Should Death Penalty Be Banned: Social Economic Discrimination (Essay Sample)

Should Death Penalty Be Banned?
Death penalty has been a subject of debate for a while now and it still has no sure solution. People believe that crimes like murder should be punished with execution of the offender. On the other hand, others say that cessation of a criminal’s life does not make us better but rather portrays us as hypocritical. The bone of contention here is, should death penalty be banned? This essay will scrutinize this topic by looking at the arguments given by those that oppose legalized killing and those that propose the idea.
LIFE IS SACRED
To start with, there are many religious reasons that support the banning of this penalty. According to the Ten Commandments, life is considered sacred and hence murder is prohibited by God and is considered immoral. Furthermore, according to the law, everyone has a right to life and taking it is an offence. Here, the question that needs to be asked is whether individuals should take the lives fellow human beings and not whether murders deserve death. In addition, the term capital punishment contradicts itself. "The fact is that capital punishment is a fancy phrase for legally killing people." (Amsterdam, 346)
DEATH SENTENCE DOES NOT DETER CRIME
Research has shown that death penalty does not really help to stop crime. Research has shown that states that have illegalized the death penalty have less criminal activities than those that have legalized it. This is because of the fact that, prisons are there to rehabilitate prisoners and most of the inmates come out changed, hence reducing crime rate as their change will also persuade other offenders to change. When they are killed, they do not get a chance of being better in life or even influencing others.
IT IS EXPENSIVE
The cost of conducting the death penalty is more expensive compared to that of a life sentence. Extra charges incurred during judicial proceedings, expert witnesses and fees paid to lawyers end up being higher. These costs are chargeable to citizens as tax to allow the government to meet them.
IT IS SOCIO-ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATING
Persons of a high social class earn a lot of money and can hence afford to access the best defense team when faced with criminal charges. Since the final verdict by the judge is dependent on how the defense team opposed the case, the person may end up winning despite committing a crime chargeable with capital punishment. Lack of financial resources to hire a good lawyer can be the reason why another person faces the death warrant despite been innocent.
On the other side, people argue that execution of criminals is important since it acts as a warning to others not to commit murder. Criminals will hence be wary of committing this crime. Execution of a murderer engenders a feeling of relief to the victims affected by the death of their loved one....