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Introduction
Capital punishment refers to execution of individuals found guilty of first degree murder. A murder is considered first degree if the prosecution establishes that the accused had clear intent of carrying out the crime otherwise referred to as malicious aforethought1.
The methods of execution have varied overtime and from one jurisdiction to another but the most common nowadays is death by lethal injection. Crimes that are subjected to capital punishment vary from state to state, but first degree murder is a capital offence in all jurisdictions only that the level aggravation may vary. This paper will discuss about capital punishment in US in general and the challenges facing this practice
Discussion
Capital punishment dates as far back as 1608 in the British North America colonies when Captain George Kendall was executed by a firing squad for allegedly spying for the Spanish government2. Michigan State has never had capital punishment law whereas states like Hawaii, Alaska, Illinois, Maine, and Minnesota among others have recently abolished death penalty.
Over the years, capital punishment has elicited reactions from social justice crusaders around the world but majority of people in the US have favored it. Those opposed to it especially religious and human rights groups cite moral issues and the sanctity of life as the reasons.
Amnesty International has all along viewed capital punishment in the context of human rights violation and has advocated for its abolition. Other groups are of the opinion that the only deterrence to murder is through execution of the offenders. Becker for instance states that
“I support executing some people convicted of murder because, and only because I believe that it deters other murders. If I did not believe that, I would oppose capital punishment, because revenge and other possible motives should not be a basis for public policy.”3
Death penalty has drawn support and criticism in equal measure. Research shows most states that still uphold the sentence do so to address the rise of violent crimes. In the last ten years studies show that violent crimes have dropped by half in US something that has brought a corresponding decline in the number of death penalty sentences. This means that death sentence has at least some influence in deterrence of new similar crimes.
Those who support capital punishment argue that it provides justice to both the victims and offenders and also deters people from engaging in crime. However social scientists contend that death sentence discourages murder the same way long imprisonment would and therefore life imprisonment is preferable.
Human rights groups argue that if it is wrong for an individual to kill, it is equally wrong for the society to kill since two wrongs do not make a right. Some of the reasons why some sections of the society feel that death penalty should be done away with are the number of innocent people who are on death row.
Many people believe capital punishment is morally impermissible. Most people opine that death sentences are demeaning and out of touch with the modern culture and in most cases capital punishment is administered in a way that does not follow the laid down legal provision. They assert that as applied, capital punishment may end up executing innocent people, and also that it lacks consistency and uses crude methods of delivering justice4.
The most compelling argument in support of capital punishment is that failing to execute murderers may in itself put more lives in danger.
As evidenced, criminal law is left in a lose-lose situation; by executing offenders the state is said to engage in social injustice, yet by failing to execute murderers is putting the lives of innocent citizens in harm’s way5; failure to uphold death sentences in such instances is therefore considered immoral.
There should be balance in application of criminal law and civil law in punishing the offenders and guarantee the safety and security of victims of violent crimes.6
Indeed, opinion poll shows that Americans are split between those who support death penalty and those in favor of life imprisonment without parole. Given this choice, the public this year (2008) splits roughly evenly, with 49% saying the death penalty is the better penalty for murder, while 46% opt for life imprisonment; this split is roughly the same as in 2006, when this question was last asked7. (Newport 2008).
Conclusion
Thus, death penalty in my view should be upheld to serve as a warning to potential offenders. This gives both closure and justice to the victim’s family and a way for repaying the bad deed to the murderer. However, before the death sentence verdict is reached, prosecution must be thorough in their investigation and evidence collection to avoid incidences of botched trials and wrong convictions.
Bibliography
Becker, Gary. “The Morality of Capital Punishment.” Project syndicate. 2006. Web.
“Death Penalty Information Center.” Deathpenaltyinfo. Web.
Newport, Frank. “In U.S., 64% Support Death Penalty in Cases of Murder“. Gallup.2008. Web.
Sunstein, Rose & Arthur Vermeule. “Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? The Relevance of Life-Life Tradeoffs.” The Law School, The University of Chicago, 2005.
Footnotes
- “Death Penalty Information Center,” deathpenaltyinfo.
- Ibid
- Becker Gary. “The Morality of Capital Punishment.” project syndicate. 2006.
- Rose Sunstein & Arthur Vermeule. “Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? The Relevance of Life-Life Tradeoffs,” the Law School, the University of Chicago. 2005.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Frank Newport. “In U.S., 64% Support Death Penalty in Cases of Murder,” Gallup, 2008.
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