Capitol Punishment

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is defined as the penalty of death for the commission of a crime. This penalty has been one of the most talked about issues in the past decade because of the opinions different states have on it. While some states support capital punishment, others are strongly against it. In the past decade, there have been many issues and problems that capital punishment has faced. Although many think of capital punishment as being a way of punishing those who have committed a crime, it is wrong to do so, on many levels. Capital punishment still has many issues in which show that the death penalty is weak. It shows that this type of punishment is ineffective and that there is no back bone to the reasons why the death penalty should be enforced. The main issues that put capital punishment into question are issues of morality, inefficiency issues, and standard death penalty practice issues. These issues prove capital punishment to be unfair and ineffective; therefore this form of punishment should be abolished.

One of the main arguments about capital punishment is that of morality. Many state that the killing of a person because of a crime that they have committed is completely not necessary. The Roman Catholics are the ones that are strongly against this type of punishment. Although not all of the United States population is Roman Catholic, of course the rest of the population is going to have morals of their own as well. Even though they might not agree with the Roman Catholic's, many still believe it is morally wrong to end an individual's life because of a mistake they have made in the past.

The issue of morality and capital punishment not only is being argued about in today's society, but has had issues in the past as well. Extreme cases of capital punishment such as burning at the stake, is no longer being accepted. Severe other cases of capital punishment are no longer being accepted, but very little has changed. In present day society, capital punishment is more dignified; if there is such a thing. Capital punishment is more dignified because the government has found a way to kill those being punished at a lesser extent than burning at the stake or being fried on the electric chair. They are now given death through a lethal injection.

Inefficiency is a big issue within capital punishment. Capital punishment is mainly judged through trials by the jury. Even though most other cases are tried this way as well, the inefficiency of capital punishment trials proves to be the deciding factor whether a person lives or dies. This is due in part of the jury. The jury's final conclusion decides whether a person is going to be put to death or not. In today's society, death sentences are very questionable and are almost impossible to apply fairly. Most of the people on death row are of lower class and cannot afford the best defense for their trial. A good number of them are predominately African American or Hispanic descent, which tend to raise even more questions about racial equality during these trials. The only way capital punishment can come close to being justified is if these inefficiencies disappear. The government can never get rid