capital punishment disadvantages essay

16 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty and Capital Punishment

Human civilizations have used the death penalty in their set of laws for over 4,000 years. There have been times when only a few crimes receive this consequence, while some societies, such as the seventh century B.C.’s Code of Athens required the punishment for all crimes to be death.

The death penalty in the United States came about because of the influences of the colonial era. The first recorded execution in the colonies occurred in 1608 in Jamestown. Captain George Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain. It only took four more years for Virginia to institute the death penalty for minor offenses such as stealing grapes or trading with Native Americans.

Today, capital punishment is reserved for brutal and heinous crimes, such as first-degree murder. Some countries use the death penalty for repetitive violent crime, such as rape and sexual assault, or for specific drug offenses. Here are the pros and cons of the death penalty to review as we head into 2021 and beyond.

List of the Pros of the Death Penalty

1. It is a way to provide justice for victims while keeping the general population safe. There is an expectation in society that you should be able to live your life without the threat of harm. When there is someone who decides to go against this expectation by committing a violent crime, then there must be steps taken to provide everyone else the safety that they deserve. Although arguments can be made for rehabilitation, there are people who would continue their violent tendencies no matter what. The only way to keep people safe in those circumstances, and still provide a sense of justice for the victims, is the use of the death penalty.

2. It provides a deterrent against serious crimes. The reason why there are consequences in place for criminal violations is that we want to have a deterrent effect on specific behaviors. People who are considering a breach of the law must see that the consequences of their actions are worse if they go through without that action compared to following the law.

Although up to 88% of criminologists in the United States report that capital punishment is not an effective deterrent to homicide, the fact that it can prevent some violence does make it a useful tool to have in society.

3. It offers a respectful outcome. A critical component of justice in modern society involves punishing criminal behavior in a way that is not cruel or unusual. That societal expectation has led the United States to implement capital punishment by using lethal injections. Although some regions struggle to purchase the necessary drugs to administer lethal injections, the process of putting someone to sleep before they stop breathing eliminates the pain and negative outcomes associated with other execution methods.

Modern processes in modern societies are much more compassionate compared to the historical methods of hanging, firing squads, or other gruesome methods of taking a life under the law.

4. It maintains prison populations at manageable levels. Over 2 million people are currently part of the prison population in the United States. About one in five people currently in jails across the country are awaiting trial for charges that they face. That is about the same amount of people who are labeled as being violent offenders. By separating those who are convicted of a capital crime, we create more room for individuals who want to work through rehabilitation programs or otherwise improve their lives and live law-abiding futures. This structure makes it possible to limit the financial and spatial impacts which occur when all serious crimes require long-term prisoner care.

5. It offers society an appropriate consequence for violent behavior. There are criminals who have a desire to rehabilitate their lives and create new futures for themselves within the bounds of the law. There are also criminals who desire to continue their criminal behaviors. By keeping capital punishment as an option within society, we create an appropriate consequence that fits the actions taken by the criminal. The death penalty ensures that the individual involved will no longer be able to create havoc for the general population because they are no longer around. That process creates peace for the victims, their families, and society in general.

6. It eliminates sympathetic reactions to someone charged with a capital crime. The United States offers a confrontational system of justice because that is an effective way to address the facts of the case. We make decisions based on logic instead of emotion. The law must be able to address the actions of a criminal in a way that discourages other people from conducting themselves in a similar manner. Our goal should be to address the needs of each victim and their family more than it should be to address the physical needs of the person charged with a capital crime.

7. It stops the threat of an escape that alternative sentences would create. The fastest way to stop a murderer from continuing to kill people is to eliminate their ability to do so. That is what capital punishment does. The death penalty makes it impossible for someone convicted of murder to find ways that kill other people. Failing to execute someone who is taking a life unjustly, who is able to kill someone else, makes us all responsible for that action. Although there are issues from a moral standpoint about taking any life, we must remember that the convicted criminal made the decision to violate the law in the first place, knowing full well what their potential outcome would be.

List of the Cons of the Death Penalty

1. It requires one person to kill another person. In an op-ed published by the New York Times, S. Frank Thompson discussed his experience in executing inmates while serving as the superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary. He talked about how the death penalty laws forced him to be personally involved in these executions. He came to a point where, on a moral level, he decided that life either had to be honored or not. His job required him to kill someone else. Whether someone takes a life through criminal means, or they do so through legal means, there still is an impact on that person which is unpredictable.

