An Opposite View of Death Penalty
The critical issue about the application of death penalty has been a nationwide discussion in the recent years. People have based their debates on the constitutional and the moral validity of the death penalty.
Some people argue that the penalty has imperfections in its application and it is usually applied against the mentally ill people, the poor people and the Americans who possess the African origin. People argue that there are other crimes that are so horrific and they think that death penalty is the only option. This reasoning is based on emotions rather than logic and hence death penalty cannot be justified as the right revenge to criminals (Pojman P & Reiman H. 1998).The death penalty risk does not deter crime in society because there is no scientific proof that the countries with death penalties have a lower crime rates.
Also killing a human being is not humane even if the person is not humane in committing crimes. This punishment is deemed a violation of the fundamental person’s right to live as it is proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whatever the form it takes- hanging, beheading, stoning, shooting or lethal injection, death penalty is the ultimate cruel and a degrading punishment. The physical pains that are caused by the killing action cannot be quantified, nor can the psychological suffering that is caused by the pre-knowledge of death at the hands of law enforcement bodies. Executing a person can be very slow and very painful and the punishment is also considered subjective to the society’s set norms (Haines H.
1999).The execution costs of the death penalty are more than the life in prison. This is due to the costs incurred in the counsel for defense and for ensuring maximum security on separate death row wings and it diverts the resources and energy that could be otherwise be utilized to work against the violent crimes and in assisting the ones affected by it (Yorke J. 2008). Furthermore, the family members of the executed person often needlessly suffer too and yet the crime has victims too.
