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Rogerian essay on Death penalty

Death penalty has always been one of the most controversial topics in the past

decades. Death penalty, also known as capital punishment is a practice where an

individual is executed by the state as a punishment for a serious crime. Crimes

punished through capital punishment are referred to capital offenses, or capital crimes

and include; treason, rape, murder, and genocide just to mention a few. Currently,

most countries have abolished capital punishment and fifty-six countries around the

world only retain it. Capital punishment has always elicited different reactions among

individuals. There are those who believe that death punishment is ideal for punishing

capital offences while others claim that death penalty is an inhumane practice that

should be abolished.

Individuals who support death penalty argue that it deters crimes. Data from

several studies show that in countries when death penalty is used to punish severe

crimes, there is a decrease in crimes such as murder. Whenever an inmate is executed

for a crime, potential criminals develop the fear to commit a similar crime because

they are aware that they will face a similar form of punishment. According to

Muhlhausen, execution on average is associated with a decrease of three murders,

both those involving crimes of passion and murders of intimates. Also, execution

deters the murder of whites and African Americans hence helps save lives

(Muhlhausen n.p). He further notes that the short waits on death row are linked to
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increased deterrence. For instance, when an additional 2.75-year reduction is included

in a death row, a murder is deterred.

In addition supporters of death penalty believe criminals involved in capital

offenses such as murder, and rape deserve the punishment because of the severity of

their crimes towards humanity.They argue that without capital punishment, the

number of capital offences will escalate because criminals are not afraid of any forms

of punishment (Barkan and Cohn 202). Moreover, if criminals are not punished

severely, they will take advantage of the weaker individuals in the society. Some of

the criminals are hardcores, who often repeat the offences. According to some studies,

individuals who escape the death penalty are likely to repeat the crime. Besides,

criminals responsible for offenses such as rape and murder are a threat to other people

if they are alive so eliminating them is the best solution to avoid hurting and losing

more innocent lives. Sentencing such criminals to death penalty in some cases gives

closure to their families because they will live at peace knowing that the criminal has

face justice.

Those on the opposition argue that human life is very important, and there are

other forms of punishment that could be used to punish such crimes. Various

organizations have come up to condemn capital punishment claiming that the practice

is unacceptable because it is a violation of the human rights. For instance, in 1999,

the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) passed a resolution

supporting the ban of capital punishment worldwide. The resolution notes that all

countries should stop capital punishment (OHCHR n.p). However, several countries

including China and the United States, voted against the resolution. The countries
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supporting the banning of death penalty claimed that human life is important and the

death penalty does not value human life because it kills people against their own will.

Human beings have the right to life, and their lives should not be taken for

granted. Moreover, killing a criminal does not undo their actions. Life is God-given

and no one else has the right to take away another human’s life. Instead of killing

criminals, the judiciary could use other forms of punishment to deal with the offender.

Killing is also not encouraged by some religions. Christians, for instance, do not

believe in killing. In the Ten Commandments, the sixth commnandments’Thou shall

not kill’ forbids them from taking away another person’s life. Christians therefore are

against the practice as the commandment discourages the execution of individuals.

Individual against the practice believe that death penalty should not be practiced in

any country around the world. Instead, judicial systems should adopt other forms of

punishment such as life imprisonment.

Death sentence should be banned because sometimes, innocent individuals end

up being killed. There have been cases where individuals were killed for crimes they

did not commit. For instance, if an individual accidentally murders another person,

they are sentenced to death penalty even if they did not intend to kill the person.

There are also cases where individuals sentenced for death penalty are proven

innocent before being killed. Examples include Charles Irvin Fain, who served on a

death row for seventeen years before being exonerated through DNA testing for a

murder and rape he did not commit. Another example includes Ryan Matthews who

also served for five years on a death row for a murder he did not commit. He was later

released in 2004 (Innocentproject n.p). It is unfair is a person is put through emotional

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and physical suffering and in the end up killed, only evidence to resurface later that

the person was innocent.

In addition, death penalty is a barbaric form of punishment that needs to be

abolished. Individuals sentenced to death penalty undergo a series of suffering before

their death. Some are given unbearable electric shocks so that they can confess. In

other cases, they are forced to renounce their beliefs with terrifying threats that they

will be killed (Franck, Nyman and Schabas 35). Moreover, the methods used when

carrying out death penalty are very painful and cause the individual a lot of suffering

before they die. Some of them include lethal injections, stoning to death, shooting or

hanging (Gershman 17). Death penalty is an ultimate torture because it does not

guarantee immediate death. Instead, criminals on death row are tormented physically

and emotionally little by little.

There are also unfair cases where criminals sentenced to death penalty are

suffering from mental illnesses in such cases; the sentence does not deter crime

because they will not refrain from engaging in inhumane acts. Instead, such

individuals should be treated and given the right medication to help with their

condition. There are also cases where criminals regret their actions and seek

repentance while in prison. Such people become transformed and change their

behaviors for good. Some even become born again and serve as pastors preaching and

spreading their word of God. Their actions and testimonies serve as motivational

stories for other people in the world and they become role models to other criminals.

If the death penalty is not abolished, such individuals will not have a chance to repent

and become good citizens.

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In conclusion, while some people argue that death penalty deters crimes, it is

important to note that it does not completely deter individuals from committing

certain acts Death penalty needs to be abandoned because every individual has the

right to life. When we kill people against their own will, we deny them the right to life

hence take their lives for granted. Moreover, killing according to Christianity is a sin

because the sixth commandments forbids Christians from killing. Instead of death

penalty, the government can adopt other forms of punishment such as life

imprisonment. Some of the criminals are suffering from mental illness hence killing

them does not solve the problem; instead, they need to be treated and receive the right

forms of medication. In other cases, people end up being killed for crimes they did

not commit. If the death penalty is banned, we will not lose innocent lives.
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Work Cited

Franck, Hans Göran, Klas Nyman and William Schabas. The Barbaric punishment :

Abolishing the death penalty. Vol. 12. New York : Kluwer Law International,

2003.

Barkan, Steven E and Steven F Cohn. "Racial prejudice and support for the death

penalty by whites." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 31 (1994):

202--209.

Gershman, Gary P. Death penalty on trial : a handbook with cases, laws, and

documents. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, 2005.

Innocentproject. The Innocent and the Death Penalty. 02 October 2009. 20 July 2020

file://localhost/<https/::www.innocenceproject.org:the-innocent-and-the-

death-penalty:>.

Muhlhausen, David. The Death Penalty Deters Crime and Saves Lives. 27 June 2007.

20 July 2020 file://localhost/<https/::www.heritage.org:testimony:the-death-

penalty-deters-crime-and-saves-lives>.

OHCHR. Human Rights Council holds high-level panel on the death penalty, in

particular with respect to the rights to non-discrimination and equality. 26

February 2019. 20 July 2020

file://localhost/<https/::www.ohchr.org:EN:HRBodies:HRC:Pages:NewsDetai

l.aspx%3FNewsID=24215&LangID=E>.