Capital Punishment : Hanging on a thread (Capital punishment)

Name: laura lettuce

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Product:	Capital punishment
Date:	14/08/01 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reduces risk to others in some cases

Disadvantages: A life cannot be given back

Although I do not agree with the death penalty in most cases, I do believe that if a person has committed a particularly heinous crime, then such punishment could be acceptable.

I would like to start by firstly explaining the reasons why I am mostly against capital punishment. It is often thought that the government wastes money by keeping criminals in prison, and paying for their necessities, and that the death penalty would be a cheaper option. However, this is not always the case, and while a prisoner serving a life sentence may have up to £400,000 spent on their case, it is estimated that a single death penalty case ranges from £800,000 to over £2 million. The money spent on capital punishment could be used to provide better services and resources for communities such as schools and hospitals.

Also, many people think that the death penalty could be a deterrent, helping to reduce crime rates. This could be true for a small percentage of people who are likely to commit a crime, although by looking at crime rates from a country where the death penalty has been abolished, and comparing this to a country's crime rate where the death penalty is still in practise, we can see that it really does not make a significant difference to crime rates whether the criminals are threatened with capital punishment or not.

Looking at the individual criminal themself, there are many complications which determine whether or not a person should be put on death row. A person who is mentally retarded has a below-average intellect and they may have the behaviour which would more often be expected of a child. If a mentally retarded person was put under pressure, as criminals are, having been arrested, then they could admit to a crime without realising it, or sign a confession without understanding it and without any help. This is particularly so in cases where the criminal does not know of, or has not been told of the importance of a lawyer at such times. We
could be putting an innocent man onto death row and taking away his life because of a confession made by a scared, confused person. In general, mentally retarded people are eager to please others, and so they may often answer 'yes' to questions when they do not understand what they are even being asked. How can we be certain that this person is aware of what is happening around them?

The same could be said about ascertaining the guilt. Unless we have evidence, such as DNA samples which cannot be inaccurate, how can we be sure a person is guilty? If a person is sent to prison, and after several years, further evidence is found, proving this persons innocence, they can be let out into the community within months. A persons life can never be replaced. Most would agree that it is wrong to kill a person, and by forcing capital punishment upon a person, surely this is also murder. surely this is pure hypocrisy?

In a case where the criminal shows no remorse for a heinous crime, I think that it could be acceptable to kill the person by capital punishment, but only if the prisoner was not thought to be able to reform themself, and thus would pose a great threat to the community, or even those in a prison.

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