The death penalty has been around for over 4,000 years, demonstrating that virtually all human civilizations have practiced it. The criminal justice system has continued to apply this punishment to criminal offenders involved in significant offenses such as murder and robbery with violence. Nonetheless, there is continued opposition to applying the death penalty by the human rights bodies who view it as a violation of the right to life. Hence, the need for the criminal justice system in all countries to cease applying it. This essay will explain some advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty.
To commence with, the death penalty helps in the absolute deterrence of a crime. It helps to deter the recurrence of a crime permanently. The criminal is killed in whichever form prescribed in the judgment, which demonstrates that such a person cannot go back into society and continue to commit crimes. This method of dealing with criminals is for keeping society's safety and stability. It is better to prevent the occurrence of a crime as opposed to waiting for its materialization and beginning to pursue the criminals through the court processes as this is not only time-consuming but also puts the safety of the innocent members of society at risk. Criminal behavior is contagious and as such, it is important for the perpetrators to be put behind bars before their bad influence spreads to other people through the social learning theory. Any measure that has the capacity to fight the prevalence of crime in society should thus be pursued and supported at all costs as long as it is not in violation of human rights and the fundamental freedoms of the people.
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In addition, it also plays an important role in decongesting prison facilities. In most countries, prison camps continue to be flooded, which is disastrous to the management of such facilities due to the health risks involved. With the death penalty, the criminals are killed, meaning that they will not have to be kept in prison facilities. The approach is imperative as it helps in reducing the number of people held in prisons. Congestion in prisons also poses a severe health hazard to the inmates and this in turn increases the medical costs that are incurred by the government. The decongestion of such incarceration facilities is thus beneficial to even the prisoners themselves.
However, the death penalty is regarded as a blatant violation of the right to life, which is inalienable by all assessment standards. This means that all and sundry have a right to life, and as such, the criminal justice systems worldwide should desist or rather abolish the use of the death penalty henceforth. Killing people in the name of dispensing justice is not acceptable, given that other alternative forms of punishment can be pursued.
Lastly, the death penalty assumes that the criminal is beyond rehabilitation. This is a wrong notion or rather a misconception that should not be allowed to continue. The justice system's primary purpose should be focused on reforming the offenders and taking them back into society as people who will henceforth live meaningful lives and not kill them based on administering justice.
In the final analysis, I am opposed to the practice of the death penalty. This is a constant violation of the fundamental human right to life and a complete negation of the rehabilitation system's works. There is no justice in killing offenders since if this should be the case, then mob justice, which often results in the suspect's death, should be legalized. There are alternative forms of punishment that can replace the death penalty, such as life imprisonment.
The death penalty should be opposed. This is not retributive justice but a blatant violation of the right to life which should be granted to all under all circumstances. The death penalty also negates the rehabilitation aspect which is at the heart of the criminal justice system. The criminals should be reformed and taken back to society instead of killing them. There are numerous alternative forms of punishments that can perfectly be applied in place of the death penalty to avoid murdering innocent people hence causing a miscarriage of justice.
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