The Death Penalty - Essay Example

The Death Penalty in the United s and Worldwide Introduction Death penalty is a hotly contested topic anywhere in the world. It raises both religious and legal concerns. To the religious side, this type of punishment is against the commandment of the Supreme Being and is therefore a mortal sin. To counter this argument, lawmakers cite that capital punishment could lessen the crime rate of a particular country. Death Penalty: Not a Deterrent to Crime Death penalty is just the same with the other kinds of punishment.

It only induces fear but does not really prevent one from committing an offense. It is just mirroring the kind of offense that it seeks to condemn. A penalty that will serve as a deterrent to crime must be one which effectively or to a great extent stops the individual from entertaining or doing an illegal act. It is one which completely changes the mind of the person -- a shift of personal belief happens. In America, crime rates are comparatively high due to the following factors: harsh sentencing laws and racial turmoil (Liptak, 2008).

The harsh sentencing law connotes that if one is convicted of a certain offense in US, the offender could not in any way escape the minimum sentence as it is made mandatory. This goes to say that if one commits a crime, he or she will surely experience being incarcerated thereby adding to the number of offenders. Racial turmoil is seen as one of the reasons for the high crime rate as it has been observed that the American police authorities are more aggressive in arresting black offenders than the white ones (Anonymous, n.d.).

America is not alone in its enforcement of the death penalty despite the international pressure of abolishing it. China, Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan are some of the countries which also favor capital punishment (Anonymous, n.d.). Other countries are not implementing this type of penalty due to religious and humanitarian causes. Reasons for Its Abolishment Death penalty should be abolished for three major reasons. First, only God has the right to take away one’s life. Human as we are, we are just here on earth to be God’s follower and the protector of His creation.

It is one of God’s commandment not to kill another human being. Capital punishment is one way of violating God’s command. This is to say that a government could only regulate the affairs of its people but not to kill any of them. Second, death penalty violates the most sacred and fundamental right of human beings, that is, the right to live. It is contended that there is no greater right than the right to be alive. A law enacted by a government could not justifiably take away this right. The right to live is absolute unlike the other basic rights such as liberty and property.

Third, capital punishment does not really deter the commission of crimes. Despite its implementation, the crime rate of some countries remains the same and even increases. For instance, in 2007, America had the highest incarceration rate in the whole world (United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], 2008). This only proves that death penalty is not an effective legal mechanism to prevent persons from committing an offense. The Non-subjection of Youth Offenders The youths convicted of violent crimes should not be subjected to capital punishment.

This is actually the concern of the many people who are against the death penalty law. Instead of ending their lives, these youths should be given a second chance to redeem themselves. The government could implement rehabilitation programs and other activities which could help these youths control their criminal propensity. Conclusion There are other ways of imputing punishment to criminals other than death penalty. A person’s life is irreplaceable. Once, it is ended, it ends forever. Also, capital punishment is proven to be ineffective in preventing an individual from committing an illegal act.

In such case, this type of punishment should be abolished and never to be entertained again. References Anonymous. (n.d.). The death penalty in the united states and worldwide. [PDF file]. Liptak, A. (2008, April 24). U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations. Retrieved from http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=8801&context=va United Nations Development Programme. (2008, November 4). Prison population and incarceration rate - 2007 rankings. Retrieved from http://www.allcountries.

org/ranks /prison_incarceration_rates_of_countries_2007.html