Write about a cause you feel strongly about.

In the critically acclaimed series Death Note, the villain protagonist Light Yagami said this about the first time he killed a criminal using the death note. This world is rotting and those who are making it rot deserve to die. While I am not a homicidal psychopath, and do not agree that all criminals should die, I do, feel that the few criminals who commit heinous crimes ought to pay the ultimate price. When a person commits a heinous, incorrigible crime, it is imperative that he or she is punished to the fullest extent of the crime, especially if it affects society as a whole, such as the smuggling of drugs, or murder. If such castigation would be the death penalty, it would certainly be justified, especially in cases such as gang rape- the recent New Delhi gang rapists were charged with murder, punishable with death if convicted. Their trial continues. Death can be said to be the ultimate punishment that can be given to any criminal. It does not give the criminal any opportunity to return back to society for even the remotest possibility for him to commit the crime again. As seen in many judgments, capital punishment aims to, more than anything, protect society from what is deemed as flagitious deeds, and not aim to remand them, since there is still a high risk of reoffending, regardless of how the defendant pleads- a drug trafficker has a high risk of reoffending due to their addiction to the drugs. Critics of the death penalty cite the fact that the death penalty does not reform the convicted, and that it is merely a convenient way for the justice system to avoid the hassle of correcting the criminals. By this reasoning, it is claimed that prisoners on death row are not subject to any punishment that aims to reform them and are more or less left to their devices until the day of the execution. However, prisoners on death row are in fact punished more severely than regular prisoners, not merely socially and physically, where they are isolated in cells roughly 3 square meters in size, but also psychologically, since there is generally a gap of several years before the actual hanging, and the psychological stress of looking death in the face can be said to be nothing short of harrowing. However, the death penalty is undoubtedly deterrence to anyone who may be considering the possibility of committing such crimes. The death penalty, being such a harsh punishment, most definitely has a much greater effectiveness at deterrence as compared to anecdotes by past offenders or advice by elders. The sheer reality of the possibility of death upon committing a crime would also emphasize the enormity of the crimes. Society in general would also benefit from the death penalty, exceptionally evident in Singapores current landscape, with

almost negligible rates of kidnappings, and a high level of security- unlawful discharge of firearms is punishable with death. It is therefore evident without much debate that the strict enforcement of the death penalty in Singapore is responsible for it having one of the lowest rates of crimes in the world, and one of the safest places to live in. While there are many arguments against the implementation of the death penalty, I am still strongly supportive of the punishment. The death penalty is the harshest possible punishment that can be given to an offender, and this punishment can serve to be a very strong deterrence to any would be offender. This would therefore keep society in general safe from the corruption by such heinous crimes. Hence, I maintain my stand for the continual implementation of the death penalty.