Death Penalty in the USA - Article Example

Death Penalty in the USA Issues surrounding death penalty in the United s are extensive, diverse and dynamic. Death penalty has been argued for and against, with all the parties involved ending up in differentiated debates over what would best serve as the solution to the problems that death penalty presents. Death penalty has had individual, social, legal, economic, and political implications locally and internationally. State and Federal governments provide for this punishment in cases of capital offences. Death penalty is itself a problem in the sense that it is said to violate human rights of the offender, specifically right to life. Domestic and international activists have raised their concerns over the issue, arguing that there are alternative ways to punish criminals that are found guilty of capital offences. It is fundamental to consider the fact that this punishment is provided for by law through the legal system that seeks to enhance social, economic and political coherence in the United States (Ogletree & Sarat 217). The international human rights watch remains focused on the same issue, arguing that the actualization of death penalty is inhumane. In this regard, there are both proponents and opponents to this issue. The underlying best solution, therefore, can only emerge by evaluating and assessing possible solutions to death penalty problems. Every stakeholder factored in must in one way or another be factored in. Solution to the problem of death penalty can emerge from a number of sources. To start with, the legal system stands a better chance to deal with the issue, given that capital offences and capital punishments are defined, designed, formulate and implemented by the law (Anckar 124). Secondly, the solution could be found on the social context. The social context in this case encompasses working closely with the immediate associates of the victims, offenders and the judiciary. The judiciary is highly factored in in the legal aspect of solution, and so should it be in the social context. Thirdly, the solution could also be found in the economic arena. Studies have argued that the implementation of capital punishments is an expensive undertaking (Roger 34). In this regard, alternative means to deal with death penalty could be provided for by the economic system. Over and above this fact, the political system is highly influential in all state and federal matters. These matters encompass state and federal government running, meaning that issues associated with death penalty are factored in. Fundamentally, death penalty is not an American issue, but rather incorporates states that undertake death penalty across the globe. In this regard, the world holds the power to revolutionize the practice of death penalty. Each of variables highlighted above in relation to solving the problem of death penalty and the subsequent problems that death penalty causes or gets associated with can be broken down, to intensively give an insight into the actual position that the solution lies. The legal system is the first in line. The legal system in the United States expresses its regard for right to life. In this view, the laws that provide for death penalty have been challenged, and deemed to violate constitutional rights of offenders. Opponents of death penalty argue that the law protects the rights of individuals whether or not they have committed a crime. While this argument is partly true, the same laws calls for cohesion and coherence between people, and there is no individual who is superior to another as to violate rights and freedoms of others. This means that violation of human rights and freedoms is punishable by law. If this is the case, why term death penalty as a problem? This is a raging question in the minds of many, both proponents and opponents of death penalty. Even those who support death penalty acknowledge that its execution is not friendly or rather humane (Hodgkinson & Schabas 91). The methods used to execute death row inmates result in immense pain and suffering, not to mention psychological torture that death row inmates go through before they are executed. It is argued that death row inmates are only entitled to ‘death’ but not pain as execution methods encompasses. In this context, the legal system should embark on legal reforms in relation to death penalty, and provide alternative means of dealing with the issue. The system could best provide an almost equivalent alternative to alleviate the underlying problem. In the legal aspect, the best solution lies with the conversion of death penalties to life imprisonment (Mauer, Ryan & Malcolm 142). In fact, many states are relatively reluctant to execute death row inmates. Holding them for life imprisonment is seemingly becoming a close alternative to death penalty, relieving the underlying problem in this context. The social context could also acts as the source of the solution to the problem of death penalty. The running of state and federal governments should portray the people’s will. Although the people remains divided on whether or not death penalty is a suitable form of punishment for capital offences, the views and opinions of the people should be factored in death penalty pursuits. With the persistent civilization and globalization, people’s mindsets are changing, incorporating diversity and dynamism in every aspect of their life. The solution to this problem ought to be societal-based due to the fact it is the society that basically falls victim of capital offences. The decision of whether to place capital punishments to criminals should rest with the society. However, close associates of the victim should be actively involved in that pursuit. Death penalty has not been easy in economic terms. As earlier mentioned, death penalties cost states and the Federal government millions of dollars for every execution made. An economic solution to this problem could take a complementing factor to the legal solution earlier highlighted. This means that instead of spending millions of dollars on a single execution practice, the legal reforms that would allow death row inmates to be held up for life imprisonments should be upheld. This scenario is likely to trigger an infrastructure constraint in jails and prisons due to high number of inmates that would result. The execution budget amount could, therefore, be directed towards expanding and increasing jail and prisons capacities to account for those numbers that are moved from death row to life imprisonment. The United States political system has a significant role to play in the death penalty pursuits. This system accounts for an all-round treatment of variables that define the cultural, social, economic and legal aspects of the United States (Roger & Hoyle 130). With this in mind the system can evaluate and assess the series of changes that have characterized this form of punishment since its inception to the present. On the same note, the circumstances under which death penalty was executed should be evaluated and compared in relation to the time the punishment was implemented and now. What is interesting in this political concept is that, the death penalty is not observed by all states in the United States. Answers should be provided as to what necessitated this difference. When all the underlying issues have been addressed, then harmonizing death penalty issues should not be a problem. The differences in legal provisions of death penalty across states serve as the central source of divergent arguments for and against death penalty. Once these differences are resolved, then a critical standpoint can be established to favor or alleviate death penalty. However, this cannot be realized without necessary amendments to the various laws that govern death penalty activities. This means that all this pursuit condenses to one aspect; the legal system. The international human rights watch have a role to play in influencing resolution of death penalty. In a global context, the matter fails to be termed a United States problem. Getting a solution to the problem should encompass global perspectives and intervention on the most appropriate practices and alternative punishments for capital offences. The fact that only a number of countries execute death row inmates mean that there are underlying issues with this form of punishment that need to be addressed by bringing together all countries with similar practices in relation to death penalty (Johnson & Zimring 203). Death penalty is without a shadow of doubt characterized by intensive and ever changing factors that keep complicating the underlying problem. All solution sources have been highlighted and analyzed in relation to their defining factors, and how they contribute to the death penalty debate. Cultural, social, economic, political, and legal concerns emerge amid the dynamism of death penalty debate. However, one factor among these outstands and outperforms the others. This factor is the legal system. The legal system holds the ultimate solution to the death penalty problem due to its nature of complementarity in relation to all the other factors. The legal system backs up all other efforts that would be termed cultural, social, economic, and political in nature. In this regard, the legal system bears the greatest potential to address the problem in other means other than execution of death row inmates. Works Cited Anckar, Carsten. Determinants of the Death Penalty: A Comparative Study of the World. London: Routledge, 2004. Hodgkinson, Peter & Schabas, William. Capital Punishment, Strategies for Abolition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Johnson, David & Zimring, Franklin. The Next Frontier: National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in Asia. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Mauer, Marc., Ryan, King & Malcolm, Young. “The Meaning of ‘Life’: Long Prison Sentences in Context.” May 2004. Ogletree, Charles & Sarat, Austin. From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and the Death Penalty in America. New York: New York University Press, 2006. Roger, Hood & Hoyle, Carolyn. The death penalty: a worldwide perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Roger, Hood. ‘Capital Punishment: The Commonwealth in World Perspective’, The Commonwealth Lawyer, 17(3), 2008, pp. 30-35. Read More