King Hammurabi of Babylon

As part of the Hittite Code from the fourteenth century B.C. and the Attic Draconian Code from the seventeenth century, King Hammurabi of Babylon instituted the death sentence in the eighteenth century B.C. by outlining 25 crimes that would result in death. (Hildebrandt, 2008). The Twelve Tablets Law of Athens and Rome established the death sentence as the only sanction for all other crimes. People were executed by being crucified, being beaten to death, being drowned in water, and being burned alive. (Mc Gann & Sandholtz, 2012). In Britain, the usual method of executing people in the Tenth Century A.D was through hanging. However, William the Conqueror allowed hanging to be carried for only people who were captured in the times of the war. In sixteen Century, the trends for executing changed under the reign of Henry VIII. At this time, people thrown in boiling water, hanged, burned, and also drowned. Such execution was carried due to such offenses like treason, failure to confess to a crime as well as marrying a Jew. By the next two Centuries, the number of capital crimes continued to rise in Britain. Moreover, people were punished for petty crimes such as stealing or cutting down a tree (Mc Gann & Sandholtz, 2012). Americans were influenced to use death penalty by the Britain, and the settlers carried the punishment to the new world. Death row inmates have been sentenced to death, which can be carried, by electrocution, hanging, or administering a lethal drug. Death penalty is reserved to serious crimes such as murder and robbery with violence as a way of punishing the criminals as well as deterring the public from committing similar crimes.

Death sentence should be carried out on capital crimes since whenever a person is subjected to this kind of punishment; it creates fear to others who intend to repeat the same issue. The death sentence is currently one of the most controversial issues in the world. It is the best way to deal with the hardcore criminals, as it is very harsh kind of punishment. Retribution suggests that people commit crimes of killings should be punished through death penalty as a way of giving the same measure hence neither over-punishment nor under-punishment is done to them. There is a relationship between the death penalty and reduced rate of murder (Hildebrandt, 2008). It means that because those who kill others are also put to death, the rate of killings is likely to reduce. Many countries support death penalties; for example, Japan, Korea, Pakistan among others. It is the last resort to the perpetrators of the crime (Hildebrandt, 2008). The kind of punishment is inevitable for perpetrators of heinous crime like murder, as it is the only penalty, which gives the offenders the same amount of experience. Other forms of punishment like long-term jail do not grossly disproportionate to the capital offense. In this case, most countries advocates for capital punishment for those people who have committed similar crimes. It means that the constitutions of these countries to support this type of punishments and have approved it to be practiced. Death punishment also is so heinous that s serves as a better example to others who intend to do the same kind of offense. In this case, this concept does not mean that it is revenge, but rather it is a way of putting the offenders into an equal pain like the one inflicted on the victim. In the long-run, capital crimes are likely to reduce once all the perpetrators are put to death.

Death punishment minimizes the pain that is felt by the families of the victim who had suffered at the hands of the offenders and money used for life jail terms is saved for other uses. . Retribution is also a way of reducing the commission of capital crimes in the whole world. Death penalty in some of the states in America is conducted using lethal injection. It means that the convict seems to be calm and peaceful and dies a painless death. The convicted criminal is killed by injecting them with an anesthetic that would paralyze them before giving them a drug to stop their heartbeat (Warden, 2009). Life sentence for the person who has committed high crimes like murder is a waste of money to the state, as they have to cater for their expenses throughout the rest of their lives that they will live in prison. For example, the state has to bear the burden of covering the costs of the prisoner whenever they are sick and needs treatments. The old aged also needs special care, and they are just prisoners who had committed murder and death was their inevitable judgment. Thus, instead of jailing criminals for life and spending millions of dollars every year, capital offenders should be given death penalty. The money used on such criminals can be used to fund useful projects for American citizens. In this case, the overall costs of death penalty seem to be lower and should be carried upon each convict who commits murder and other capital offences.