2. It comes with unclear constitutionality in the United States. In the 1970s, the Supreme Court of the United States found the application of the death penalty unconstitutional, but four years later, allowed the death penalty to resume with certain limitations on when and how it must be carried out. Some justices have called for a review of the death penalty due to current information about the risk of sentencing innocent people to death and other concerns about the death penalty.

After four decades of surveys, studies, and experiences with the death penalty, there are three specific defects that critics state exist. There is unreliability in the systems that are used to put prisoners to death, there are delays that can last for 20 years or more before executing a prisoner, and the application of capital punishment has been called arbitrary.

3. It does not have a positive impact on homicide rates. The United States implemented the death penalty 22 times in 2019, and imposed 34 death sentences. Crime statistics for that year indicate that there were 16,425 reported murders and non-negligent manslaughter cases in the U.S. Some claim that criminals do not think they’ll be caught and convicted, so the death penalty has a limited deterrence effect. Statistics on crimes show that when the death penalty is abolished, and replaced with a guaranteed life in prison, there are fewer violent acts committed.

4. It creates a revenge factor, which may not best serve justice. No one can blame families of victims for wanting justice. There is enough reason because of their pain and loss to understand concepts like vengeance. The problem with the death penalty is that it implements only one form of justice. It can be seen to create the framework for allowing for an eye for an eye, rather than taking a morally higher ground. If we permit the killing of people as a consequence of their own murderous decisions, then do we devalue life itself? It cannot be assumed that something that is legal is necessarily morally correct.

5. It costs more to implement the death penalty. The average case brought to trial which involves the death penalty costs taxpayers $1.26 million (counted through to execution). Cases that are taken to a jury which do not involve capital punishment cost an average of $740,000 (counted through to the end of incarceration). When you compare the costs of maintaining a prisoner in the general population compared to keeping someone on death row, taxpayers save money by avoiding the death penalty.

Maintaining a prisoner on death row costs $90,000 more per year than keeping that person in the general population. When one considers the cost of keeping someone on death row for 20 years or more, it is cheaper to sentence someone to life in prison without the possibility of parole in most states that it is to put them to death.

6. It comes with a risk that an innocent person could be executed. Although we like to think that our criminal justice systems are perfect, it is not. A study by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences determined that at least 4% of the people that are on death row are likely to be innocent. Since 1973, over 170 people have been taken off of death row because evidence showed that they were innocent of the crime for which they were convicted.

The justice system has flaws in our justice system. There have been cases where prosecutors knowingly withheld exculpatory information. There have been times when the justice system has introduced false evidence against defendants. People can be coerced into entering a guilty plea, or admitting their guilt, because of external pressures placed on them.

7. It does not always provide the sense of justice that families require. Research published in 2012 by the Marquette Law Review found that the victim’s family experienced higher levels of psychological, physical, and behavioral health when the convicted criminal was sentenced to life in prison, instead of the death penalty. The death penalty might be considered to be the ultimate form of justice, but it does not always provide the satisfaction people think it will once it is administered.

8. It does not seek alternative solutions. About one in every nine people in the U.S. is the population is currently serving a life sentence. Many more are serving a sentence that keeps them in prison for the rest of their lives because it will last for 15 years or more. Violent crime has declined dramatically since it peaked in the early 1990s. According to FBI data, the violent crime rate fell 51% between 1993 and 2018, and using the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it fell 71% during that same period. In 2016, 2,330 prisoners escaped from prison in the U.S.

There are numerous ways to prevent someone from breaking out of prison and hurting someone else, and the decreased number of violent crimes should mean a smaller prison population to work with to seek alternative solutions.

9. It automatically assumes that the criminal cannot be rehabilitated. There will always be people who decide they will live with a disregard for others. These people may never successfully complete a rehabilitation process after committing a crime. Sentencing someone to death makes the assumption that the person cannot be rehabilitated and suggests that there is no other way to help society except to get rid of that criminal.

These death penalty pros and cons are not intended to serve as a moral framework but are an attempt at a balanced look at reasons why capital punishment is a useful tool within societies, as well as reasons to the contrary. There are also specific outcomes that occur when the death penalty is not a potential sentence, which can be beneficial. That is why these critical points must continue to be discussed so that we all can come to the best possible decision to keep one another safe.

Capital Punishment: Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

Advantages of capital punishment, disadvantages of capital punishment.

