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- The question as to whether or not it is morally acceptable for the state to execute people, and if so under what circumstances, has been debated for centuries. The ethical problems involved include the general moral issues of punishment with the added problem of whether it is ever morally right to deprive a human being of life.
www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/
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Oct 4, 2024 · capital punishment, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Capital punishment should be distinguished from extrajudicial executions carried out without due process of law.
- Roger Hood
- Why does Amnesty International oppose the death penalty? The death penalty violates the most fundamental human right – the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
- 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.
- If you kill someone else, don’t you deserve to die, too – “an eye for an eye”? No. Executing someone because they’ve taken someone’s life is revenge, not justice.
- Doesn’t the death penalty prevent crime? Not according to the research. There is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than a prison term.
- 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.
Oct 4, 2024 · 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.
- Roger Hood
Society has always used punishment to discourage would-be criminals from unlawful action. Since society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty.
Dec 14, 2009 · Capital punishment is vengeance rather than retribution and, as such, is a morally dubious concept. The anticipatory suffering of the criminal, who may be kept on death row for many years,...
Aug 1, 2015 · If you are a defender of deterrence, you must answer two questions about capital punishment before determining where you stand. The first is empirical: a question about real-world facts.