On the other hand, the death penalty should be abolished because no one has the right to take away the life but only God who is the giver of life (Gudorf, 2013). In some countries like America, it is unfairly conducted as it is done through racial discrimination. For instance, more black Americans are convicted to death penalty compared to the white Americans, as the latter they are accorded more value than the black Americans are (Warden, 2009). The rate at which African Americans are sentenced to death is very high, and white Americans are left free though they have similar crimes. The black American who kills a white is more likely to be sentenced to death punishment than a white American who kills a person from the black race. The act is also carried out on the poor who are unable to bribe judges to rule in their favor. Moreover, the poor are always not in the position of hire experienced lawyers to defend them. The public lawyers cannot defend them also as they are not very willing because they are underpaid. The poor are then denied their justice and can be put to death for petty offenses. Furthermore, innocent people end up to death due lacking money to hire a lawyer.

Death penalty fails to recognize that the guilty people who have been committing the crime have the potential to change their behavior, thus should be abolished. It is not good to deny them the opportunity to rejoin in the society and to learn from their mistakes. When a person is executed to the death sentence, it shows that they are beyond redemption and beyond being allowed to live in the society. However, every person deserves a second chance as many learn more from their own mistakes. Many people who are on the death row only lacked a second chance, which could have helped them to change. Most of the people fall the victims of death penalty due to the factors such as poverty or mental illness. It means that there are those people who commit crimes due to poverty and given a chance, they can correct their mistakes (Goel, 2008). Others are not in their sane minds when committing crimes such as murder. Many prisoners have shown signs of change and have transformed their lives despite horrific conditions that are behind the prison bars that they are forced to go through. It means that condemning them and executing them to die in prison is an act that denies them an opportunity to participate as well as contribute towards building their society. Death punishment reduces the human resources in the society because one is not given a chance to build the society through working. It means that a country that performs death penalty loses able men and women who could have are useful in the country by working and paying tax in the country. When given a chance the convicts can change and be useful even in the prisons especially those with professions that can be relied upon by other prisoners. For example, the teachers who get on the wrong side of the law and are convicted to death penalty ends up dying with all the knowledge that could have been utilized better by their inmates if they were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In conclusion, the execution of death punishment has been serving as a strong deterrent to serious crimes such as killing and robbery in violence in many countries. However, I would not support the death penalty because the punishment is strongly demeaning the human dignity and it does not value life. In addition, the act is in disregard to the rights of the humankind, and many religions do not advocate for it. The convict does suffer pain and suffering whenever the anesthetic drugs that are used to render them unconscious is not enough, and if they are not administered a second dose they end up feeling much pain than expected. Some counties leave their convicts to die having taken about two hours, which should not be in executions. However, other countries like the United Kingdom no longer execute their prisoners as they used to before. In addition, most of the states in America have always abandoned the act. I feel that death penalty should be abolished because human life is sacred and no one should cut short another person’s life. Imposing death penalty to the other person is interfering with the human’s right to life. People who kill others should be punished severely but not through death penalty, as two wrongs do not make a right. In other words, people who commit crimes should be convicted proportionately and punished through other means such as life sentence rather than death. I, therefore, feel that countries should come up with one agreement to abolish death punishment and allow the convicts to live, as it is also a way to offer them a second chance to change for better.

References

Goel, V. (2008). Capital Punishment: A Human Right Examination Case Study and Jurisprudence. International NGO Journal, 3(9), 152-161.

Gudorf, C. (2013). Christianity and Opposition to the Death Penalty: Late Modern Shifts. Dialog, 52(2), 99-109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dial.12024

Hildebrandt, S. (2008). Capital punishment and Anatomy: History and Ethics of an Ongoing Association. Clinical Anatomy, 21(1), 5-14.

Mc Gann, A., & Sandholtz, W. (2012). Patterns of Death Penalty Abolition, 1960-2005: Domestic and International Factors1. International Studies Quarterly, 56(2), 275-289. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2478.2011.00716.x

Warden, R. (2009). Reflections on Capital Punishment. Nw. JL & Soc. Pol’y, 4, 329.