Bibliography

Within the realms of the American laws, criminal justice system comprises of the law creators (legislative), courts (adjudication), and correctional facilities such as probation, parole, prisons, and jails. American criminal justice system comprises of the jurisdictional, normative, functional, and institutional components.

These components work simultaneously in defining the goals of procedural laws and decision to be taken by the court of law. Factually, these activities take place at different points. This paper analyses impact of death penalty at the Walnut Street Jail of Philadelphia.

Actually, capital punishment refers to a death sentence on individuals who have committed unlawful deeds. Indeed, such punishment arises due to capital offences. Death penalty is normally conducted by knocking out head from an individual’s body. Initially, death penalty was practiced by many countries but currently several nations have abandoned the practice.

Indeed, many positions have been raised due to religious and cultural explanations, and political principles. In fact, the Holy Bible justifies death penalty against criminal offenses such as murder. This paper examines death penalty from an impartial view by considering disadvantages and advantages of capital punishment in society.

First, according to Teeters, death penalty eradicates criminal activities in a community. Indeed, capital punishment is an important mission for every person simply because it instills moral while discouraging criminal activities in society [1] . Actually, dead victims would not commit more illegal actions either when freed from jail or in jail.

Secondly, money is ever a limited commodity. In this case, nations would utilize wisely their scarce resources to care their citizens who need help rather than spending such resources in imprisoning criminals for long term basis. Capital punishment is hence cost-effectual. Indeed, infinite appeals would spend much time and more resources in resolving death disputes.

Death penalty is therefore cost-valuable. Thirdly, Teeters views that death penalty is a retribution action in which a victim is punished because of offenses committed [2] . In fact, capital punishment is an eye for an eye formula which is revengeful with no forgiveness. Lastly, capital punishment is a deterrent device that has discouraged crimes. Actually, before committing crimes, criminals have to perceive possible impacts of their actions because they are aware of what death penalty justifies.

Teeters explains that there is a conviction that innocent persons would be killed and therefore there would be no alternative manner for compensating and rehabilitating such people [3] . Secondly, death penalty is an unkind, barbaric and unashamed inhuman act, regardless how atrocious offense is.

Indeed, human being has self-respect to exist which is a natural law from religious perspective. In addition, human being has dignity to exist with self-respect which should be key priority for any government objective for people. Moreover, there has been a big concern how a government would tread on persons’ dignity and right.

Third, according to Teeters, death penalty never gives a victim possibility to be regretful of his actions [4] . Actually, capital punishment has never treated criminals with a just prospect to recover their deeds. Lastly, there is no tangible proof that death penalty has been capable to prevent latent victims from performing offensive acts.

Furthermore, mitigating capital punishment as way to prevent future unlawful acts is likely to be an obvious one-dimension justification to several people. Indeed, this should not be the case. Actually, people should look for objective justifications that support every person, even criminal offenders.

Though parole and probation are community correction strategies which functioning on the concept of community supervision, they are different in many aspects. Despite these differences, they were initiated to mitigate the magnitude and severity of the punishment process. Parole was introduced in America in the mid 19 th century.

Under this arrangement credit marks are awarded for behavior change, and release from detaining heavily relies on the cumulative score per prisoner. After probation, the suspected offender is passed through criminal justice system, and if found guilty, may be sentenced to a jail term. Since these detention camps have parole officers, prisoners are registered in parole programs and the best behaved released before full jail term. Generally, these processes are designed to promote positive behavior change initiated by the suspect.

Capital punishment had been a controversial dispute since ancient era, though remains certainty in some nations in the world. Actually, India and other countries still endow death penalty for most terrible unlawful acts. However, Human Right Advocates have remained persistent to resist against capital punishment in order to restore human dignity. However, some States have embraced death penalty as an eventual sentence so long as unlawful deeds typifies intense brutal act.

Teeters, Negley. “The Cradle of the Penitentiary: The Walnut Street Jail at Philadelphia 1773-1835.” Temple University, 2001

Negley Teeters, “The Cradle of the Penitentiary: The Walnut Street Jail at Philadelphia 1773-1835” (Temple University, 2001), 129-139.
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1. IvyPanda . "Capital Punishment: Advantages and Disadvantages." November 25, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/capital-punishment-8/.

