Death Penalty Essay, Research Paper

Law and order has always fascinated me in its power to enforce the social principles and the social contract between the government and the people. In the words of philosopher John Locke, the mind of a person at birth is like a tabula rasa, a blank slate upon which experience imprinted knowledge, and there is nothing to believe in intuition or theories of innate conceptions. His idea of “natural law” instituted people’s power as the foremost insemination in forming the republic. In the human rights environment, national death penalty issues have stirred some questions about the clear and present danger in the commonwealth.

I conceive that there is a way for society to perform in expressing moral outrage, and it is entirely appropriate for society to deem some acts so evil, to be so demeaning of human life, that we can say the perpetrator has forfeited his or her own rights by committing them. A horrendous crime that was committed could not be dismissed based on human rights of a criminal who purposely destroyed an individual and their family of their most precious and adorable treasure. Death penalty imposes the ultimate on the criminals as they get to experience the pain that they have inflicted upon others. Other punishments could be considered minor and unjustified since the criminal receives the gift of life regardless of their deeds. Our government was formed on this logic: We give up some of our rights in exchange for order and protection. What happens when war is declared on our society? Our government protects us, of course. The same principal applies to murder as to war. The murderer has committed an invidious crime – he has

Saugata Sengupta

S.s # 641-50-7370

attacked our society by removing an individual within it. Whenever our society is attacked, it is the government’s right, nay, their obligation to execute them, just as we

Would any other war criminal. John Locke outlines these principals in his second treatise on civil government. He states that the convict must replace what the offended person has lost, and he must be prevented from causing such offenses again. While one can partially

restrain the offender (prison – although not always totally effective), the loss of the victim is impossible to reattribute. This leaves the Social Contract unrenewable. The criminal is now outside of the society and considered being at conflict. As in war, we have the right to defend ourselves, also as in a war; we have the right to obliterate those who do more than wish to destroy our society or any individual part of it.

Maintenance of the death penalty is a necessary fact of American life. It has been argued that the finality of this punishment is a cruel and unusual punishment. However, “the Fifth Amendment provides that ‘no persons shall be held to answer for a capital…crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…nor be deprived of life…without the due process of law.’ This clearly permits the death penalty to be imposed, and establishes beyond doubt that the death penalty is not one of the ‘cruel and unusual punishments’ prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.”