“ For hundreds of years people have considered capital punishment a deterrence of crime. Seven hundred and five individuals have died since 1976, by means of capital punishment; twenty-two of these executions have already occurred this year at Death Penalty Information Center”, exclaims Tara Volpe in her article, Capital Punishment: Does Death Equal Justice? In another article written by Coretta King, the author states that, “In recent years, an increase of violence in America, both individual and political, has prompted a backlash of public opinion on capital punishment”. Capital punishment is a tremendous issue that faces the criminal justice system. Some people think that capital punishment is a good idea for those who commit capital or very serious crimes; on the other hand, some people believe that capital punishment is wrong. In reality, capital punishment is wrong for several reasons. According to the free online dictionary, “capital punishment” is defined as the penalty of death for the commission of a crime. There are several words, which are the same as capital punishments are execution, death sentence, judicial murder and death warrant.
To begin with, capital punishment is wrong because it is immoral and unfair. Some people are subjected to capital punishment even when there is speculation as to whether they actually committed the specified crime. A known case of this kind was the one involving David Spense who was given the death penalty even though there was no substantial, concrete evidence to pin the crimes he was being charged. The homicide detective responsible for conducting the investigation clearly said “there was no physical evidence connecting David Spense to the crime” (Volpe). According to the article “Capital Punishment: Does Death Equal Justice,” those who testify against these criminals maybe bribed or coerced into doing the act. More to it the article reiterates that there have been quite a number of cases in which people that were nearly given capital punishment were save by “last minute presentation of evidence. This is construed to mean capital punishment is bad practice. It ends up killing people who don’t deserve to die. The worst part of the matter is that capital punishment is irreversible.
Secondly, capital punishment is not even worth it because it does not stop or reduce criminal acts. Michael Meltsner points out that “capital punishment is done in privacy and infrequently” hence capital punishment as a deterrent does not work at all (Volpe). In other words, capital punishment is done in itself and not to prevent anything. The statistics in the article shows that death penalty prove the lack of deterrence. For instance, the average of murder rates per 100,000 population in 1999 among death penalty states was 5.5, whereas the average of murder rates among death penalty was only 3.6. NEED SUPPORT or ENOUGH SUPPORT??? Lastly, capital punishment is a bad option because it is very expensive. The statistics in the article shows that California had spent approximately about nine millions dollars annually on execution itself. It is a waste of millions of dollars for death sentence. It would be better for capital criminals be used for community services such as land conservation projects, and road construction. By doing this, there are less expenses and what is at best for the criminal is made to contribute to society progress. The criminal can also be rehabilitated especially if the culprit has mental or psychological issues. Volpe states that life imprisonment costs less than execution. These criminals should go for rehabilitation for treatments and mental diagnosis. They can change their ways and become productive citizens for the society.
In contrast to opponents’ views mentioned above, the supporters of capital punishment oppose that, the practice should still be protected in the justice system. They completely ignore the benefits of saving cost, eliminating inhuman conduct of the practice and saving the innocents from being killed wrongly.
In conclusion, some people believe that capital punishment is wrong. It is such as waste of money on execution only. Capital punishment have no deterrent the crimes. Capital punishment is immoral and unfair.
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