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Probation and Parole
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Probation and Parole: Causes and Factors
Respect and Self-Respect: Impact on Interpersonal Relationships and Personal Identity
The Basic Differences Between Probation and Parole
The Effectiveness of Juvenile Probation and Parole
The U.S. Federal Parole System
Does Parole Work? Effectiveness of Parole
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Death Penalty for Young People
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Plus Lists of Where It's Practiced and Banned

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Civil Liberties
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Immigration
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M.B.A., California State University, Long Beach
B.A., Journalism and Nonfiction Writing, University of California, Los Angeles

Capital punishment, also dubbed the "death penalty," is the planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person.

Passions in the United States are sharply divided and run equally strong among both supporters and protesters of the death penalty.

Quotations from Both Sides

Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes:

"The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life...It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment."

Arguing for capital punishment, the Clark County, Indiana, prosecuting attorney writes:

"There are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by committing murder with aggravating circumstances present. I believe life is sacred. It cheapens the life of an innocent murder victim to say that society has no right to keep the murderer from ever killing again. In my view, society has not only the right, but the duty to act in self-defense to protect the innocent."

And Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, wrote:

"The death penalty diminishes all of us, increases disrespect for human life, and offers the tragic illusion that we can teach that killing is wrong by killing."

Death Penalty in the United States

The death penalty has not always been practiced in the United States, although Time magazine, using research from M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smykla and data from the Death Penalty Information Center, estimated that in this country, more than 15,700 people have been legally executed since 1700.

The Depression-era 1930s, which saw a historic peak in executions, was followed by a dramatic decrease in the 1950s and 1960s. No executions occurred in the United States between 1967 and 1976.
In 1972, the Supreme Court effectively nullified the death penalty and converted the death sentences of hundreds of death row inmates to life in prison.
In 1976, another Supreme Court ruling found capital punishment to be constitutional. Since 1976, almost 1,500 people have been executed in the United States.

Latest Developments

The vast majority of democratic countries in Europe and Latin America have abolished capital punishment over the last 50 years, but the United States, most democracies in Asia, and almost all totalitarian governments retain it.

Crimes that carry the death penalty vary greatly worldwide , from treason and murder to theft. In militaries around the world, courts-martial have sentenced capital punishments also for cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.

Per Amnesty International's 2017 death penalty annual report, "Amnesty International recorded at least 993 executions in 23 countries in 2017, down by 4% from 2016 (1,032 executions) and 39% from 2015 (when the organization reported 1,634 executions, the highest number since 1989)." However, those statistics do not include China, known as the world's top executioner, because the use of the death penalty is a state secret. Countries in the table below with a plus sign (+) indicate that there were executions, but numbers were not received by Amnesty International.

Executions in 2017, by Country

China: +
Iran: 507+
Saudi Arabia: 146
Iraq: 125+
Pakistan: 60+
Egypt: 35+
Somalia: 24
United States: 23
Vietnam: +
North Korea: +
All other: 58 Source: Amnesty International

As of 2020, capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 29 states, as well as by the federal government. Each state with legalized capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits, and crimes that qualify.

From 1976 through October 2018, 1,483 felons were executed in the United States, distributed among the states as follows:

Executions from 1976–October 2018, by State

Texas: 555
Virginia: 113
Oklahoma: 112
Florida: 96
Missouri: 87
Georgia: 72
Alabama: 63
North Carolina: 43
South Carolina: 43
Louisiana: 28
Arkansas: 31
All others: 184

Source: Death Penalty Information Center

States and U.S. territories with no current death penalty statute are Alaska (abolished in 1957), Connecticut (2012), Delaware (2016), Hawaii (1957), Illinois (2011), Iowa (1965), Maine (1887), Maryland (2013), Massachusetts (1984), Michigan (1846), Minnesota (1911), New Hampshire (2019), New Jersey (2007), New Mexico (2009), New York (2007), North Dakota (1973), Rhode Island (1984), Vermont (1964), Washington (2018), West Virginia (1965), Wisconsin (1853), District of Columbia (1981), American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Moral Conflict: Tookie Williams

The case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams illustrates the moral complexities of the death penalty .

Williams, an author and Nobel Peace and Literature Prizes nominee who was put to death on December 13, 2005, by lethal injection by the state of California, brought capital punishment back into prominent public debate.

Williams was convicted of four murders committed in 1979 and sentenced to death. Williams professed innocence of these crimes. He was also co-founder of the Crips, a deadly and powerful Los Angeles–based street gang responsible for hundreds of murders.

About five years after incarceration, Williams underwent a religious conversion and, as a result, wrote many books and created programs to promote peace and to fight gangs and gang violence. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize and four times for the Nobel Literature Prize.

