Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper

Capital Punishment Should be Re-introduced to Australia

Capital punishment is defined as the legal infliction of the death penalty. Today, the death penalty is corporal punishment in its most severe form. It ends the existence of those punished, instead of temporarily imprisoning them.

Capital Punishment has recently been abolished completely from Australia, although many believe that this was a step in the wrong direction.

The death penalty is not a means of torture, nor is it a means of revenge.

The methods of execution have changed over the ages. The death penalty had been inflicted in many ways now regarded today as barbaric and cruel and is forbidden by law almost everywhere. Some ways it was inflicted in the past were crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, stoning, and drowning. These types of punishment are today considered as cruel and severe punishment.

In the United States, the death penalty is currently authorised in one of two ways: electrocution, or lethal injection. These methods of execution compared to those of the past are incredibly humane and virtually painless. The death penalty is a severe penalty for a severe crime.

Many people feel strongly towards use of the death penalty as punishment for unspeakable crimes. It is a deterrent for criminal activity because of its severity. It will never allow the murderer to kill again and tear apart another family.

Taking the life of another human is wrong and if one decides to do so, he must face the consequences: Death.

Repeat offenders and people who enjoy killing do not deserve to walk our streets. Everyone has the right to life, and no one has the right to take that away from another person.

A real world example of a case that involved killers who showed no remorse for killing and performed a nefarious felony murder was the homicide that occurred in Louisiana in 1979. Two men kidnapped a teenage girl, beat her, raped her and slit here throat. They continued to rape her long after she was dead. This type of murder disturbed the entire town and devastated the victim’s family.

The cost of capital punishment is an issue that critics of the death penalty attack often. It does, in fact, cost a large amount of money to enforce the death penalty, much more than it would to merely imprison the criminals, however, it is an investment in safety since these murders will never kill again.

Another controversial aspect of the death penalty is that innocent people are placed on death row even though they did not commit any crime. The executing of the innocent by mistake is very rare.

From 1900 to 1985, a survey found that over 7000 people were executed by the means of the death penalty and 35 were innocent of capital crimes.

Despite precautions, nearly all human activities, such as trucking, lighting, or construction, cost the lives of some innocent bystanders. These activities, however, are simply not abandoned – the advantages – moral or material -outweigh, definitely, the unintended losses.

Justice must be served. Placing murderers in prison isn’t a harsh enough punishment. In jail the murderer would have a possible chance for parole. If they happen to make it back out to the world, who’s to say they wouldn’t kill again.

Thus, the punishment would fit the crime and the victim’s family and society would be helped knowing one less murderer is out in the streets.

Capital punishment is necessary for a stable society and should be reintroduced to Australian society.