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Death Penalty: Joan Peña (2016-0335)

The document discusses arguments for and against the death penalty. It notes that while the death penalty aims to seek justice for victims, criminal justice systems must also allow criminals the opportunity to reintegrate into society. It argues that the death penalty does not effectively deter crime, as murder rates are lower in countries without the death penalty. Additionally, there have been cases of wrongful convictions where innocent individuals were sentenced to death. The document concludes that with the risk of wrongful convictions and executing the mentally incompetent, the death penalty cannot be justified and killing criminals does not solve crime problems. Instead, society should focus on improving criminal justice systems.

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Bob Gutiérrez
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34 views2 pages

Death Penalty: Joan Peña (2016-0335)

The document discusses arguments for and against the death penalty. It notes that while the death penalty aims to seek justice for victims, criminal justice systems must also allow criminals the opportunity to reintegrate into society. It argues that the death penalty does not effectively deter crime, as murder rates are lower in countries without the death penalty. Additionally, there have been cases of wrongful convictions where innocent individuals were sentenced to death. The document concludes that with the risk of wrongful convictions and executing the mentally incompetent, the death penalty cannot be justified and killing criminals does not solve crime problems. Instead, society should focus on improving criminal justice systems.

Uploaded by

Bob Gutiérrez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Death Penalty

Joan Peña (2016-0335)

In today’s world terrible crimes are being committed daily. Many people believe that
these criminals deserve one fate; death. That is why in several countries there is the
"death penalty" which the maximum sentence is used in punishing people who kill
another human being and is a very controversial method of punishment. Should we do
to the criminal as they did to the victim? Analyzing from that point of view, it could be
affirmed then that the death penalty, in theory, is a just sanction. Or at least that seeks
justice for the victim. However, it should be remembered that the function of a penal
system, of any country, must always ensure that criminals have an opportunity to
reintegrate into society. Even more, is there a chance that the accused is innocent?
Would that help solve your crime problems? It is very likely not. I consider, that it is an
"outdated" punishment, serving no true benefit to society and causing more harm than
“well”, and I will justify it with following reasons.

When looking at the argument that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to others
thinking about committing the same crime, we need only look to other countries around
the world as examples to disprove this. Throughout the world, we are able to see that, in
those countries where there is no death penalty, murders and other violent crimes
happen at a much lower rate than in the United States, Japan or Saudi Arabia. It does
seem strange, but the evidence is clear. That is, it does not contribute to a safer society.

There is no scientific evidence to show that the death penalty provides a solution to the
problem of crime. On the contrary, crime can be reduced through a system of
administration of justice, among other things.

There have also been cases of wrongly convicted individuals, who were either put to
death and years later were revealed innocent. And in the cases where innocence was
discovered in time, we can only be thankful that it wasn’t too late. A old very
controversial example of the many exist in the United States, is that of George Stunnez,
who at age 14 was sentenced to the electric chair. After 70 year is rare but, he was found
not guilty of killing two girls in North Carolina. In my opinion there are many cases of
people accused, wrongly and condemned, and so that we are not told, we must keep in
mind that is possible that we will never know. I believe that having an innocent person
wrongly sentenced to death us a crime in itself. We must also look at the mental
competence of the individuals being convicted and sentenced to this punishment. If a
person is not mentally capable of processing and understanding the actions they have
committed, it is ethically wrong to execute them for this.

In conclusion, these are just some of the reasons the death penalty should be removed.
There are of course many more. With the chance of being innocent, unjust, corrupt,
what of the death penalty can be justified? I am against the death penalty and what it
stands for. And, I believe that killing a person is not the solutions to stop crimes, far
from it. Instead, it would be better work as society to improve the situation.

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