Summary:
A description of arguments for and against the death penalty. Pro-death penalty supporters say the death penalty prevents murders and is the proper justice for some crimes. Death-penalty abolitionists say the penalty does not deter murders, is often carried out in error and does not restore justice.
At least 1,526 people were executed in 2002 in 31 countries, and aproximately 3,248 people were sentenced to die in 67 countries. Throughout the years many people have given different opinions about the capital punishment. Consequently, there have been many discussions regarding this subject, and given the extensive amount of arguments for and against the death penalty only some of them are going to be introduced in this essay.
Pro-death penalty people, as well as organizations, reckon that this punishment has many positive points that should be considered when it comes to legalizing the death penalty. First of all, according to the article "Arguments for and against the Death Penalty", it is believed that the death penalty "can prevent future murders", because if murderers are sentenced to death penalty and executed potencial criminals will realize that they will suffer the same consequences and therefore, they will not murder anyone. In addition, many pro-death penalty people rely on actual facts based on Isaac Ehrlich's analysis from 1973 which states that "for each convict executed, 7 lives were saved because others were deterred from committing murder." Secondly, the article mentioned previously affirms that "the death penalty is required for the taking of a life because the balance of justice is disturbed and the only way to restore it is by killing the killer." Robert Macy, District Attorney of Oklahoma City, used an example to illustrate this idea: "In 1991, a young mother was rendered helpless and made to watch as her baby was executed. The mother was then mutilated and killed." Then he added "the killer should not lie in some prison with three meals a day, clean sheets, cable T.V., family visits and endless appeals. For justice to prevail, some killers just need to die." Last but not least, in relation to what the article "Capital Punishment: Life or Death" says, keeping a person in jail for life costs taxpayers a fortune, which is why it would be more convenient to legalize the death penalty instead.
At the same time, there are numerous opinions against the subject, which must also be taken into account. To start with, the article "Arguments for and against the Death Penalty" considers that "the death penalty is not a proven deterrent to future murders." The article remarks that generally, murders are committed in moments of passion and anger or by drug addicts and drunk people who act impulsively. For that reason, they do not think about the consequences of killing someone. Moreover, the same source claims that "in some countries in which the death penalty is applied there is a higher murder rate than in those where it is not applied." To continue, this source states that "an innocent person can be executed by applying the death penalty." A recent study by Columbia University Law School found that "two thirds of all capital trials contained serious errors, and when the cases were retried over 80% of the deffendants were not sentenced to die and 7% were completely absolved." In addition, people who maintain this idea affirm that "for every 7 people executed, there is 1 person on death row who should have never been convicted." Finally, the author of the article mentioned thinks that "the death penalty is not fair because it is not applied equally to everyone." Almost all deffendants facing it cannot afford their own attorney, so the state assigns them one who is usually an inexperienced and underpaid lawyer that fails in the proper investigation of the case. As a consequence, this can lead to a poor representation of the deffendant who will be much more likely to be convicted and given a death sentence.
All things considered, we believe that both for and against opinions about the death penalty are valid and well supported by the people who have stated them. Therefore, we reckon that every country that is considering to abolish or legalize this controversial punishment should bare in mind the arguments for and against introduced in this essay.
This is the complete article, containing 666 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