Williams admitted his life of crime and violence, which was followed by genuine redemption and a life of unusually good works.

The circumstantial evidence against Williams left little doubt that he committed the four murders, despite last-minute claims by supporters. There also existed no doubt that Williams posed no further threat to society and would contribute considerable good. His case forced public reflection on the purpose of the death penalty:

Is the purpose of the death penalty to remove from society someone who would cause more harm?
Is the purpose to remove from society someone who is incapable of rehabilitation?
Is the purpose of the death penalty to deter others from committing murder?
Is the purpose of the death penalty to punish the criminal?
Is the purpose of the death penalty to take retribution on behalf of the victim?

Should Stanley "Tookie" Williams have been executed by the state of California?

Exorbitant Costs

The New York Times penned in its op-ed "High Cost of Death Row ":

"To the many excellent reasons to abolish the death penalty—it’s immoral, does not deter murder and affects minorities disproportionately—we can add one more. It’s an economic drain on governments with already badly depleted budgets. "It is far from a national trend, but some legislators have begun to have second thoughts about the high cost of death row." (September 28, 2009)

In a 2016 California had the unique situation of having two ballot measures up for a vote that purported would save taxpayers millions of dollars per year: one to speed up existing executions (Proposition 66) and one to convert all death penalty convictions to life without parole (Proposition 62). Proposition 62 failed in that election, and Proposition 66 narrowly passed.

Arguments For and Against

Arguments commonly made for supporting the death penalty are:

To serve as an example to other would-be criminals, to deter them from committing murder or terrorist acts.
To punish the criminal for his/her act.
To obtain retribution on behalf of the victims.

Arguments commonly made to abolish the death penalty are:

Death constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment," which is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . Also, the various means used by the state to kill a criminal are cruel.
The death penalty is used disproportionately against the poor, who cannot afford expensive legal counsel, as well as against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.
The death penalty is applied arbitrarily and inconsistently.
Wrongly convicted, innocent people have received death penalty sentences, and tragically, were killed by the state.
A rehabilitated criminal can make a morally valuable contribution to society.
Killing human life is morally wrong under all circumstances. Some faith groups, such as the Roman Catholic Church, oppose the death penalty as not being "pro-life."

Countries that Retain the Death Penalty

As of 2017 per Amnesty International, 53 countries, representing about one-third of all countries worldwide, retain the death penalty for ordinary capital crimes, including the United States, plus:

Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.

The United States is the only westernized democracy, and one of the few democracies worldwide, to not have abolished the death penalty.

Countries That Abolished the Death Penalty

As of 2017 per Amnesty International, 142 countries, representing two-thirds of all countries worldwide, have abolished the death penalty on moral grounds, including:

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bhutan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote D'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Holy See (Vatican City), Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Norway, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia (including Kosovo), Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela.

Some others have a moratorium on executions or are taking strides to abolish death penalty laws on the books.

“ Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The Espy File .” Death Penalty Information Center .

“ Executions Overview .” Death Penalty Information Center , 23 Oct. 2017.

“ The Death Penalty in 2017: Facts and Figures .” Amnesty International .

“ State by State .” Death Penalty Information Center .

“ The 2018 Death Penalty Facts and Figures You Need to Know .” Amnesty International .

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Capital Punishment: Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages of capital punishment, disadvantages of capital punishment, works cited.

This paper analyses impact of death penalty. Actually, capital punishment refers to a death sentence on individuals who have committed unlawful deeds. Indeed, such punishment arises due to capital offences. Death penalty is normally conducted by knocking out head from an individual’s body. Initially, death penalty was practiced by many countries but currently several nations have abandoned the practice.

However, capital punishment has been a controversial issue in many nations. Indeed, many positions have been raised due to religious and cultural explanations, and political principles. In fact, the Holy Bible justifies death penalty against criminal offenses such as murder. In 1723, England parliament passed legislation that allowed capital punishment to curb criminal cases in the nation. This paper examines death penalty from an impartial view by considering disadvantages and advantages of capital punishment in society.

First, according to Zimring, death penalty eradicates criminal activities in a community (5). Indeed, capital punishment is an important mission for every person simply because it instills moral while discouraging criminal activities in society. Actually, dead victims would not commit more illegal actions either when freed from jail or in jail. Secondly, money is ever a limited commodity.

