Surname 1

Name
Tutor
Course
Date
Is Capital punishment Ethical?
Punishment in many cases is administrated with a view of correcting or rectifying a
person. But is this tool of correction really effective? Do capital punishment provide for justice
and ethics? Experts say in relation to capital punishment that without capital punishment the
lives of people in a society are less secure and crimes of violence accelerate in the society
(McNamee, Mike). People in the society however if asked they would neither support the idea of
capital punishment not repudiate it. They would find it hard to choose either sides, may be
because of the ties they have to the people who are subjected to this kind of punishment.
Different arguments can be raised in order to validate or prohibit capital punishment in
relation to ethics. This kind of punishment is majorly associated with the developing countries
(McNamee, Mike). Developing countries experience many cases of crimes of violence therefore
the perpetrators of these crimes are many and are subjected to this punishment. Some of the
reasons why capital punishment is ethical include:
Subjects to this commit gross crimes to warrant this kind of punishment, for instance
serial killing. If a less penalty for this kind of crime is given, then justice will not have been
served ("Top 10 Pros And Cons"). A long period long period of jail would look presumably
more logic but the families of murder victims would not comprehend why murder sentence has
not been applied. Ethics of justice will have been violated if death penalty is not served. A
penalty that equals murder is murder thus people who commit capital crimes should be subjected
to capital punishment.
Secondly, so that one is subjected to death penalty thorough investigation is conducted.
The accused person is represented by two highly competent attorneys and is also overseen by an
independent judge whose role is to ensure fair trial ("Capital Punishment"). This therefore
minimizes the chances of an innocent person being executed for gross crimes one did not
commit. Capital punishment, thus, in relation to fairness is ethical.
Additionally, it is unethical not to follow the constitutional laws of a country. In some
countries capital punishment is legal for capital crimes. It is impossible to hold unconstitutional
that which the constitution clearly states ("BBC - Ethics: Capital Punishment"). Being ethical
goes hand in hand with obeying the laws of the land. If the constitution provides that offenders of
gross crimes should be subjected to capital punishment then there should be no other alternative
punishment. In such a case therefore, capital punishment becomes ethical.
On the other hand, capital punishment can be seen as unethical. It can be argued that
capital punishment. Religiously a person may allude that it is unethical to settle a wrong by
doing another wrong, for instance killing someone because he or she has killed. It is moral to
correct a person through proper channels to enable the said person change for the better.
Following the morals is considered ethical therefore execution is considered unethical.
 Surname 2

In summary, according to justice, constitutional and fairness points of view capital

punishment is ethical. Perpetrators of crimes should in an equal measure be subjected to relevant
punishment. This can help build up a society with reduced crimes since people will be aware of
hefty charges that are associated with committing crimes. Therefore capital punishment is
ethical.

Works cited List

"BBC - Ethics: Capital Punishment". Bbc.Co.Uk,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/.

"Capital Punishment". American Civil Liberties Union, https://aclu.org/issues/capital-

punishment.

McNamee, Mike. "After Pistorius: Paralympic Philosophy And Ethics". Sport, Ethics And
Philosophy, vol 5, no. 4, 2011, pp. 359-361. Informa UK Limited,
doi:10.1080/17511321.2011.621393.