Death Penalty Essay Introduction Free Essay Example

A death penalty is one of the oldest corrections familiar to mankind. Strictly speaking, it was applied even before the criminal law appears in a modern sense of the word. One of the problems worries not only lawyers but a whole society, causing a lot of discussions, disputes and debates, was and still is an issue of execution. At the moment, its relevance is also connected with the fact that now a lot of states are going to soften own legislation, abolishing the supreme penalty.

In this connection, a question arises as to validity and admissibility of its application.
The presence or absence of the capital punishment is a kind of indicator of culture and quality of life, security and public mentality. That is why in socially and economically well-off countries, the death is much calmer, philosophically, not as exaggerated as in unsettled states.
The relevance of such an investigation is due to the matter that much is said and written, confirmed by judicial and extrajudicial practice regarding severe punishments as never frightening things.

This is explained, first of all, by the fact they were most frequently applied to criminals who, for various reasons, either did not fear death or ignored it.

An attitude of mass consciousness to the capital punishment and scale of its usage serves as a barometer of the community’s morality, its social and mental health. To date, 111 countries have abandoned it, but there are still many governments that have resorted to it so far.
Each state faces such dilemma: should the death penalty be applied as discipline for especially serious crimes or adhere to the principles of humanism? How effective is it? How does the public opinion influence the abolition or retention of similar penalty? A modern society was divided into two camps.

Each of the groups has enough weighty arguments, which it is difficult to disagree.

The main motives of supporters of execution are its preventive nature, economic feasibility, and justice of retaliation. In other words, a lot of citizens consider the rule of mutual murder as justified. An alternative point of view also has its justifications and deserves no less attention.
Opponents of capital punishment point to an imperfection of the judicial system and its frequent mistakes, an inconsistency of the indicated problem in the context of international law, financial costs, as well as doubtfulness of a preventive effect. In light of increased terrorist attacks, there was another argument like suicide bomber did not scare death. Perhaps, only organizers of the attacks themselves are not in a hurry to part with life. And for them, an execution is a quite likely outcome. However, outraged public opinion requires a fair impact on the offenders and does not want to tolerate the facts of insufficiently severe sentences or an abandonment of life by dangerous, incorrigible criminals. And no matter how incompetent, uncivilized it may be, it cannot be ignored. Otherwise, instead of verdicts, according to the law and the court, a “punitive presumption” of the population begins.

Thus, there can be no unequivocal decision on the issue of death penalty. It affects political, legal, socio-economic, moral-religious, cultural-psychological and other spheres of activity. There are criminals who do not deserve life, but punishment is not all-powerful. Since criminality is of a multilateral and deep nature, the measures to struggle against it must also be complex.

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