Bern Death Penalty
Bernadette Penley
11/11/14
Capital punishment is a punitive measure in which an offender is found guilty through the traditional judicial process and the punishment delivered is execution. Depending on the state the offender was processed in, execution may be delivered in many ways ranging from lethal injection to death by electrocution. Crimes for which capital punishment is applicable for are known as capital crimes. Since capital punishment is essentially about the use of the death penalty, it must be asked whether it is a rational and effective way to react to and address capital the crimes. This writing will explore both the moral and practical implications of capital punishment and also look at it from an ethical viewpoint.
First, I will discuss the moral issue that is paramount with this topic. Is capital punishment a system that falls in line with the very foundation of this nation due to the glaring fact that many are wrongfully sent to death row. According to (deathpenalty.org), approximately 140 have been exonerated from death row since 1973. That is 140 who were convicted and sentenced to be executed and were later found to be innocent. These exonerations will result from any number of reasons ranging from everyday corruption to new evidence being produced after the fact. Sadly, another very common reason is poor representation in court that results from the defendant being unable to afford a competent lawyer. This single statistic bares to mind the very important question of how many innocent people may have been wrongfully executed in the same period of time. The quantity of known mistakes combined with this uncorrectable concern renders capital punishment an ineffective deterrent from the committing of capital crimes. To avoid the execution of an innocent person, there must be a better system.
A practical aspect of the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent from the committing of capital crimes is does it work? This is a
11/11/14
Capital punishment is a punitive measure in which an offender is found guilty through the traditional judicial process and the punishment delivered is execution. Depending on the state the offender was processed in, execution may be delivered in many ways ranging from lethal injection to death by electrocution. Crimes for which capital punishment is applicable for are known as capital crimes. Since capital punishment is essentially about the use of the death penalty, it must be asked whether it is a rational and effective way to react to and address capital the crimes. This writing will explore both the moral and practical implications of capital punishment and also look at it from an ethical viewpoint.
First, I will discuss the moral issue that is paramount with this topic. Is capital punishment a system that falls in line with the very foundation of this nation due to the glaring fact that many are wrongfully sent to death row. According to (deathpenalty.org), approximately 140 have been exonerated from death row since 1973. That is 140 who were convicted and sentenced to be executed and were later found to be innocent. These exonerations will result from any number of reasons ranging from everyday corruption to new evidence being produced after the fact. Sadly, another very common reason is poor representation in court that results from the defendant being unable to afford a competent lawyer. This single statistic bares to mind the very important question of how many innocent people may have been wrongfully executed in the same period of time. The quantity of known mistakes combined with this uncorrectable concern renders capital punishment an ineffective deterrent from the committing of capital crimes. To avoid the execution of an innocent person, there must be a better system.
A practical aspect of the effectiveness of capital punishment as a deterrent from the committing of capital crimes is does it work? This is a