The Death Penalty Is Morally Unjustified

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Death Penalty is Morally Unjustified Due to Its Non-Deterrent Nature, Failure to Provide Justice, and Associated Risks of Executing Innocent People Capital punishment is the extreme form of punishment associated with the killing of a criminal linked to a particular offense. Societies have historically used the death sentence as a way of eliminating extreme wrong doers. Tribal communities have always found the penalty appealing since it is immediate, direct, and debilitating. Some of the old methods of capital punishment include crucifixion, slow slicing, disembowelment, burning, stoning, decapitation, and strangulation. Most modern techniques of capital punishment include shooting, lethal gas or air chamber, electrocution, and hanging (National Research Council 43). The death penalty is morally unjustified due to its non-deterrent nature, failure to provide justice and associated risks of executing innocent personnel. 1. The Controversy about Capital Punishment The use of capital penalty has become increasingly controversial, especially, in the developed countries such as the United States of America and Japan, which are the only common ones that have continued to practice the vice. Statistics indicate that out of 250 people added to death row, 354 are executed. In the United States, Death penalty was initially abolished on the argument that it was cruel and unusual. The abolishment was later reversed after the introduction of new methods of execution. There are various methods of capital punishment, and some are considered more humane. In 1920, developed nations agreed that lethal gas chamber was more humane compared to electrocution. The first state that adopted the gas chamber mode of execution was Nevada (Garland 26). Abolitio... ... middle of paper ... ...e severity of murder in the community. The paper observes the increased risk of executing innocent individuals and the irrevocable nature associated with such risk. In the past, the United States criminal justice system has made similar errors that almost led to the execution of innocent individuals. Currently, there are individuals on death row due to lack of DNA evidence. Such individuals remain hopeless about the possibility for their exoneration that contributes to higher chances for the execution of innocent lives. An evaluation of the national perspectives on the mode of death penalty administration revealed that more blacks have suffered from the vice as opposed to the whites in similar homicide situations. The argument that prosecutors require some discretion in charging death penalty further depicts the lack of objective structures associated with the vice.

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