Is Death Penalty Effective?

Is Death Penalty Effective?

Death penalty refers to a punishment accorded to a person that seriously breaks the laws. In particular, penalty refers to the condemnation for breaking the normal regulations and rules. The majority of people in the modern society are convinced that the government should ban the death penalty. However, there is a section that proposes the death penalty, given its relevance and effectiveness at a time when the rates of crime are at all time high. Indeed, the effectiveness of death penalty is evident in the increased safety concerns and minimized use of government resources. Besides, the capital punishment has a tendency to defer the rates of crime.

            The application of capital punishment deters citizens of a specified country from committing heinous crimes such as rape, murder, and child defilement. The majority of people fear death. They are well aware that death is a possible consequence of their criminal actions, hence less likely to participate in the execution of crimes. Offenders mostly fear death inflicted deliberately by the law. In fact, it is the only penalty that can stop inmates serving life imprisonment from attempting to kill prison guards and wardens. Since the society is mostly interested in murder prevention, application of the strongest form of punishment is the best chance to deter strings of murders and extreme crimes.

Additionally, death penalty minimizes instances of recidivism. Studies indicate that in countries where the death penalty is inapplicable, a significant percentage of previously convicted criminals engage in criminal acts after their release. Execution of a criminal implies that he has a zero chance of committing crimes again. However, the existing evidence of death penalty as a deterrent can be inconclusive because it takes a significant amount of time to be carried out. In the United States, for instance, the state places some prisoners on a death row for numerous years before they can eventually be executed. While this cannot rule out capital punishment as the most appropriate sentence for high-profile offenders, delays influence the effectiveness of deterrence (Jones, 2013). Notably, death penalties carried out swiftly set better precedence for others in the future.

Furthermore, the death penalty and other forms of capital punishment carry out just retribution. When the offenders deserve the punishment they get, the society is morally protected due to the restoration of order. Eventually, the courts make the wrongdoers pay a price equivalent to the harms they have inflicted in the society. The order in the society is disturbed by committing crimes. In essence, such offences rob peace, lives, and liberties from the innocent members of the society. Therefore, provision of a death penalty as an ultimate form of punishment is the best way to restore law and order in the society and to justly punish the criminal for wrongdoing. Moreover, retribution serves justice not only for victims of murder but also their families and friends. It is true that some people can take this legal move for revenge, but the truth is death penalty is motivated by the principle of lex talionis (Williams, 2012).

In summary, it is clear that death penalty is an asset to the society because it serves as a form of retribution to criminals.  Further, capital punishment deters potential criminals. In light of this, it is necessary for a nation to unite behind the idea rather than brushing it off as an outdated form of punishment. The death penalty is an extremely useful tool to sentence criminals that commit some of the worst crimes.

References

Jones, S. J. (2013). Coalition Building in the Anti-Death Penalty Movement: Privileged Morality, Race Realities. Lanham, Md: Lexington Books.

Williams, M. E. (2012). The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven Press.