Capital Punishment

2 Pages 545 Words

The most severe of all sentences: that of death. Also known as the death penalty, capital punishment this is the most severe form of corporal punishment as it is requires law enforcement officers to kill the offender. But, Capital Punishment is a very strong issue in today’s society. In my eyes punishment should be on a case-to-case basis. In the Capital Punishment debate there are 3 major issues, Deterrence, Arbitrariness, and Retribution.

Deterrence is “the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of punishment”. This in easier terms just means that once someone commits a crime, if they are harshly punished for it, other people should then be afraid to commit a crime. Which is related to the idea that it is believed that fear of death deters people from committing crime. Studies of the deterrent effect of the death penalty have been conducted for several years, with varying results. Most of these studies have failed to produce evidence that the death penalty deterred murders more effectively then the threat of imprisonment. The reason for this is that few people are executed and so the death penalty is not a satisfactory deterrent. In conclusion if harsher punishment was carried out, there would be a lower crime rate.

The second issue is arbitrariness or Determined by or arising from impulse rather than judgment. Fairness requires that people who break the law be punished the same but we treat it on a case-to-case punishment. Wrongful conviction, if acting on impulse they might have the wrong person. Which means the criminal is still out there, and someone else is going to die instead of the person who deserves death. Also, that means its risky to carry out capital punishment. Statistics show African Americans are 48% of the prison population and 55.5% of death row population (in the state of Texas). Which may (or may not) prove racism is a arbitrariness factor in capital punishment. The jury is not always able...