Capital Punishment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Capital Punishment - Research Paper Example Although the United States remains the only western country imposing the death penalty, the issue is subject to much public debate. Much of the debates surrounding capital punishment entail moral and ethical issues in the society as well as in the lives of individuals. This is because capital punishment involves a state-authorized termination to an individual’s life (Grover, 2011). The perceptions of many people opposed to capital punishment rests on the value of life, and the wrongness in executing murder. These arguments take different forms including the deficiency of revenge as a motivation, the unreliability of the criminal justice system, an alleged racial prejudice in executions, a supposed lack of statistically confirmable deterrence, extreme governmental power, the likelihood of executing a blameless person, and among some Christians, the dissolution of Christian love (Charles, 1994). Discussion For the proponents of death penalty, the main reason for advocating for capital punishment is that it deters prospective criminals. In this case, capital punishment advocates have a belief that when people in the society realize that if they commit murder they will face the same, then most people will avoid committing murder. Conversely, the reality is that there is no reduction in murder cases due to imposing capital punishment. This brings out the difference between perception and reality. It is true, there is a perception that imposing capital punishment will deter prospective murders but on the other hand, the reality is that there is no much deterrence in that there is no real reduction of murders after executing murderers (Grover, 2011). The opponents of capital punishment deem that by imposing capital punishment, it is possible to execute blameless people, without giving adequate time for investigation. Moreover, these opponents assert that there exists error in the criminal j ustice system that may render killing of innocent people due to various reasons. Conversely, justice asserts that someone has to suffer the consequences of the murder committed. This implies that the issue of executing an innocent person does not override the issue of justice. In addition, the perception of the criminal justice system making errors is not realistic and opponents should not solely base their arguments in this. This is because it is always possible that any legal system will have errors and that there could not be any perfect legal system (Charles, 1994). The main major reason of supporting capital system rests of the moral responsibility of the society to safeguard the safety and interests of its citizens. The assertion in this case is that those people who murder other people deprive the society of this safety and people interests. This assertion extends to the perception that the only way for the society to ensure safety of its citizens is through imposing capital punishment on murderers, which ensures that these killers do not kill again. In addition, this assertion claims that death penalty is very beneficial in the society since it deters future and more aggressive violent crime. Although there is no direct proof to support this assertion, the perception and outlook of the issue deem that when people realize that they will face murder after executing a particular crime, they will most likely restrain from committing such an act (Andre & Velasquez, 2010). Many of the