Capital
punishment is the practice of executing someone as punishment for a specific
crime after a proper legal trial. The lethal
injection, electrocution or the hanging method are the most common types of
capital punishments that are used today. “Most people approve of capital
punishment, but most people wouldn't do the hangman's job”, wrote George Orwell
in his book, The Road to Wigan Pier. This quote can be used to describe the
people who are supportive of capital punishment but would not choose to be
responsible for the bloodshed. In this case, can capital punishment still be
said to be justifiable and the best way of punishment for crimes if it is
easier said than done? Captain James Kendall, convicted in 1608 in Jamestown, Virginia,
of spying for Spain, holds the dubious distinction of being the first person
known to be executed in the United States (The Death Penalty Information
Center, 2001). During the next 400 years, more than 19,000 people have also
been executed (Durham, Elrod, and Kinkade, 1996). Despite the number of
executions, it is unknown whether the reasons for capital punishment in all
these cases are justified and support for capital punishment in the U.S. is far
from universal. Today, 38 states and the federal government have capital
punishment as a possible punishment but the death penalty still remains a
controversial subject. (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2001). There has
been extensive polling during the past 60 years to determine the degree of
support for the death penalty (Bohm, 1987; Bohm, Clark, and Aveni, 1990; Durham
et al., 1996). Past polls show that support for the death penalty dropped from
79% in 1989 to 65% in 2001 (The Death Penalty Information Center, 2001) while
in 2010, Gallup's annual Crime Survey finds that 64% of Americans continue to
support the use of the death penalty for persons convicted of murder, while 29%
oppose it -- continuing a trend that has shown little change over the years.
(Newport, 2010) However, in support of the abolishers, capital punishment
should be abolished due to religious views and deterrence.
Capital punishments are not an effective form
of deterrence against crimes. Marquis De Sade, a French aristocrat,
revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer, wrote in his book, Philosophy
in the Bedroom, “The law which attempts a man's life is impractical, unjust,
inadmissible. It has never repressed crime - for a second crime is every day
committed at the foot of the scaffold.” The death
penalty is not a proven deterrent to future crimes. Some criminologists, such
as William Bowers of North eastern University, maintain that the death penalty
has the opposite effect: that is, society is brutalized by the use of the death
penalty, and this increases the likelihood of more murder. Even most supporters
of the death penalty now place little or no weight on deterrence as a serious
justification for its continued use. States in the United States that do not
employ the death penalty generally have lower murder rates than states that do.
For example, the U.S., with the death penalty, has a higher murder rate than
the countries of Europe or Canada, which do not use the death penalty (The
Death Penalty, n.d.). Additionally, the most recent case of the 2012 Delhi gang
rape case which caused a huge uproar, questions the use of capital punishment
as the best penalty for the six men who robbed the life of an innocent 23 year
old women or best known as Damini as called by supporters. Many argue that the
death penalty is the best form of action, even the six accused,
demand to be “hanged” as a punishment for their crime. But ultimately, will
this punishment reduce the number of rape cases that are widespread in the
country? There were 24,206 rape
cases registered in India in 2011, according to the National Crimes Record
Bureau. But the number of convictions of alleged rapists occurred in only a
quarter of cases, the statistics show. Additionally, many more cases are not
reported due to pressure from families and the idea that the victim has
experienced “shame,” activists estimate. (The Wall Street Journal, 2012) The
death penalty only serves to terminate the life of criminals. Is this termination of
life the best form of punishment? If it is seen from a different perspective
,the death penalty can be seen as a simple means of escape from years of suffering
in prison and will not be an effective measure to prevent future crimes. Therefore, capital punishment is not an effective means of
deterrence against crimes.
Furthermore, there are religious views which oppose the use of the
death penalty as a punishment for crime. Based on the
different religious views, the death penalty is seen as immoral. According to
Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic sister and a leading American advocate for the
abolition of the death penalty, “If we believe that murder is wrong and not
admissible in our society, then it has to be wrong for everyone, not just
individuals but governments as well.” That is, if people see murder as wrong,
then what makes the government killing these criminals for their crime any good?
While, the "morality" arguments of
atheists are not persuasive because if there is no God, then there is no
absolute morality, only arbitrary and subjective opinion, the
anti-death-penalty morality arguments of some Christians, on the other hand,
are persuasive to many because arguments are based on statements made by Jesus
Christ. Many Christians claim society should forgive criminals and instruct
them to "go and sin no more." (Enyart, n.d.) This may be based on the
ideology that everyone deserves a second chance, especially when their lives
are hanging on the balance. The New Testament in the Bible finds that Jesus
forgave the woman "caught in adultery, in the very act." and to those
arguing that she should be put to death, Jesus said, "He who is without
sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." (John 8:7) It is also
stated that Jesus taught believers to forgive, "But if you do not forgive
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Mat.
6:15) This suggests that everybody makes mistake and despite the severity of
their crime, they should be given a chance at life and death should not be made
an option. Similarly, it is found from the Jewish point of view, a Sanhedrin that executed [more than] one person in a
week is called a“murderous” [court]. (Mishna, Makkot 1:10) When considering the
case of the Bali 9, is it still fair to sentence Andrew Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran to the death sentence despite their many reformations and
contributions to the prison? If there are people who face doubts to forgive the
wrong, then the reformations and contributions to the prison that Chan and
Sukumaran have made should be evident enough as proof for their repent. Mr
Siswanto, the governor of the prison, has even described Chan and Myuran
Sukumaran as model prisoners and testified in court that they should not be
executed because of the positive influence they have had. Siswanto said in an
interview, "Chan organises courses in prison, leads the English-language
church service and is a mentor to many." (Allard, 2011) Therefore, should
the good they have done be disregarded and put to an end all because of their
past mistake? The act of forgiveness is something that can be done by everyone and not only those with religion. Hence, the presence of religious views encourage the abolishment of capital punishment.
In
conclusion, the death penalty should be removed because it is not does not
serves its purpose of deterring crime and is against religious views which
value human life. If capital punishment continues to be a form of punishment
over the long run, there is no guarantee that the number of crimes can be
reduced and the question then will be whether capital punishment serves its
purpose of being a judicial form of punishment for crime. As Whitehead, Blankenship, and Wright (1999) point out, “Given the literal life and death nature of capital punishment, it is important to continue research on this topic” because the death penalty is the ultimate punishment in society. The issue on capital
punishment should be continued to be evaluated on. There is ample room for
reform and restrictions on the death penalty.
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have demonstrated openness to the
opinion of other nations in evaluating the evolving standards of decency that
will ultimately determine the boundaries of acceptable punishment (Dieter,
n.d.). Taking a quote from Henry Ford, “Capital
punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as
a cure for poverty.”
References
Capital Punishment Quotes. (n.d.). Notable Quotes. Retrieved December 23, 2012,
from
http://www.notable-quotes.com/c/capital_punishment_quotes.html
Diament, N.
J. (2004). Judaism and the Death penalty; Of Two Minds but One Heart.
Retrieved
from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Diament.pdf.Dieter, R. C. The Death Penalty and Human Rights: U.S. Death Penalty and International Law.
Retrieved from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/Oxfordpaper.pdf.
Bihar Prabha News. Retrieved December 29, 2012,
from
deathsentence/
Newport, F.
(2010, November 8). In U.S., 64% Support Death Penalty in Cases of Murder.
Gallup.Com. Retrieved December 29, 2012,
fromhttp://www.gallup.com/poll/144284/support-death-penalty-cases-murder.aspx
