DEATH PENALTY
NAME
INSTITUTION
Death penalty
The death penalty has been practiced since the Mesopotamia period to punish offenders for their crimes. Capital punishment in the united states is a result of influences from the colonial era and has led to the sanction of arbitrarily selected murders(Ellsworth & Gross, 2015). For this reason, the united states remain among the minority nations globally that still uses the death penalty for particular offenses. Governments often resort to the death penalty to demonstrate that they are doing something to protect the security of a nation. Suspects of terrorism are more likely to be sentenced to death after undergoing unfair trials. Offenders are condemned based on confessions retrieved through a torturous exercise. In the modern era, several states have laws that have authorized the death penalty. Therefore, the main aim of this paper will be to illustrate how the death penalty provides an effective method of obtaining justice.
Capital punishment is a way of deterring crimes from being committed. Research shows that deterrence is the most effective way when punishment happens soon after a crime is committed. For instance, a child learns not to put their finger on fire because the outcome is painful and instant (Vidmar, & Ellsworth, 2017). When executions are painful, humiliating, and creates horror to the public, it prevents other crimes from being committed. Executing one murder means that others would be scared to commit the offense, and this is what deterring works.
It is considered as an incentive to help the police convict the criminal. Pleas bargaining is used in most countries to reduce the sentence in exchange for providing police with enough information towards a case. In instances where the possible sentence is death, an inmate as a high probability of giving incentives to reduce their sentence (Banner & Banner, 2019). It is for this reason that the death penalty is considered a useful tool for the police while conducting an investigation.
It is also a cheaper way to execute people to keep them in a correctional facility. A study conducted in California proved that it was less costly to execute a prisoner than to keep them in jail for life. This is because the state has to provide basic needs to the prisoners, such as food, shelter, and clothing. By the time the person dies, he ends up costing the taxpayers to pay more. If such a person is executed early in advance, it will reduce the cost drastically. The methods of executing prisoners are also affordable. For instance, prisoners are taken to a remote area, tied to a post, and then shot in the chests. When execution is hanging, the offender is strapped to a steel board to stop them from moving, and then they are wheeled up to a noose.
The severe punishment in the world is the death penalty. Some crimes are heinous that they deserve nothing but capital punishment. An example is when a terrorist murders millions of innocent civilians (Ellsworth & Gross, 2015). It is fair to punish the criminal by the death penalty as he is harmful to society. The severity of his crime also deserves a severe punishment to be a lesson to the rest of the offenders committing such crimes. Justice cannot be served if such a person continues to live. A murder will always murder, and most people have devoted their lives to do nothing but harm innocent lives. Killing such offenders provides an effective way to obtain justice.
References
Banner, S., & Banner, S. (2019). The death penalty: An American history. Harvard University Press.
Ellsworth, P. C., & Gross, S. R. (2015). Hardening of the Attitudes: Americans’ views on the death penalty. Journal of Social Issues, 50(2), 19-52.
Vidmar, N., & Ellsworth, P. (2017). Public opinion and the death penalty. Stan. L., Rev., 26, 1245.