Essay on Death Penalty

 

Referring to: "Death penalty guards what is valued most" (an article of the International Herald Tribune)

 

In his article, Mr Bronson says that “there are hundreds of good arguments for capital punishment in every state that has a death penalty”. Regrettably, he does not continue to say that every single one of these arguments can be countered with a point against the death penalty. In my opinion, capital punishment can never be justified.

    Take the prevention of further crimes, for instance. It surely is true that a corpse cannot break the law - but it is equally true for someone who has to spend the rest of their life in prison. Besides, if is proven that the convict was innocent after all, it will still be possible to release him and to pay a compensation, while execution is final and irreversible.

    Some people would say that the death penalty is only appropriate punishment for murder. They should imagine someone who took the life of another human, for any reason whatsoever, after which he is told: “You have killed. That was not right. That’s why we are going to kill you.” To me, that sounds more than a bit contradictory. How could a murderer see that his actions were false, if he is punished in exactly the same way? This seems to be rather a justification for killing than retribution.

    Another huge problem is where to draw the line, to say which criminals “deserve” to be put to death and which do not. One may start out with murderers, only to continue to rapists, terrorists, traitors of the state – until even petty theft is a crime punishable by death. Who could possibly presume to have the final answers here?

    Supporters of the death penalty frequently quote the bible, namely Exodus 21:12, "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death." In doing so, they hope to counter arguments using the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). But the bible can be quoted right back at them (John 8:7): “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” As no human on this planet is without sin, no one should be so arrogant as to decide over life and death in judicial matters.

    In conclusion, I would say that the death penalty is barbaric, misses the point of justice and confuses lust for revenge with appropriate punishment.

 

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