence. The practice has been a subject of debates of the groups that support capital punishment and oppose it. Advantages One of the first points that are brought up by the people who advocate the use of capital punishment is that it should be regarded as severe, yet necessary tool that deters crimes. For example, they point out that on average, each execution of a criminal prevents around 8 homicides (Marzilli 29). In other words, life of a single person is taken so that lives of eight other people are saved. While some might note that such exchange is unfair, it surely serves as a justification of this practice. Furthermore, the execution of the prisoners creates a powerful image for the people who are about to commit a crime. It is likely that they will refrain from doing so as they will be afraid to end up on a death row. The proponents of the capital punishment also suggest that this practice provides the families of the victim some kind of closure (Scherdin 113). Of course, it does not mean that capital punishment is institutionalized mechanism of revenge; however, the finality of it shows that there is nothing more that can be done in this situation. Psychologically speaking, this means that the relatives of the victim are likely to accept the fact and move on rather than thinking about endless of other options that can be chosen. In other words, capital punishment makes sure that a sorrowful episode in life of a family is closed and the people can cope with it. Finally, those who argue that the capital punishment should be maintained note that some people are pathologically inclined to commit crimes. This means that the legal system is not effective when applied to them as they will serve their sentence, get out of prison and most certainly commit a crime again. That is why capital punishment should be regarded as the only punishment that is able to stop such person. Moreover, some individuals are thought to be dangerous even while they serve life time sentence. With this in mind, death sentence is seen as a manifestation of ultimate justice which is something that the government is obliged to provide people with. If it is deprived of such right, there is no chance of achieving justice for the population. Disadvantages The above mentioned arguments might sound very convincing. However, the opposing side is able to present points that are convincing as well. First of all, the opponents of capital punishment note that no matter how hard law enforcing agencies try to minimize mistakes in the course of the trial, there are still numerous cases when the government claimed life of the innocent people. As many as 1,200 people are estimated to be wrongfully accused and executed in the United States of America since 1970s ("Death Penalty Facts"). In other words, the biggest disadvantage of this type of punishment is its irrepressibility. For example, if a person is sentenced to prison or serves a life time sentence, one is still able to prove his or her innocence and be released. However, it is clear that this is absolutely impossible in case a person is executed. Another point that should be mentioned is that the judicial system might be racially biased. As a result, the criminals who belong to minorities will be accused more often and sentenced to death at a higher rate than their counterparts from the white race. For example, it was found that an African American defendant is three times more likely to receive capital punishment for attacking a person of a different race if compared to a white person who is accused of the exact same crime ("Fact Sheet"). With this is mind, one would make no mistake suggesting that the objectivity of the rulings should be questioned. Lastly, it is important to show that capital punishment has existed for a considerable period of time, but it has not been able to make any significant contribution to social stability and combat crimes. The statistics show that Oklahoma is the state that has the highest execution rate per capita in the country; nevertheless, Oklahoma has not been known as a state where the crime rate dropped dramatically ("The Execution State?"). This means that the capital punishment can hardly be seen as an effective deterrent of criminal activity; what is more important is that this can be proved not only by common sense, but by statistical evidence that can hardly be refuted. Personal opinion Keeping in mind the advantages and disadvantages, it is rather logical to state that capital punishment should be abolished. There are several reasons for that. First of all, from a theoretical point of view, when the government takes lives of its citizens, it commits a crime. Indeed, the population delegated its power to the government, but the latter has not control over lives of the people. This means that no state is allowed to execute the criminals. As a result, the most severe form of punishment should be life time sentence. With this in mind, the controversy over capital punishment is resolved easily: since the government exceeds its power, it should stop doing so. In spite of the fact that some government of the world still tend to carry out this practice, this should be recognized as illegal universally. Furthermore, as it has been already stated, the history of capital punishment can be traced rather long. This means that this practiced exists for a considerable period of time and in various conditions. If the capital punishment had truly been an effective deterrent of crime, the humanity would not have faced it today. In other words, the entire history of the world shows that executing people is not effective. It may have a positive impact in the short perspective, but in the long run it is not able to make any significant contribution to the social stability or prosperity of the social environment. As a result, many of the advantages that are articulated are false. Thirdly, the cost of a mistake that may be made by the government while executing an innocent person is too high. Indeed, many things in the world have value which can be measured. However, there are concepts that can hardly be measured financially. Life of a human being is surely one of them. It has already been stated that the biggest drawback of capital punishment lies in its irreversibility. This means that if the government makes a mistake, it will not be able to make up for it in any way. In addition to that, capital punishment is thought to provide closure to the people. However, if a person is wrongfully accused and executed, it is clear that this will make the situation even worse since in this case nothing will provide people with closure. Conclusion Having examined all the points which were made in the paragraphs above, it is clear that capital punishment has more disadvantages than advantages. Indeed, this practice might be regarded as a deterrent of crimes and a way to provide the relatives of the victim with closure. Moreover, sometimes it should be seen as the only form of justice that is effective. However, it is a fact that many innocent people tend to be executed and this can hardly be reversed. Secondly, the judicial system is often racially biased which make the chance of wrongful execution even higher. Finally, the history shows that implementation of capital punishment is not able to prevent crimes from happening. Works Cited "Death Penalty Facts." 2012. Web. 6 June 2015. . "Fact Sheet." 2015. Web. 6 June 2015. . Marzilli, Alan. Capital Punishment. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House, 2003. Print. Scherdin, Lill. Capital Punishment: A Hazard to a Sustainable Criminal Justice System? Farnham: Ashgate, 2014. Print. "The Execution State?" Oklahoma Watch. 2014. Web. 6 June 2015. . Read More