Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished: Views shared between Utilitarians, Egalitarians, Altruists and supporters of the Divine Command Theory

Looking out for the state of the public's satisfaction in the scheme of capital sentencing does not constitute serving justice. Today's system of capital punishment is thick with inequalities and injustices. The commonly offered arguments for the death penalty are filled with holes." It was a deterrent. It removed killers. It was the ultimate punishment. It is biblical. It satisfied the public's need for retribution. It relieved the anguish of the victim's family." All of these reasons prove to either be wrong or not fully supported. Morally, it is a continuation of the cycle of violence and degrades all who are involved in its enforcement, as well as its victim.

Someone who supports the Divine Command Theory, or someone who believes solely in God's will, would say that capital punishment is wrong for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that executing someone is a lot like "playing God." Executing a person kills them before the time of their natural death. Most Christians believe that God places people on Earth for a specific reason, or purpose. If our government kills them before it's their "time," then we may be defying God's will. Another reason a person who supports the Divine Command Theory might have against capital punishment is that executing a person is practically "sending them to Hell." Some Christians believe that an individual who dies without being "saved" will go to Hell inevitably. If the government executes them before their natural time of death, they are taking away the chances that the person might have of going to Heaven.

A Utilitarian view holds true in many of the reasons that are commonly used to bash capital punishment. A Utilitarian, or someone who believes in maximizing social utility, would say that capital punishment affects society negatively. It lowers the significance of human life and causes society to be desensitized to brutality. A Utilitarian would agree with this statement because it is not creating what is best, all in all, for a society- it's making it worse. Another reason is the lack of prevention. In no way has the death penalty shown that it stops or lowers homicide rates, in fact, in some cases, it seems to have made homicide rates actually increase. Another reason that a Utilitarian would support against capital punishment would be cost issues. It actually costs more money to execute a person than it would cost to incarcerate them for a lifetime. This is not maximizing social utility because people end up paying more money for brutality, rather than civility. The next reason a Utilitarian would support is that of the possibility of inaccuracy. Many times, prisoners on death row are found to be innocent. Their death sentences are then revoked, but the problem lies within the people that are found to innocent once they've already been executed. This goes against Utilitarian views because by killing one person, you are not maximizing their social utility- you are taking away from society what that person may have been able to contribute. The next argument is that the family of the prisoner executed also suffers. They are treated like they have also committed a crime and often are ridiculed and demoralized. The same thing holds true in this case, those people are being taken away from being able to contribute to society and in fact, are indirectly playing a part in its decline. The next thing a Utilitarian would support is the fact that the death penalty is virtually ineffective. The person does not learn a lesson because they are not alive to feel the repercussions and the person they killed is not there to feel like justice has been served. In essence, nobody wins, the killing is a continuous, worthless cycle. It is not maximizing social utility because money, time and effort are wasted on something that is not contributing positively to society in any way. Lastly, a view that is shared between Egalitarians and Utilitarians is that capital punishment is unfair. Statistics show that the mentally ill, males, the poor, and racial minorities are much more likely to be executed. A Utilitarian would agree with this because unfairness does not contribute positively to society, it only creates more tension and viciousness. An Egalitarian, or someone who cares only about equality, would strongly agree with this because it goes against everything that our society bases its principles on.

Last but not least, an Altruist would support the following statement against the death penalty: Capital punishment contradicts the purity of human life. Human life is so priceless that nobody should ever be executed, regardless of societal rank. An Altruist, or someone who believes solely in the interests of others, would agree with this because regardless of the crime, most criminals would prefer not to be executed- and an Altruist would support their best interests.

Long ago when societies were unfortunately more barbaric, the death penalty was widely accepted. Luckily, nowadays through various mediums- including Utilitarians, Altruists, Egalitarians and people who also support the Divine Command Theory, the death penalty is being widely criticized and will hopefully be abolished.