Abolishing the Death Penalty in America
Abolishing the Death Penalty in America
The death penalty has always been a controversial topic in the United States. It is outlawed in 16 states, but it should be abolished in all fifty states. The act of the death penalty is irrational, costly, inhumane, and religiously immoral. Taking an individual’s life, because he/she murdered someone is senseless and is not a good representation of the United States.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another out but similar that breed their kind” (quoted in Costanzo 95). This shows why the act of the death penalty is not a deterrence to future criminals. If an individual truly feels the need to harm someone else, he/she will do it regardless of the consequences. By putting a murderer to death the, law is killing people, an act they are trying to deter people from.
Philosopher Emmanuel Kant made an argument stating that killing someone for deterrence is using them as a tool, and it is unjust within itself (Pojman 70). Many think that by having the death penalty as a consequence for first degree murder, the rates of homicide will drop, because it will “put fear into the hearts of people”(Costanzo 96), but that is not correct. In a survey done by the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of murders in a state implementing the death penalty within the last twenty years have been higher than in a state without the penalty. As recently as 2010, the murder rate of states with the penalty was 25% greater than states without the penalty (“Deterrence”). Those statistics show that although the law may stop a few individuals, it is not a considerable enough number to call it deterrence.
As well as seeing deterrence as a justifiable reason for the death penalty, individuals believe it is an act of fairness and retribution. They see it as a way of “maintaining the distribution of civic burdens”, and a method of payback, which is the “eye for an
The death penalty has always been a controversial topic in the United States. It is outlawed in 16 states, but it should be abolished in all fifty states. The act of the death penalty is irrational, costly, inhumane, and religiously immoral. Taking an individual’s life, because he/she murdered someone is senseless and is not a good representation of the United States.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another out but similar that breed their kind” (quoted in Costanzo 95). This shows why the act of the death penalty is not a deterrence to future criminals. If an individual truly feels the need to harm someone else, he/she will do it regardless of the consequences. By putting a murderer to death the, law is killing people, an act they are trying to deter people from.
Philosopher Emmanuel Kant made an argument stating that killing someone for deterrence is using them as a tool, and it is unjust within itself (Pojman 70). Many think that by having the death penalty as a consequence for first degree murder, the rates of homicide will drop, because it will “put fear into the hearts of people”(Costanzo 96), but that is not correct. In a survey done by the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of murders in a state implementing the death penalty within the last twenty years have been higher than in a state without the penalty. As recently as 2010, the murder rate of states with the penalty was 25% greater than states without the penalty (“Deterrence”). Those statistics show that although the law may stop a few individuals, it is not a considerable enough number to call it deterrence.
As well as seeing deterrence as a justifiable reason for the death penalty, individuals believe it is an act of fairness and retribution. They see it as a way of “maintaining the distribution of civic burdens”, and a method of payback, which is the “eye for an
Cited: Martin’s, 1997. Print. Products. 2006. Ebook collection. Nathanson, Stephen. An Eye for an Eye?: the Morality of Punishing by Death. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield, 1987 Pojman, Louis P, and Jeffrey H. Reiman. Death Penalty: For and Against. Rowan and Littlefield, 1998 “State Execution Rates.” Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 31 Oct. 2011.