Should Death Penalty be legalized in our Country?

Death penalty or capital punishment is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is

killed by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone is punished in such a manner is

referred t as death sentence, whereas the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. The

crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes or offences this include offences such as

murder, mass murder, terrorism, treason, espionage, offenses against the state such as attempting to

overthrow government, piracy, drug trafficking, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, but

may include a wide range of offences depending on a country. But, should death penalty be legalized in

our country? Is it reasonable to take lives of others because they committed these crimes?

“Since man is made in the image of God, then the taking of man’s life is the destruction of the

most precious and the most holy thing in the world” says William Barclay. This means people cannot take

the life of others for they are also committing a sin to God. And they have no right to take the life of

others because it is not their own life to begin with; it’s a gift from God. In God’s eyes, life is very

precious. For this reason, God condemns both taking the life of other and taking one’s own life.

Additionally, the Bible indicates that we should take reasonable precautions to protect our own life and

the lives of others. This clearly means that God wants us to value the gift of life. No matter how

“humane” the death penalty has become, it is still the killing of another human being. Any form of

execution is inhumane. The lethal injection for example, is often touted as somehow more humane

because, on the surface at least, it appears less grotesque and barbaric than other forms of execution such

as beheading, electrocution, gassing and hanging. But the search for a “humane” way to kill people

should be seen for what it really is – an attempt to make executions more palatable to the public in whose

name they are being carried out, and to make the governments that execute appear less like killers

themselves.
 Capital punishment or death penalty is certainly a murder, and murder is never justified. The death

penalty violates the most fundamental human right – the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and

degrading punishment. The death penalty is discriminatory. It is often used against the most vulnerable in

society, including the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and people with mental disabilities. Some

governments use it to silence their opponents. Where justice systems are flawed and unfair trials rife, the

risk of executing an innocent person is ever present. When the death penalty is carried out, it is final.

Mistakes that are made cannot be unmade. An innocent person may be released from prison for a crime

they did not commit, but an execution can never be reversed. Then, what about capital punishment for

terrorists? Governments often resort to the death penalty in the aftermath of violent attacks, to

demonstrate they are doing something to “protect” national security. But the threat of execution is

unlikely to stop men and women prepared to die for their beliefs – for example, suicide bombers.

Executions are just as likely to create martyrs whose memory becomes a rallying point for their

organizations. People accused of “terrorism” are especially likely to be sentenced to death after unfair

trials. Many are condemned on the basis of “confessions” extracted through torture. In some cases, special

or military courts set up through counter-terrorism laws have sentenced civilians to death, undermining

international standards.

The death penalty is a very controversial topic in the United States and throughout the world. There

was a time period were the death penalty was banned for about four years in 1972-1976. Many people

feel that death penalty is justice because it is retribution toward criminals who have committed heinous

crimes. However, the death penalty is inhumane and should be abolished in the United States. But does

the death penalty can stop the occurrence of a crime? Or does this decrease the number of crimes? “It is

irrational to think that the death penalty – a remote threat at best – will avert murderers committed in drug

turf wars or by street level dealers”. This shows that the death penalty is not stopping murders from

occurring. There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than a prison

term. In fact, crime figures from countries which have banned the death penalty have not risen. In some
cases they have actually gone down. In Canada, the murder rate in 2008 was less than half that in 1976

when the death penalty was abolished there.

Don’t victims of violent crime and their families have a right to justice? They do. Those who have

lost loved ones in terrible crimes have a right to see the person responsible held to account in a fair trial

without recourse to the death penalty. In opposing the death penalty, we are not trying to minimize or

condone crime. But as many families who have lost loved ones have said, the death penalty cannot

genuinely relieve their suffering. It just extends that suffering to the family of the condemned person.

"Revenge is not the answer. The answer lies in reducing violence, not causing more death". Said Marie

Deans, whose mother-in-law was murdered in 1972. But isn’t it better to execute someone than to lock

them up forever? Every day, men, women, even children, await execution on death row. Whatever their

crime, whether they are guilty or innocent, their lives are claimed by a system of justice that values

retribution over rehabilitation. As long as a prisoner remains alive, he or she can hope for rehabilitation,

or to be exonerated if they are later found to be innocent.

In this, my position was defended by the multiple credible sources. Death penalty or capital

punishment should not be legalized in our country. First, because taking one’s life is a sin to God. There

are some experiences that prove that death penalty is not the proper justice to be made to the person who

commits a crime because it is inhumane and not acceptable even if it is done in painful or in painless way.

This also will not lessen or stop a crime from occurring. Thus it's making the number of deaths increased

instead of decreasing it.