The topic of capital punishment is a highly debated topic at present, harbouring a multitude of opinions. Is it necessary for justice, or is it inhumane? Personally, I believe that the death penalty is necessary for justice to be served in highly violent crimes such as rape and murder.
When discussing the pros of capital punishment, the most apparent advantage is its ability to provide justice to the victim and their family. Further, in the case of a deceased victim, it provides closure to the victim’s family and ensures that the criminal can never commit such horrible crimes again. Additionally, the existence of such a severe punishment can possibly deter people from committing heinous crimes in the future due to the fear of impending death if convicted. Capital punishment also eradicates the issue of recidivism when it comes to severe, violent crime.
The primary disadvantage of the death penalty is the fact that serving justice requires taking away a human’s right to live. So, does killing a murderer make the justice system no better than a criminal? Another disadvantage of capital punishment has to do with whether even death is a severe enough punishment for a criminal. Some people believe that the death penalty should be abolished so that a person who has committed wicked crimes spends their remaining life rotting and being tortured in a jail cell as part of the life sentence. A third disadvantage of the death sentence is that certain criminals could be re-integrated into productive society after appropriate and necessary psychiatric help and rehabilitation, and that the death sentence takes away any chance at improvement and self-growth.
While views on this topic are mixed, I am firmly of the opinion that capital punishment must be upheld and administered to criminals who have taken part in any atrociously violent crime. Concerning the ethics and humanity of the death sentence, I believe that people who take away another person’s right to live with dignity, or right to live at all, forfeit their own right to being human, because their despicable actions reduce them to the level of monsters. I strongly believe that such criminals should be dealt with in the harshest way possible and that justice should be served in a manner that not only honours the victim but also prevents future crime.