Death penalty is the most severe punishment a government may sentence a person to for breaking the law, for example, by committing murder. Its use has been the subject of debate across the world for decades (Udoudom et al., 2019). In my opinion, death penalty should be abolished because it violates the right to life, which is a fundamental human right; murder should not be punished with legalized killing. Additionally, the lives of innocent people accused of committing a crime may be taken, with no way of returning them. The death penalty is also immoral according to utilitarian ethics. This moral theory suggests that no person or government should be entitled to such authority over others’ lives (Udoudom et al., 2019). Since such a punishment involves personal judgment of good and evil, with possible personal gains or status involved, there is much danger of unjustified empowerment of the executioner. Moreover, the appropriateness of the death penalty is often motivated racially or socioeconomically (Udoudom et al., 2019). Sentencing someone to death is not a viable method to enforce the law since the law itself permits murder in such a way. One of the arguments people often use to justify the death penalty is reduced reoccurrence of crime. However, it is, in fact, impossible to compare the effects within the same jurisdiction over the same time period (Udoudom et al., 2019). Instead, a society with no death penalty would focus on reducing the rates of crime reoccurrence with other, more humane methods. Since many crimes result from the offender’s poor mental, economic, or social backgrounds, society should relocate its resource to improve citizens’ quality of life and financial stability. Breaking the law should be punished, but a criminal should be provided treatment, not left at the bottom of the social ladder or killed.
Reference
Udoudom, M. D., Bassey, S. A., Okpe, T. A., & Adie, T. (2019). Kantian and Utilitarian ethics on capital punishment. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute, 2(2), 28-35.