Capital Punishment: Ethical Debate
Added on 2020-05-04
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Hassan 1Hodan HassanRichard E. BrownEngC 1101-7206 October 2017Death PenaltyIntroduction Human life is precious, but the worst murderers in America are sentenced to the deathpenalty for the crimes they commit. Furthermore, many countries around the world still usecapital punishment, also known as the death penalty. Governments legally authorized thekilling of someone as punishment for crime. Although the death penalty is applied to punishthe worst criminals by executing them to give the victim’s family justice, it should be illegalbecause it’s expensive, errors can happen, and it violates the human right to live.The death penalty has been around throughout world history, and it is as old ashumankind history. Several methods of execution of capital punishment have been inventedand used these include scorching by fire, hanging, forceful sinking, crucifixion, breaking onthe wheel, hot water scorching to death, electrocution, shooting, use of poisonous gas andmany others. The selection of the specific method to be applied was dependent on the socialstatus of the convicted; this is an example in Europe during the Middle Age. The ways thatdeemed honorable and without pain were set aside for the upper classes, whereas those forthe ordinary people were painful and disrespectful, for instance, hanging or being crashed onthe wheel. Another determining factor for the method of choice was the time of occurrence ofcrime: heretics and sorceresses were scorched by fire to death at stake. Additionally, robberyand theft-related crimes were also meted with death penalty even in situations where none
Hassan 2was physically injured during the event. A more humane method of execution was introducedby the French Revolution, and it includes the cutting off of heads of the convicted. Many cases aimed at abolishing the death penalty have been launched with the firstdecision being made on 30 November 1786 in Granducato di Toscana by the Grand-dukeLeopold II of Habsburg. Grand Duke ruled the penalty to be null and void and ordered thedestruction of all the apparatus for murder in the country after getting the inspiration from theItalian book “On Crimes and Punishments.” The decree was a legacy in Tuscany and thus hasbeen celebrated as a holiday since 2000.The Amnesty International report of 2004 indicated that twenty-five countries hadexecuted 3,797 people with China leading in the executions with 3400 instances. Kuwait ledin the number of deaths of 400 for every 100,000 people, compared with China with 260 andIran with 230, the last in the list recording 159 cases. Most of the countries inflict capitalpunishment to punish criminals for serious crimes related to physical injury such as warcrimes. Asia uses the death penalty to punish crimes that are drug related; nevertheless, theyare not associated with bodily harm.The anti-capital punishment movements across the globe have influenced mostcountries towards the repeal of this method of punishment as well as the internationalorganizations. For example, the United Nations Convention on the Child Rights, prohibitionof the death penalty for juveniles among other things have been signed and adopted by all itsmember nations with the exclusion of Somalia and the USA. Additional international treatiessuch as the Sixth Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights and the SecondVoluntary Protocol to the International Agreement on Civil and Political Rights have bothbeen adopted, but only the nations that have approved them are bound to them. To strictlyenforce such amendments, some international organizations like the European Union have
Hassan 3heightened the condition of membership as the removal of capital punishment (McGann,Anthony, and Wayne Sandholtz, 2012, p. 280). Therefore, nations are significantly beingpressured to abolish the clause. The most prominent organizations among others that arepushing for the abolishment of the death penalty are Amnesty International and HumanRights Watch.The deliberations on capital punishment usually surround two main areas. The firstargument is viewed from the perspective of utilitarianism in which the analysis tends to findout if the death penalty does assist in the prevention and minimization of crime and theassociated risks of recidivism, in cases of repeated offenses by the criminals. The data for thisscenario is obtained from the countries which execute death penalties. Secondly, theproponents or supporters of capital punishment should examine whether the execution ismorally acceptable and whether human beings are warranted in ending the lives of otherhuman beings. Even though the views above fundamentally remain the same throughout historydebates, support for or against can fluctuate, and the outcomes, however contentious, caninfluence the public opinion to either side. Therefore, maintenance for capital punishment isstandard in countries that experience notorious murder cases. On the other hand, reduced rateof crime minimizes the support.MoneyOne argument against capital punishment is that the government spends a lot ofmoney on the legal process when someone commits a capital crime. In the article, “DeathPenalty: Response to Ron Paul” Block explains how much money the government spends onthe death penalty. Ron Paul who was a former Texas Representative says: It is hard to find a more wasteful and inefficient government program than the
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