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- Legality. The United States is one of 55 countries globally with a legal death penalty, according to Amnesty International. As of Mar. 24, 2021, within the US, 27 states had a legal death penalty (though 3 of those states had a moratorium on the punishment’s use).
- Life without Parole. Life without Parole (also called LWOP) is suggested by some as an alternative punishment for the death penalty. PRO. Proponents of replacing the death penalty with life without parole argue that imprisoning someone for the duration of their life is more humane than the death penalty, that LWOP is a more fitting penalty that allows the criminal to think about what they’ve done, and that LWOP reduces the chances of executing an innocent person.
- Deterrence. One of the main justifications for maintaining a death penalty is that the punishment may prevent people from committing crimes so as to not risk being sentenced to death.
- Retribution. Retribution in this debate is the idea that the death penalty is needed to bring about justice for the victims, the victims’ families, and/or society at large.
Jan 20, 2021 · Justice Breyer added that there was little reason to think that the death penalty deterred crime and that long delays between sentences and executions might themselves violate the Eighth Amendment.
- We Need to Be ‘Tough on Crime’
- ‘They Did The Crime, They Should Do The Time’
- The Criminal Justice System Is Fair
- It Is Cheaper and More Humane to Execute people.
- But What About [Insert Horrible Despot Here]: Surely They Should Be executed?
Everyone agrees that crime is bad and we need to stop it. This seems sensible and logical in every way, until we ask the question: do we need the death penalty to be ‘tough’ on crime? The answer is no, we don’t. The fallacy that crueler punishments deter crime doesn’t take into account that there are complex social and economic factors that drive c...
Various iterations of this comment came thick and fast when Amnesty began calling for the clemency of Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, currently on death row in Bali for drug offences. Ironically, with the death penalty, we are not talking about time, we are talking about the opposite. Both men acknowledge their crimes and recognise th...
Australia’s criminal justice system is largely fair, but that certainly can’t be said of many of the countries using the death penalty. We know that the death penalty is applied overwhelmingly to the working class, ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups. This happens not because people in these categories are more prone to crime, but becau...
Even I was surprised by the facts on this one. A study done in California discovered that it was actually more expensive to execute a person than to keep them in jail for life. Yes, that’s right – the amount of time and money spent on taking a person’s life is greater than keeping them in prison. For those of us who think there is a humane way to e...
There are a lot of people who have done horrific, unspeakable things, but modern societies should not join their ranks by also carrying out a murder. People are judged by their actions, and killing another human being is about as profound as actions come. We can’t take back death, we know that systems make mistakes and we are lucky enough to live i...
- It’s inhumane. The international human rights treaty – The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – is intended to prevent actions considered inhumane.
- The death penalty disproportionately affects certain groups. The death penalty is not a good example of blind justice. Studies show that the mentally ill, people of color, and the poor make up the majority of death row inmates.
- The death penalty can be used as a tool for control, not justice. In theory, the death penalty is only intended for use as punishment for the most serious crimes, like murder.
- It can’t be undone if new evidence is revealed. What makes the death penalty distinct from life in prison is that the judgement can’t be reversed. It’s a final punishment.
In fact, in 2019, California’s governor put a moratorium on the death penalty, stopping it indefinitely. In early 2022, he took further steps and ordered the dismantling of the state’s death row. Given the moral complexities and depth of emotions involved, the death penalty remains a controversial debate the world over.
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.
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3 days ago · anti-death penalty protests Protesters demonstrating against the death penalty. Capital punishment has long engendered considerable debate about both its morality and its effect on criminal behaviour. Contemporary arguments for and against capital punishment fall under three general headings: moral, utilitarian, and practical.
