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Thursday, August 22, 2019
The Applicability of Death Penalty Essay Example for Free
The Applicability of Death Penalty Essay The question of death penalty being a part of the judicial system of the American nation and of most countries in the world has remained a huge debate from the very beginning it was raised. Religious and secular groups have rallied toward the complete abolition of this kind of punishment, and others who did not actively participate also agreed that the act is a form of cruelty. In 1972 during the case of Furman versus Georgia, the Supreme Court declared that indeed the act violated the â€Å"cruel and unusual†punishment provision of the eight amendment. This court ruling has lead to the lifting of more than 600 death sentences, complete abolition of the sentence to some states and illegalization of mandatory death penalty (Longley, 1997).            The illegalization of mandatory death sentences involves the thorough investigation of any case in which the defendant has already been sentenced to death or is about to be sentenced to death. This states that everything must be taken into account before a person is declared to be deserving of death penalty. Pieces of evidence must point to the said judgment as well as the attitude of the defendant (Death Penalty Information Center, 2008).            A state which plans to have death penalty as part of their justice system may consider murder as a crime punishable by death for this crime involves taking the life of another person. This may be said to be most applicable especially when the victim is an innocent civilian or a child and the criminal is not regretful of the act. By deliberately taking another person’s life, the murderer deprives the victim of the right to live. For the child-victims, murder takes away the right to be protected and be taken care of. It also deprives the young of all the opportunities that may have been encountered through years of existence. Also, without any form of regret on the part of the proven perpetrator of the crime, sympathy should not be extended and as such death sentence becomes most appropriate (Holmes and Holmes, 1998).            The punishment by death should also include any type of multicide like mass murder, spree murder and serial murder. Criminals who commit such murders should be sentenced to death for they have taken what could have been meaningful and prosperous lives. This may be said to be also the case in infanticide or the killing of a child not more than three months old. The innocent victim deserves justice. As all murders are believed to be pre-meditated or carefully planned, proven murderers deserve the treatment they have given to their victims and as such, if there is not any form of regret or apology extended to the remaining relatives of victims, death penalty is but righteous (Holmes and Holmes, 1998).            Another crime that should be penalized by death is statutory rape or the rape of a child. Since a child is innocent and in the stage of discovery, even a single incident of violence may alter his entire perception of life. An incident of rape may bring about not only unforgettable physical damage but also mental trauma. Its effects on a child’s perception may ultimately decide the child’s future (Rape Victim Advocates, 2008). According to the Michigan Family Impact seminars, 90 percent of teen prostitutes have been sexually abused when they were younger. (Rape Victim Advocates, 2008). This clearly shows how much sexual abuse or rape can destroy an innocent’s life. Even without actually taking the life of the child, it deprives the child of what would have been a better future. This also shows that anyone who was proven a rapist through empirical analysis and investigation deserves to be sentenced to death. In cases where the proven criminal apologizes or shows signs of regret, the opinion of the relatives should be taken to account and the decision should be as according to the desired justice of the offended party. Another crime that deserves penalty by death is the crime of rape with murder against a child.  As this crime not only tortured the child through the sexual abuse, it also took away an innocent life.  It has also incurred great pain to people surrounding the victim, especially if the child-victim was a stranger and the parents had taken care of the child to the utmost. Other than the crimes mentioned above, it would be disproportional to sentence a criminal to death. Only very explicit crimes and life-changing offenses should be sentenced to death, for a life that is altered may already be considered as a life taken away. It should be considered that murder is not merely killing and incurring death of the physical body, rather, the death of the spirit and self-worth is worse than physical death. This is the death incurred to a rape victim, and it is worse than murder. As such, not only murderers but also rapists should be sentenced to death. However, since mandatory death sentence is not allowed, empirical data should be thoroughly checked and taken to account as well as the attitude of the suspect towards his crime before the verdict is given and implemented. In this way, justice shall be served for both the offending and the offended parties. References Death Penalty Information Center. (2008). Death penalty for Offenses Other than Murder. Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-offenses-other-murder Holmes, R.M. and Holmes, S.T. (1998). Serial Murder. United States: SAGE Publications. Longley, R. (1997). Recent Legal History of the Death Penalty in America. US Government Info.  Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/bldeathpenalty.htm Rape Victim Advocates. (2008). Children Sexual Violence. Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://www.rapevictimadvocates.org/children.asp
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