Should the death penalty be abolished?

Introduction

Death penalty, which is known as the capital punishment has always been a popular topic for discussion. It has been debated for a very long time since it has been a practice since ancient times. Capital Punishment involves death penalty, which is sentenced, to individuals who commit crimes that are termed as being inhuman. Capital Punishment is prevalent in a variety of countries who regard it as being mandatory. Countries which practice capital punishment are Belarus, Japan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, Iran, United States, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Libya, Sudan, Taiwan, Equatorial Guinea, and Iraq. From my perspective, the process of Capital Punishment should be abolished as it disregards the after affects of such punishment (www.britannica.com).

Religiously speaking, Capital Punishment is a concept that is against the teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ says that “Thou shall not kill” and "Thou shall not murder". This clearly highlights the fact that killing or murdering is a sin (www.phrases.org.uk). Legally speaking, According to the constitution and in the eighth amendment, it has been stated that the constitution of the United States of America restricts the infliction of cruel punishments (www.law.jrank.org).

History of Capital Punishment

In the 1500's, in England, death penalties were allotted to crimes such as murder, pilfering, burglary, rape, disloyalty, witchcraft and arson. In the year of 1723, Parliament introduced and implemented a variety of additional capital offences. After implementation, there was an increase in the number of people who were sentenced to a death annually. In a century, that is from 1740 to 1839, a total of total of 8753 executions that took place in England and as well as Wales. The year when the execution was the highest, was 1785 with 307 in total. The population in the year of 1800 was 9 million only.

The death penalty or Capital punishment was instituted in Europe by mid of the 17th century. It was the time when prominent personality such as Cesare Beccaria who was an Italian jurist, Voltaire who was a French philosopher and Jeremy Bentham and Samuel Romilly who was English law reformers. They opposed the idea of Capital Punishment or Death penalty and argued that it is barbaric by nature. it is also an over-rated concept in terms of being a deterrent of crime.

By the mid of 1800's, the reform related to capital punishment was being opposed by majority began to spread in various countries, and it was abolished in Venezuela in the year 1853 and Portugal in the year 1867. Both were very first nations that prohibited capital punishment. In America, the state which abolished capital punishment was Michigan. It was abolished by 1847. Today, Capital punishment has been eradicated in the entire Western Europe and most of the parts of Latin America (www.stephen-stratford.co.uk).

Widely used death penalties

Hanging

It is a form of capital punishment in which the criminal is hung till death via a rope round his neck. It is used in countries like USA, South Korea, India and many more.

Lethal injection

This mode ...