capital punishment

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment entails the death sentence being inflicted on an individual as a punishment due to the criminal offence. It is usually carried out by the judicial process in supreme law courts in certain states. It has been virtually practiced by many societies although only 58 states currently practice it. However, some of the 95 states abolished this rule because of the arguments raised against it. It has been a subject issue and an active debate in diverse countries where the arguments against it varies depending on the political, cultural and religious ideologies.

Politically, it is seen as violation of rights of the human beings. The case of capital punishment is seen as depriving and violating the right of human being, essentially the right for life. Every person has a right to live hence the death penalty is discouraged in some countries and states such as China and Michigan respectively. Others argue that the penalty is cruel and unusual hence nobody has the right to take away an individual’s right to live. Opposing the capital punishment does not necessarily mean sympathizing with the criminal but it shows lack of respect to human rights. This punishment is abominable and some states opposed it because it is morally wrong (Streissguth, 2002).

It is not workable to crime control nor does it reduce the crime rates. Other political leaders in some states regard the death penalty, as being fair to the criminal but the crime committed cannot be compensated through imposing death penalty. Sometime the life of the innocent may be taken a way hence they discourage this practice (Streissguth, 2002). As a deterrent to other criminal offenders, this method of crime control has failed because crimes are still committed everyday. Hence, the political leaders argue that it is not a good method because the penalty is an effective deterrent method than other penalty methods.

It is wastage of resources because the case of capital punishments takes long time to be justified. Some political leaders argue that death penalty wastes the resources of the state, which could have been allocated in other essential areas. The government uses money to budget basic needs for individuals waiting for death penalty hence some political leaders strongly argue that it is wastage of the resources. They advocate that this money can be allocated in different areas such education programs on crime controls (Tischler, 2001).  In addition, the criminal justice system can use that money in allocating more criminal defense such as allocating more military rather than wasting it on capital sentence case.

Religious beliefs argue that is ethically wrong to take away an individual’s life. Some Christians argue basing on the biblical point of view that murder should not be allowed instead salvation should be offered. They argue that only God gives life and no body should attempt to kill his creatures (Tischler, 2001). Nevertheless, the life of the innocent may be taken a way if juries do not make proper judgment. This may contribute to the suffering of the innocent family and friends of the offender during the time of the execution. They may emotionally feel hurt, fear and sorrowful especially when their loved one is being executed. All these are considered morally wrong according to Christian’s point of view.

Other religious and cultural beliefs argue that depriving a person’s life is not humane. They advocate that causing a great pain in a person is not being kind to others. Christianity condemns killing because no body has a right to take a way another person’s life and they regard it as a sin before the eyes of God. Consequently, other cultural beliefs regard capital punishment as a bad act and anyone who commits it is being cursed in the society. Therefore, some society believes that murder can cause a great threat to the whole family hence oppose it.

In conclusion, there are several reasons as to why religious, political and different culture opposes capital punishment. According to religious beliefs, it is seen as ethically wrong and it is a sin against God. Cultural beliefs oppose capital punishment because they it is not humane and anybody who takes away another person’s is life is cursed in the society. Lastly, political leaders argue that it violates the rights of human beings and it is not a good method of controlling crimes. In addition, they strongly oppose it because it wastes resources that could be allocated in different areas such as education programs and military department to enable reduce crimes.

 

 

 

References

Streissguth, T. (2002). The death penalty: Debating capital punishment. Berkeley Heights, NJ:

Enslow Publishers.

Tischler, H. L. (2001). Debating points: Crime and corrections. Upper Saddle River, N.J:

Prentice Hall.