Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment
The death penalty has been in our society dating back to ancient times. There have been varieties of crimes that have been punishable by death, from selling beer to committing murder.   In modern society, the death penalty, otherwise known as capital punishment, “punishment by execution of someone officially judged to have committed a serious, or capital, crime,” is still practiced almost worldwide. (Vaughn 292) This is an imperative issue because it concerns crucial moral and political questions about the way law and order solves problems in our society. This paper will discuss capital punishment   as it may serve as a deterrent and help in reducing crime. Next, capital punishment is irreversible, but it is hard to kill a wrongly convicted person due to the several chances given to the convicted to prove their innocence. Last, capital punishment provides utmost security of society by doing away with these criminals consequently justice not retribution. Finally, this paper will discuss, "lex tallionis" or a life for a life. (Vaughn 312)
Deterrence is “the dissuading of possible offenders from committing capital crimes”. (Vaughn 194)   Ernest Van Den Haag states, “There has been no conclusive statistical demonstration that the death penalty is a better deterrent than alternative punishments”. (Vaughn 302) Although there is no statistical evidence that capital punishment deters crime, we have to agree that most of us fear death, even animals. Capital punishment is one of those severe punishments that would create fear in the mind of any sane person. Ernest Van Den Haag, in his article "On Deterrence and the Death Penalty" mentions, "One abstains from dangerous acts because of vague, inchoate, habitual and, above all, preconscious fears" (193). Most criminals would think twice if they knew their own lives were at stake. Suppose there is no death penalty in a state and life imprisonment without parole is the maximum punishment. What would stop a...