Death penalty: arguments, impacts, and policy considerations

Death Penalty

Human civilization has come a long way in terms of upholding and safeguarding basic human rights to life, liberty, dignity, equality and justice. Indeed, this trend is evident in the worldwide human rights movement that protests and fights against cruel practices such as child labor, prisoner abuse, war crimes, and domestic violence against women and children. It is, therefore, surprising that some countries continue to use the death penalty for capital crimes such as murder. Indeed, as this paper will argue, the death penalty has no place in any society that claims to be progressive, humane and just.

What constitutes a progressive human society? Surely, it is one that refuses to allow brutal punishments such as the death penalty and attempts instead to work towards rehabilitating its criminals? This is precisely the point that King raises in her article The Death Penalty Is a Step Back. Indeed, one can't but help agree with King for the very thought of the death penalty is horrible even if the sentence is carried out through the least painful method of lethal injections. For, the manner in which society kills the criminal does not take away the fact that a killing has nevertheless taken place. The issue, therefore, is that if the taking of a human life is wrong, then true progress lies in recognizing that it is wrong irrespective of whether the State does it or an average citizen does it!

People who are in favor of the death penalty often argue that it is necessary to prevent criminals from repeating their crime. In addition, they also argue that the fear of punishment by death will deter other potential criminals from killing. However, there is no hard evidence that the death penalty succeeds in bringing down the crime rate. On the other hand, it can be argued that the death penalty is an inhuman act. The very word "humane" means treating all fellow creatures, human or animal, with kindness. Thus, any society that claims to be a humane one should have no place in it for cruel punishments such as the death penalty, an act from where there is no going back and no second chances. Instead, as King points out, a humane society can be called as such only if it is kind enough to allow that even its criminals may be capable of humaneness in the future: "the death penalty reflects an unwarranted assumption that the wrongdoer is beyond rehabilitation. Perhaps some individuals cannot be rehabilitated; but who shall make that determination?" (King, p. 89)