Should the Death Penalty Remain Acceptable?

Introduction 

The death penalty is a method of punishment for capital crimes that involves ending the life of the convict. Although it is in declining use the world over, many countries still employ the death penalty as the ultimate punishment in their criminal justice systems. The United States of America, China and Saudi Arabia are some of the only remaining countries on earth that still apply the death penalty. In the United States of America, 32 States have approved the death penalty as a valid method of punishing capital offences, in addition to the federal government and the military ( Bohm, 2016) . The United States of America federal government has listed 41 capital offences that are punishable by death penalty. Among these are espionage, genocide, first-degree murder and treason. The most common methods used for the death penalty are beheading, electric chair, lethal injection, firing squad, gas chamber and hanging. 

Owing to the controversial nature of the death penalty and its various applications in the criminal justice system, many countries the world over and states in the United States of America have refrained from employing it. Amnesty International, for instance, together with a number of church groups in various places around the world, are vehemently opposed to the death penalty on the grounds of morality and human rights statutes ( Hoyle & Hood, 2015) . On the other hand, there are a number of victims’ rights groups and law enforcement organizations that are in fervent support of punishment by death penalty in the criminal justice system. In my opinion, punishment through the death penalty should be repealed. The death penalty should be shown the door. Here are my reasons why; 

The Death Penalty should be repealed 

First, as members of the human race, the capacity to evolve and improve is always at our disposal. This bears the implicit implication that people, no matter how evil or irredeemable they are perceived, always have the capacity to change, improve and get better. A person convicted of capital offences, despite being at the very bottom of the moral and criminal totem pole, still has within him the capacity to improve and become a better, more useful member of society. The death penalty, when implemented upon such a convict, forecloses any possibility for future improvement on the part of the convict. This is for the sheer reason that the death penalty ends the convict’s life. In addition, the criminal justice system usually suffers an imperfect process in the course of administering justice. For this system to purport to serve such a final conviction as the death penalty could result in gross miscalculations, even misjudgments. Wrongful convictions, even among convicts on death row, are not unheard of ( Breyer, 2016) . Such a severe punishment as death row rings very heavy-handed in such an imperfect system as the criminal justice system. 

Secondly, the death penalty goes against every set of religious maxims in the world, which preach tolerance and forgiveness, regardless of the perceived gravity of the matter being punished for. Virtually every religion is very clear in its advocacy for tolerance, good heartedness and forgiveness. Retribution is for the Lord God almighty, they insist. One of the Commandments in the Christian doctrine, for instance, explicitly states that; Thou shall not kill. In addition to this, statistics show that the whole criminal justice process arriving at the death penalty is inordinately skewed against members of the black race. This provides further strong grounds why several groups are agitating for the banning of the death penalty in states that still practice it. 

As a third justification for the banning of the death penalty, statistics show that the death penalty and all its attached costs, both visible and invisible, are costly and mostly ineffective. Pro-life advocates, as regards the death penalty, argue that the implementation of the whole death penalty process diverts attention and financial resources from otherwise feasible preventative measures that could improve the safety of society as a whole. In addition, it has been the trend in states that don’t support the death penalty that the rates of murder, the crime for which most convicts are punished via death sentence, are dropping. The death penalty just generally appears to be a cruel and simplistic reason for the deeper problems of society that would result in anyone committing capital crimes. It is also the ultimate denial of the human right to life that there is. 

Biases 

In the course of formulating the above opinions, I would like to recognize the influences of a few biases in the delivery of my arguments. First is the bias of religion. I am a Christian, and owing to my religious affiliation, I cannot be in support of the continued use of death penalty as a means of punishment of capital crimes. Christianity preaches forgiveness and is against revenging carried out by humans for crimes perceived to have been committed against them. Retribution belongs to God alone. 

Another bias that would have affected my position is the fact that the death penalty appears to a heavy-handed and cruel method to punish offences. Owing to my personality, I am predisposed to kinder methods of dealing with crime, however grave they may seem ( Miller, Wood & Chomos, 2014) . Life sentences, for instance, seem to effectively serve the purposes of the death penalty, for all intents and purposes, without having to stoop down to the level of the convict as well. 

The Death Penalty should be upheld 

On the other side of this moral conundrum lie a few reasons why the death penalty should be upheld. These subsequent paragraphs examine this side of the controversy; first, the death penalty is assumed to create a morbid fear in the minds of would-be capital offenders. Proponents of the death penalty argue that the mere thought of a noose around one’s neck or cyanide gas choking one’s respiratory system ought to scare potential offenders into staying on the good side of criminal law. It is the hope of every death row penalty proponent that every execution serves as an example and a deterrent to the crime that is being so punished ( Sethuraju, Sole & Oliver, 2016) . Whether this works or not remains yet another subject under fervent debate. It is however clear that there is zero chance, in the event of an execution through death penalty, of the convict returning to society to cause further harm and damage. 

Another common argument presented in favor of the death penalty is the fact that punishing capital offences in this manner is seen to create a sense of closure to the victims of the said crime and their families. The operating principle here would be that the punishment for a committed crime must be appropriate in the sense of gravity and seriousness to the crime that is being punished for. Only then will justice seem to have been served, they claim. This is mainly a logical argument that has also divided sections of the church into factions which both agree and disagree, in equal measure, with these sentiments. The Old Testament requires an eye for an eye in the way of revenge, which is the premise under which this argument seems to operate. 

Thirdly, organizations and individuals who are in favor of the death penalty argue that the scheduled executions of convicts who are on death row are instrumental in clearing up space in the overpopulated prisons in the American criminal justice system. Arguably, this would free up space and resources which can then be employed elsewhere to further advance good in the society, while simultaneously improving on safety in the community. Whether this is a valid argument also remains to be seen through data and statistics. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, it is apparent, at first glance, that the arguments in favor of repealing and banning the death penalty far outweigh those in favor of upholding the barbaric statute. It is for this reason that I stand in favor of humanity, progression and morality by reiterating that; The Death Penalty should be scrapped. 

References 

Bohm, R. M. (2016).  Deathquest: An introduction to the theory and practice of capital punishment in the United States . Routledge. 

Breyer, S. (2016).  Against the Death Penalty . Brookings Institution Press. 

Hoyle, C. E., & Hood, R. (2015). Progress made for worldwide abolishment of death penalty. In  International Affairs Forum . 

Miller, M., Wood, S. M., & Chomos, J. C. (2014). Relationships between support for the death penalty and cognitive processing: A comparison of students and community members.  Criminal Justice and Behavior ,  41 (6), 732-750. 

Sethuraju, R., Sole, J., & Oliver, B. E. (2016). Understanding death penalty support and opposition among criminal justice and law enforcement students.  SAGE Open ,  6 (1), 2158244015624952.