Capital punishment - Research Paper Example

Advocates of death penalty argue that it should be given to hardcore criminals in order to reduce or control crime rates in a country whereas critics believe that death penalty should be avoided in all circumstances, as it is not a proper mean to punish criminals in a civilized world like ours. This paper analyses various dimensions of death penalty in detail. One of the major arguments against capital punishment is that “it never allows a criminal to change his behavior as in the case of other forms of punishments” (Kartha).

It should be noted that the character of a human can be changed as time goes on. Nobody will get a second chance to live or correct his mistakes once he has been given capital punishment. Life is the most precious thing in this world and it should be honored and respected as much as possible. Even after huge developments, in science and technology, the secrets behind life are still unknown to us. Only the creator knows the secrets of his creations. Under these circumstances, critics of death penalty argue that killing of a criminal may not be the suitable way of punishment.

In their opinion, both the criminal and the criminal justice system do the same thing while declaring capital punishment to a criminal. . One of the major core principles of the criminal justice system is that no innocent person should be punished even if thousands of criminals escaped. However, these principles are often been violated by the courts. Nobody can guarantee that court procedures are free of errors. Humans can commit mistakes. If that is true, courts controlled by human elements can also commit mistakes.

It should be noted that after taking a life, nobody can return it once the offenders realize their mistakes. The above principle is true in the case of courts also. According to Kantian ethical theories, “even a person guilty of murder is to be treated with a certain sort of dignity, because even the murderer is still a person -- still an end in himself” (Stairs). If capital punishment is unethical and illegal, the question, how hardcore criminals should be handled or punished, is relevant.

Nobody can assure that criminals such as Osama Bin Laden may change their behavior over a period of time. If they were released from jails, they may continue their criminal behavior and innocent civilians may lose their lives again. Under these circumstances, supporters of capital punishment argue that hardcore criminals should be executed with immediate effect in order to save the lives of others. In their opinion, a criminal who is responsible for killing innocent people does not have the right to live in this world.

“It is said that when a criminal is given a capital punishment, it dissuades others in the society from committing such serious crimes. They would refrain from such crimes due to fear of losing their lives”( Kartha). In the absence of severe punishments such as capital punishment, the motivation for criminal activities may increase