Capital Punishment

Shelley West
G09w1284

Tweet: Capital punishment is an issue that must be given a lot of thought. The state has somebody’s life in their hands, and therefore exercising the power of the death penalty must be strongly questioned.

Capital punishment is a very controversial issue, and one that I personally feel strongly about. I do not believe in capital punishment. Some people agree with the view of “an eye for an eye” as in if someone commits murder they should then be sentence to death. This view is highly hypocritical. By sentencing someone to death it is simply condoning the act of killing. By sentencing someone to death for committing a murder is in turn committing the same crime the murderer did and therefore sanctioning the act of killing. Another argument is that there is a possibility of the state killing an innocent person if they were wrongfully convicted, and such a sentenced cannot be rectified as it would be able to do with say, a prison sentence. Furthermore by sentencing the murderer to death it is arguing that they do not have the ability to better themselves and change their lives around. This is a massive assumption and gross generalisation to make. This also lacks any faith in humankind and the ability to have genuine remorse. I think that by killing someone for a crime is taking away the option for them to redeem themselves, to better themselves and repent for their wrongdoings. I believe they must definitely be punished but within the parameters allowing those who want to change their lives the ability to do so. I personally believe in proportional punishment. This means that the offender must receive an appropriate sentence in relation to his crime. It means that for committing a murder one might not be sentenced to death but rather given another sentence that is in proportion to the severity of the crime.