Belief in capital punishment

Posted by Winnie Melda on October 8th, 2018

Introduction

The research today on the effect of capital punishment on crime tend not to be informative about whether capital punishment increases, decreases, or has no effect on the crime rates. There are different reasons that tend to support or be against capital punishment. The ethical, religious, and philosophical values are central to the controversy over capital punishment. The aim of this paper is to describe the belief of capital punishment and its relationship in deterring crime. The paper will also discuss some of the ethical issues related to capital punishment.

Capital punishment

Irrespective of the strong support for capital punishment, the state, local, and federal officials should ensure that the implementation of capital punishment upholds the constitutional protection like equal protection and due process of the law. It is also necessary to ensure that the criminal process is not abused so as to prevent the lawful imposition of capital punishment in appropriate capital cases. Most people normally feel that killing a convicted murderer will satisfy their needs for justice. People feel that certain crimes are very heinous; hence, executing the criminal tends to be the only reasonable response.  In the case of some Christians, they hold the same belief where the need for vengeance tends to overrule their ability of forgiving. In the aspect of deterrence, most people tend to feel that the capital punishment will deter criminals from committing certain heinous acts. The society tends to have a history of trying to use punishment in scaring criminals from committing crimes (Cloninger & Roberto 2001). Most people have the opinion that because the society has the highest interest in murder prevention, it must only use the highest deterrent, which is capital punishment. The common view is that if the murderers are sentenced to death and killed, the future murderers will be deterred for fear of their loss of life.

There are several studies that tend to suggest that there is the deterrent value of capital punishment. The theory that usually lies behind the deterrent aspect of capital punishment is that criminals usually sense its use and plan accordingly based on the reality. The deterrence theory can help explain capital punishment effect on crime in that it supposes that increase in the risk of apprehension and punishment for crime tends to deter individuals from committing a crime (Cloninger & Roberto 2001). The criminals are not different from law abiding people. According to proponents of the deterrent effect of capital punishment, they suggest that criminals tend to rationally maximize their self-interest subject to the constraints that they face in the marketplace. The proponents believe that the criminal activities tend to increase when there is the perceived belief that communities will not use capital punishment. According to Cloninger & Roberto (2001), the deterrent effect of capital punishment tends to lie in the commitment of the community to using it. The proponents claim that when criminals realize that capital punishment will be used, it tend to prevent recidivist activity from increasing, and it relays to other criminals that the actions will not be tolerated.

There are certain investigations that indicate a strong link between the execution and reduced murder rates. In a 2003 study conducted by Emory University researchers with data more than 3000 counties from 1977 to 1996, it found that each execution resulted in fewer murders per county (Dezhbakhsh, et al. 2003). A recent study by Kenneth Land of Duke University concluded that from 1994 to 2005, each execution is done in Texas associated with a short-term reduction in homicide, with a decrease of up to 2.5 murders (Teske et al. 2009).

In regards to the relationship of capital punishment and deterring impact on crime, opponents claim that capital punishment does not deter crime, but increases the murder rates because the state through the executions tends to devalue the human life. There is also the argument that because the murders are usually unplanned and impulsive; capital punishment does not deter the murders. When a murderer is in such an emotional state, it is unlikely that they will think about the possibility of execution (Teske et al. 2009). There is also the other claim that capital punishment may encourage homicide through legitimizing the killing of enemies. Some of the studies from New York and London have found an increase in the homicides after highly publicized executions instead of a decrease consistent with deterrence.

When considering capital punishment relationship for deterring crime, it tends not to have a positive relationship. In this case, it assumes that the fear of receiving punishment will deter crime. In case this is true, people will not be committing crimes like doing drugs or speeding on highways because of fear they would be prosecuted (Liu, 2003). Human behavior shows that rational human instincts do not deter people from crime, and if that ever happened, we would not need to use capital punishment. If there is or no capital punishment, people will still continue committing crimes.

While some support and object that capital punishment has a deterrent effect, there is also the issue of ethics about capital punishment. Ethics that relate with capital punishment is that everyone has the right to life. Opponents claim that everyone has the right to decide whether to die or live even those who commit crimes. Capital punishment undermines the human dignity that is fundamental to every human being (Liu, 2003). Another issue is that capital punishment does violate the right of a person to be subjected to torture and inhumane punishment which is immoral. Sentencing a person to death and executing them does violate the right to life; hence, opponents consider capital punishment as being unethical.

In the argument of capital punishment, proponents claim that the person who commits the murder tend to forfeit the right to life of another person; hence, they do not have the right to life if they deprived someone else’s right. There is also the ethical issue that arises in the case of executing an innocent person. If there is no capital punishment, there is a risk to innocent people that the convicted murderer released may kill again. There is also the situation whereby if there is capital punishment, there is a risk that an innocent person can be put to death.

Conclusion

Capital punishment continues to be a debated issue in the society. it is the aim of the criminal justice system to protect the society and rehabilitate criminals for those not rehabilitated. The topic of capital punishment indicates how controversial moral principles, social goals, and disputed fact are balanced and assessed. Ethical issues are always at the forefront on the permissibility of capital punishment as a way of deterring crime and also making criminals pay for their heinous acts against individuals and the society.

Reference

Cloninger, O & Roberto M (2001). Execution and Deterrence: A Quasi-Controlled Group Experiment, Applied Economics, 35(5)

Dezhbakhsh H, Rubin, P & Shepherd, J (2003). Does Capital Punishment Have a Deterrent Effect? New Evidence from Post-moratorium Panel Data. American Law and Economics Association, 5(2), 344

Liu, Z (2003). Capital Punishment and the Deterrence Hypothesis, Eastern Economic Journal

Zheng, H Land, K & Teske, R (2009). Short-Term Effects of Executions on Homicides: Deterrence, Displacement, or Both? Criminology

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for non plagiarized essay for sale.