FREE ESSAY ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Patricia A. Stegall
Philosophy 40, Ethics
May 6, 1998
The Case for Capital Punishment
Society, in general, agrees that the taking of an innocent life is an unforgivable act,
and that the rape of children is particularly heinous. I will argue that all persons
convicted of the crime of murder or the rape of a child under ten years of age should be
given a manditory death penalty. 
Capital punishment is not only justifiable but is morally correct and should be the
mandatory sentence for such crimes once an individual is found guilty. It would be
neither unjust nor immoral to execute such an individual. It is not logical or rational
to believe that a person raised in our society does not know that the crimes of murder or
the rape of a child will not be tolerated. Regardless of an individual's background or
socio-economic status, individual choices lead to results that carry personal
responsibility. It is inappropriate to make excuses for these criminals simply because
they were not reared in well-to-do circumstances. neglected, or perhaps suffered abuse as
a child. None of these forced them to make the choice to commit the crime. As stated by
Ernest van den Haag, by committing the crime, the criminal volunteered to assume the
risk. (1)If an individual commits the crime of murder, or rapes a child, that person has
forfeited any moral right to continue to live, even if imprisoned for life. Their victim
had no choice and no chance to live a fruitful, productive life. Why should society be
required to pay the costs associated with imprisonment? A society, which values the lives
of its citizens, has the right to exercise capital punishment for those who have been
convicted after due process of law. 
The U.S. Constitution provides for punishment of capital crimes so there is certainly no
trouble with it in the law. However, some of the most impassioned arguments against
capital punishment are the possibility of convicting the wrong person, and discriminatory
application of the law. Abolitionists also argue that we should base on justice system on
reform and rehabilitation. 
First, the possibility of convicting an innocent person is often cited as an argument
that the death penalty is unjust. One Internet source indicates that 350 people were
wrongly convicted of homicide or capital rape from 1900- 1985. (2) (It should be noted
that the article does not specify how many of these individuals were later released.) In
our text, Ernest van den Haag refers to a study conducted by Hugo Bedau that found that
of 7000 executions during that same period, only 25 were purportedly innocent. (Ibid.
p.286) The execution of an innocent person appears much less a risk than the risk that a
person guilty of this type of violence would repeat the crime. Criminals kill people
knowing that they will live and either spend the rest of their lives in prison or get out
in 10 to 20 years. Consistent application of the capital punishment laws would have a
deterrent effect on some potential murderers if not all. While states that do carry death
penalty provisions significantly outnumber those that do not, there appears to be a
certain reluctance to apply the laws. As a result, many violent criminals no longer fear
the court system. 
Further, capital punishment laws have undergone many decades of review by the highest
courts in the country and are anything but capriciously imposed. A further argument
against the innocent are convicted is found in a review of the extensive appeal system
that has been mandated by the courts that may take as much as fourteen years to complete.
Even if this were a legitimate concern, the chances of an innocent person being wrongly
convicted are very slim. 
The second argument, discriminatory application holds that a disproportional number of
non-whites receive the death penalty upon conviction, in particular, a black convicted of
murdering a white. This is really an argument against a flawed justice system that favors
one class of citizen's over another. Unequal distribution among the guilty is irrelevant
to the morality of the punishment. The system is far from perfect but can be improved. In
the past, women were much less likely to be executed than men, and we are all aware that
if you have enough money to hire good lawyers, you have a better chance to evade
punishment. Haag (ibid.) argues that recent data indicates that the discriminatory aspect
against blacks was primarily due to capital punishment for rape. Additionally, in recent
years, the once prevalent trend of more non-whites than whites being executed, and more
men than women, seems to be reversing. For example, in recent months I recall reading
about four persons executed in the United States, two were women, and one was a white
male. Working to improve the criminal justice system so that everyone who deserves the
death penalty gets it, would ensure justice and equality. 
Lastly, some would argue against the death penalty by claiming that our criminal justice
system should be based on reform rather than punishment. Even without arguing
specifically opposite this point, it is almost self-evident that the criminal who can be
reformed is not the problem. The real problem is the criminal you cannot reform. 
It becomes simple to say, just give him a life sentence. However, the problem is more
complicated. Long prison terms mean large and costly institutions that must, sooner or
later, be paid for by all of us. Some may argue that killing such a murderer violates his
human rights and would suggest life imprisonment as a better alternative. Even from the
point of view of the individual, natural life imprisonment as an alternative to capital
punishment is apt to be no better than the substitution of a slow death for a quick one.
In both cases, a convicted murderer's only way of paying his debt to society is through
dying.
In this paper, I have argued that the death penalty is a necessary form of
retribution--the only adequate means of expressing society's condemnation of a particular
crime--and a necessary deterrent against this same crime. Furthermore, it is necessary
for a just and effective system of criminal justice. The justification for capital
punishment is based on retribution as well as deterrence. It is a just penalty for a set
of horrid crimes as well as being a demonstrably effective means of protecting potential
victims.
NOTES:
1 The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense, Ernest van den Haag, p.287
ETHICS: Theory and Contemporary Issues, Barbara MacKinnon,
Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1995
Capital Punishment: Our Duty or Our Doom?, Ethics Connection
@www.scu.edu/Ethics/
Patricia Stegall Page 
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