5 Pros and 5 Cons of Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment is considered to be the gravest of all punishments on

earth. Everybody has its own point of view on the suitability of this
punishment, which often grows into a never ending debate. Does it suits to
the civilized society of human to take off anybodys life? Why not? If an
individual can turn into an animal for a fraction of a minute and can perform
any brutal crime then he should be treated like an animal to make him
repent for his dare act and even set an example in front of others in the
society. Scholars, Psychologists, Activists all pour into active debate now and
then and give various theories and reasons for the suitability and
unsuitability of this punishment.

Here are some CONS of Capital Punishment.

1.Human Rights violation.

This is the strongest of all the arguments. Human rights which are defined as
the basic rights to be given to an individual to lead a respectable life are
considered to be the most important right to be observed by any individual.
Right to life is the basic right of any human being. Every individual has a
right to live whether criminal or not. No human has a right to infringe the
right to life of any individual, irrespective of his deeds.

2. Racial, Ethics and Social bias.

It is believed by the offenders of the Capital Punishment that this punishment

in a biased, and perform in racial manner. This is because approximately
48% of the criminal in federal death row are African American, thus, it is
advocated that Capital Punishment is used racially. It is more often used
against perpetrators belonging to lower strata of society, racial and ethnic
minorities rather than who come from well privileged background. Thus, the
poor becomes the lone victim of this punishment.

3. Wrongful execution.

No one can be perfect, and so the Judiciary. It is often seen that innocent
people face wrongful execution. Many people have become the victim of this
wrongful execution which leads to lose of faith in law and justice among
citizens. Sometimes improper procedure leads to unfair execution. Life of an
innocent is more precious than the perpetrator. This loophole in law is out of
human error in order to avoid action leading to such irrevocable
consequences. Thus, Capital Punishment should be banned.

4. Capital Punishment is less grave.

Some people believe that Capital Punishment is awarded to those convicts
who have done some serious crime such as mass murder, treason, terrorism,
rape etc. Such criminals deserve more severe punishment. Capital
Punishment snatches away life of the criminal in a fraction of a second,
which does not lead to the repentance of the criminal. Instead, convicts
should be awarded life imprisonment and they should be tortured during this
punishment so that they never even dream to repeat any such act. This will
also lead to set an example to others as well as lead to satisfaction to the
other party who has suffered out of the act of the convict. This also leads to
further strengthen the trust of people in the Judiciary.

5. Second chance

The concept of Ahimsa is at the centre of this concept. Offenders of Capital

Punishment also put up the argument of giving a second chance to the
perpetrator. Human are believed to be imperfect. Everyone should be given a
second chance to correct himself. Even the perpetrators should be given this
privilege. They are also human beings and in any fit of thought if he performs
any inhuman activity then his whole personality should not be scaled by his
act. He should be given another chance to improve himself and make himself
fit for the society. Justice is for everyone. Its primary aim is to preserve life
and remove crime in society not the criminal.
Now, let us discuss some PROS of the Capital Punishment.
1.Retribution.

This theory of justice which demands for Tooth for a Tooth and an Eye for an Eye is
the strongest argument of the capital punishment. When a criminal does an act to
fulfill his selfish motives resulting into personal gains then the equilibrium of justice
in society is disturbed. To maintain this equilibrium the criminal should be punished
with the same intensity of punishment no matter, even if it is capital punishment. If
the criminal can dare to snatch away liberty, peace, lives from any individual then
the justice says that he should also be deprived of all these facilities leading to a
comfortable life it the society.

2. Deterrence.

The best method to prevent a person from doing crime is to show him the fear of
consequences of his actions. Like the fear of going into the Hell after death stops
one from doing any immoral act, same way, fear of capital punishment that is, fear
of losing life is the greatest fear for any human. It also acts like a moral to the rest
of the mankind. It is just like a stick into the hands of law to make justice prevail in
the society of civilized people. Even life imprisonment is less feared because in that
case, at least the life is saved. But in the case of capital punishment snatching away
of the human life is the most terrifying consequence.

3. Less damage is adopted to prevent more.

A criminal is like a rotten apple among the good ones, he is like a virus to the
society, which can even infect others of the same disease. Like a doctor excise any
body part to save life of a patient likewise, a criminal is cut out permanently from
the society for the well being of the society. Human beings live in civilized society
and do not allow anyone to perform any inhuman act which causes harm or any
type of discomfort to any individual. Capital Punishment is the best way to remove
such diseased people from the society. Before they could spread their immoral
believes to other people in order to justify their act they should be removed from
the society from the root level.

4. Less expense incurred.

Capital Punishment is the cheapest way to remove the ill from the society. If the
criminal is given life imprisonment, all his expenditure is improvised by the
government. Instead of spending money on criminals this money can be used for
the development of the society and welfare of the people. Lots of people die of
hunger; instead of feeding such people government spend money to feed the
criminals, which in turn raises number of cases of crime in the society.

5. Eliminates negativity.

Capital Punishment proves to be the best method to eliminate negative elements

from the society forever thus, leading to a more humane society. Everybody likes
positive environment and people around himself and these criminals especially
those who perform acts which lead to hindrance of ones freedom and life spreads
negativity in society and even results in degradation of peace of society.