Capital punishment is a punishment by death for committing a serious crime. To execute some criminals will not make our lives more secure. There is no credible evidence that proves capital punishment deters crime more efficiently than long-term imprisonment. Crimes such as robbery and assault put our lives at risk, but these crimes do not warrant the death penalty. To deter crime, the punishment must be administered swiftly so that potential criminals will see a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the crime and punishment.
There has been a large debate whether it is essential or not, capital punishment has been removed from many countries legal codes. However, major countries such as China, Iran, and the United states still put capital punishment into practice. For example, the United States, a country that makes up 5% of the world's population, has more citizens in prison than any other country. Capital punishment clearly does not prevent potential criminals from committing crimes. It would also seem death sentences are imposed in a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than if you are poor and innocent. This is an immoral condition that makes rejecting the death penalty not on moral grounds defensible, but a necessity for those who refuse to accept unequal punishment.
Capital punishment is also a crime against humanity. For the victim's family, it might be for retribution or closure. Retribution is just another word for revenge, and the desire for revenge is one of the lowest forms of human emotion. Understandable, but it isn't really a rational response. To kill the person, who killed someone close to you, is put simply to continue the cycle of violence. No justice system can produce results that are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system, which relies upon human testimony for proof. Since 1973, over 130 people have been released from death rows throughout the United States. An example of a wrongful conviction, Ray Krone spent 10 years in an Arizona State prison for a murder he did not commit. DNA evidence proved his innocence.
It has been debated that the cost of death is cheaper than life in prison. Many of those who favor the death penalty state that the cost of the death penalty is cheaper than life without parole. This is in fact not true. An execution cost approximately $2 million. The death penalty is clearly more expensive than a system handling a similar case with a less severe punishment. Statistics ignore the cost of an ordinary trial before entering death row. It also ignores the cost of investigations, attorney, and high security before the inmate goes to trial. Putting a criminal to jail is already an effective way to punish them.
In closing, capital punishment in itself is a serious crime. There is no evidence that proves that it deters or minimizes crime in any way. The United States, a country that practices capital punishment has more citizens in prisons than any other country in the world. We cannot judge a person's life based on the words of another person. Although keeping criminals in prison is expensive, the cost is minimal in the long-term compare to lengthy trials and execution. Dying is a common fear in most people. As we all know, criminals aren't most people. A death sentence would be doing a favor for criminals who have life in prison without parole who has not fulfilled his or her punishment.
...still keep capital punishment in practice.
Excellent discussion. I tend to agree with you. With papers like this, you can always strengthen them by citing good sources:
Dezhbakhsh and Rubin (2003). Does capital punishment have a deterrent effect? New evidence from postmoratorium panel data.
Steiker, C. S. (2005). No, capital punishment is not morally required: Deterrence, deontology, and the death penalty. Stanford Law Review, 58(3), 751+.
Sunstein and Vermeule. (2005). Is capital punishment morally required? Acts, omissions and life-life tradeoffs. Stanford Law Review, 58(3), 703
I like the first sentence of your last paragraph!
