Some intellectuals opine that death penalty is the most effective means to deter the increasing rate of brutal crimes occurring yearly, while others argue that other measures will be required. This essay will critically appraise both sides of the argument, before submitting a concluding view.
On the one hand, the proponents of the argument who opine that punishment by death, is the ultimate means of curbing voilent crimes, believe this will to a great extent influence the decisions of individuals. By this I mean, when people know the penalty for heinous crimes such as murder, terrorist attack, war crimes, they will at all cost avoid being involved in such acts. Hence, the society will be a peaceful place to reside. A good illustration is in Saudi Arabia, the government of this country has to a great extent controlled the rate and reoccurrence of terrorist attacks by enforcing death penalties to the members of terrorist organizations. Thus, the society have been detoxified and its citizens live peacefully.
On the other hand, the opponents of this argument believe that other measures such as life imprisonment can be a better means of curtailing serious crimes rather than criminal execution which is considered to be inhuman. In other words, they reverence the sacredness of life and thus believe no one has the right to take another’s life regardless of the crime(s) committed. In addition, this can be life saving, especially when an innocent individual has been wrongly accused of committing unscrupulous crimes. A perfect example is an undocumented study carried out in Nigeria Prisons Ikoyi, Lagos state where a considerable number of convicts put behind bars for life, were later found not guilty of said crimes, should they have been sentenced to death by law, this would have been a huge loss to their families and the society at large.
In conclusion, although capital punishment can be effective in controlling the escalating occurrences of capital crimes, I am of the opinion that putting criminals behind bars for life is a better option as this could prevent immediate execution of innocent lives.
