Death Penalty is a very ominous punishment to discuss. It is probably the most controversial and feared form of punishment in the United States. Many are unaware, but 31 of the 52 states have the Death penalty passes as an acceptable punishment. In the following essay, I will agree and support Stephen Nathanson's statement that "Equality retributivism cannot justify the death penalty." In the reading, "An Eye for an Eye?", Nathanson gives objections to why equality retributivism is morally acceptable for the death penalty to be legal. The first objection is that the death penalty does not "provide a measure of moral desert" (Nathanson). For the second, Nathanson states "it does not provide an adequate criterion for determining appropriate levels of punishment." The main objection is an "eye for an eye", or Lex talionis, and I believe it fails to support equality retributivism and creates punishments that are morally unacceptable. There is no way that …show more content…
In other words, "what people deserve is determined by what they do as agents." For example, applied strictly, if someone steals from another person, then the thief must have the same thing happen to him, and be stolen from. In this case, the punishment is equal to the crime. This is where Nathanson's objection of "moral desert" comes into play. "Moral desert" is just a philosophical notion that a person deserves something based on his or her actions, and it is not cleared up by equality retributivism because equality retributivism calls for us to "behave barbarically to those who are guilty of barbaric crimes" (Nathanson). Another example of this is imagine a rapist. It would be barbaric and morally unacceptable to rape the rapist. Even though it may seem that those who kill should be killed themselves, it really isn't moral and is not universally
The most essential argument against the death penalty is that it is immoral. Regardless of how you look at it, the death penalty is slaughtering, and murder is never right! A further take a gander at the profound quality of the death penalty is required, on the grounds that albeit homicide is considered an ethical total, this is not generally the situation. This can be discussed through the virtue ethics theory. Virtue Ethics is the main non-defective theory of morals and was established by Aristotle.
The court believed that the scheme of chastisement under the ruling was consequently “cruel and unusual” if it was too unembellished for the crime, if it was arbitrary, if it affronted societies sagacity of justice, or if it was not more operative than a less unembellished penalty. Reinstating the Death Penalty
Capital punishment has long been a heavily debated issue. In his article, “The Rescue Defence of Capital Punishment,” author Steve Aspenson make a moral argument in favor of capital punishment on the grounds that that is the only way to bring about justice and “rescue” murder victims. Aspenson argues as follows: 1. We have a general, prima facie duty to rescue victims from increasing harm. 2.
Davidson (2015), states crimes committed do not always receive the same punishment (p. 1). He states, the death penalty is a state’s way of enforcing power over society and administering the most harsh punishment available (p. 1). The author states, wrongful convictions and executions of innocent people is an example of a justice system that does not work for the good of society (p. 13). He explains the justice system is structured on the ideas of racism and therefore not equal equality to all people (p. 1). He offers a solution to the problem of wrongful convictions and obtaining what he feels is a 100% guarantee that the right person will be punished for the crimes committed.
Henry Louis Mencken argues the two most commonly heard arguments against capital punishment in his essay “The Penalty of Death”. Mencken believes that the death penalty is a form of “katharsis” for the immediate victims of the crime. Katharsis being a release of healthy steam. He states that criminal punishment is not solely for deterring other criminals of similar crime, but to give a peace of mind to the society that has been wronged. Mencken also argues the complaint of “that of a hangman is a dreadful business” (463).
Death penalty or capital punishment is a legal procedure carried out by the government of a state which sentences a convicted person to death. Capital punishment has been a matter of controversy in various countries for decades now. In this essay, Coretta Scott King talks about why she is against the death penalty. The main purpose of this critique is to focus on King’s arguments and evaluate their authenticity and credibility.
Within this framework, individuals are considered to make rational choices, equally capable of reason and therefore shall be deemed responsible for their actions and deterred through potential threat. Today, classical thinking is evident in sentencing via the “just deserts” approach. This approach to sentencing assures that someone who is found guilty of a crime must be punished for the crime. The just deserts approach rejects individual discretion and rehabilitation – insisting “justice must be
Rough Draft Is the death penalty an effective and justified punishment? This is a topic many Americans have discussed for a long time, and has caused much controversy. Both sides have their pros and cons, and they will be discussed. The first point that many people have about capital punishment is that it’s unconstitutional.
“In Our Names”: Rewriting the US Death Penalty by Kimberly K. Gunter theorizes that the idea of who deserves the death penalty is largely dictated by external factors including literacy, socioeconomic status, education, and exposure making certain classes and groups of people more prone to receive the death penalty. I theorize that the death penalty is biased leaving certain people and classes of people more likely to receive a sentence of death and that the sentence of death should be based on a more algorithmic method that factors in the same elements for each person to be placed on death row. “In Our Names”:Rewriting the US Death Penalty by Kimberly K. Gunter contrasts the US death penalty to different levels of creative/freestyle
Annotated Bibliography Draft Student name : Haider Zafaryab Student number: 2360526 Thesis Statement : Capital Punishment is a very controversial topic around the globe. I believe that it does more harm than good and breeds violence in society. Source 1: Radelet, M. L., & Akers, R. L. (1996).
Even though it is true that taking the life of another is not right, it is even truer that the punishment should fit the crime. The death penalty is an exercise of justice that promotes retribution for crime and moral punishment for those who choose to take human life. Also, it prevents society 's worse offenders from re-offending, and it provides justice for the victims whose lives were cut short without a second thought. To better understand why capital punishment is a justifiable act, Kant 's theory gives a clear and logical understanding of the eye for an eye approach. Additionally the utilitarian view also explains why capital punishment is justifiable in regards to comfort for the victim 's family and prevention of re-offending.
Just deserts claims that it is the offender’s choice to commit a crime, using the classical theory founded by Cesare Beccaria that states, “It asserts that a person is a rational individual with the free will to make a moral choice whether or not to engage in conduct known to be prohibited” (Starkweather, 1991, p.855). The offender made his choice and therefore must be punished for his act of crime. However, just deserts fails to acknowledge that factors in a child’s upbringing can affect their life choices as an adolescence and adult. As noted by Alley, Minnis, Thompson, Wilson and Gillberg (2014), adults who were “psychically, sexually, and emotionally abused as children were three times more likely than were non-abused adults to act violently as adults” (p.290). Consequently, giving punitive sentences and failing to help them psychologically will not help offenders when they are released back into the community.
Summary of Major Ideas In this article “Death and Justice,” Edward Koch adequately defends the view of capital punishment on many fronts. He doesn’t, however, approach the topic in an offensive way. He defends the issue primarily by defending opposing vies by counteracting common arguments made against the subject. He shows that any argument someone could make against the matter he could undermine it through examples, statistics, and even the Bible.
First, I will write about the violation of the human rights. Death penalty is a violation on the most basic human right. It violates that every human being has the right to freedom and life, article 3 in the united nation declaration of the human rights. Humanity
Since the beginning of time the old saying of "Ye have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" (The Holy Bible) shows that capital punishment of execution as taught in the book of scriptures was polished thusly. Mencken expressed that uplifters contend on two most regular contentions that the occupation of an executioner and the witness is horrible business and revolting and that being sentenced to death is presently pointless, for it doesn't prevent others from the same wrongdoing (Phillips and Bostian, 524). Both of these two contentions have some legitimacy inside of the article which has both qualities and shortcomings that will be examined and displayed in