In this case, nations would utilize wisely their scarce resources to care their citizens who need help rather than spending such resources in imprisoning criminals for long term basis (Vermeules & Sunstein 56) Capital punishment is hence cost-effectual. Indeed, infinite appeals would spend much time and more resources in resolving death disputes. Death penalty is therefore cost-valuable.

Thirdly, Haney views that death penalty is a retribution action in which a victim is punished because of offenses committed (20). In fact, capital punishment is an eye for an eye formula which is revengeful with no forgiveness. Lastly, capital punishment is a deterrent device that has discouraged crimes. Actually, before committing crimes, criminals have to perceive possible impacts of their actions because they are aware of what death penalty justifies.

First, Vermeules & Sunstein explains that there is a conviction that innocent persons would be killed and therefore there would be no alternative manner for compensating and rehabilitating such people (58). Secondly, death penalty is an unkind, barbaric and unashamed inhuman act, regardless how atrocious offense is. Actually, “Human Right Advocates perceive capital punishment as an overt infringement of individual’s right of existence” (Zimring 7).

Actually, capital punishment has never treated criminals with a just prospect to recover their deeds. Lastly, there is no tangible proof that death penalty has been capable to prevent latent victims from performing offensive acts. Furthermore, mitigating capital punishment as way to prevent future unlawful acts is likely to be an obvious one-dimension justification to several people. Indeed, this should not be the case. Actually, people should look for objective justifications that support every person, even criminal offenders.

Haney, C. Death by Design: Capital Punishment as Social Psychological System. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print.

Vermeules, A., & Sunstein C. “Is Capital Punishment Morally Required? Acts, omission, and life-life tradeoffs.” Stanford Law Review, 58 (2005): 10-14. Print.

Zimring, Franklin. The Contradictions of American Capital Punishment. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.

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5 Death Penalty Essays Everyone Should Know

Capital punishment is an ancient practice. It’s one that human rights defenders strongly oppose and consider as inhumane and cruel. In 2019, Amnesty International reported the lowest number of executions in about a decade. Most executions occurred in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt . The United States is the only developed western country still using capital punishment. What does this say about the US? Here are five essays about the death penalty everyone should read:

“When We Kill”

By: Nicholas Kristof | From: The New York Times 2019

In this excellent essay, Pulitizer-winner Nicholas Kristof explains how he first became interested in the death penalty. He failed to write about a man on death row in Texas. The man, Cameron Todd Willingham, was executed in 2004. Later evidence showed that the crime he supposedly committed – lighting his house on fire and killing his three kids – was more likely an accident. In “When We Kill,” Kristof puts preconceived notions about the death penalty under the microscope. These include opinions such as only guilty people are executed, that those guilty people “deserve” to die, and the death penalty deters crime and saves money. Based on his investigations, Kristof concludes that they are all wrong.

Nicholas Kristof has been a Times columnist since 2001. He’s the winner of two Pulitizer Prices for his coverage of China and the Darfur genocide.

“An Inhumane Way of Death”

By: Willie Jasper Darden, Jr.

Willie Jasper Darden, Jr. was on death row for 14 years. In his essay, he opens with the line, “Ironically, there is probably more hope on death row than would be found in most other places.” He states that everyone is capable of murder, questioning if people who support capital punishment are just as guilty as the people they execute. Darden goes on to say that if every murderer was executed, there would be 20,000 killed per day. Instead, a person is put on death row for something like flawed wording in an appeal. Darden feels like he was picked at random, like someone who gets a terminal illness. This essay is important to read as it gives readers a deeper, more personal insight into death row.

Willie Jasper Darden, Jr. was sentenced to death in 1974 for murder. During his time on death row, he advocated for his innocence and pointed out problems with his trial, such as the jury pool that excluded black people. Despite worldwide support for Darden from public figures like the Pope, Darden was executed in 1988.

“We Need To Talk About An Injustice”

By: Bryan Stevenson | From: TED 2012

This piece is a transcript of Bryan Stevenson’s 2012 TED talk, but we feel it’s important to include because of Stevenson’s contributions to criminal justice. In the talk, Stevenson discusses the death penalty at several points. He points out that for years, we’ve been taught to ask the question, “Do people deserve to die for their crimes?” Stevenson brings up another question we should ask: “Do we deserve to kill?” He also describes the American death penalty system as defined by “error.” Somehow, society has been able to disconnect itself from this problem even as minorities are disproportionately executed in a country with a history of slavery.

Bryan Stevenson is a lawyer, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, and author. He’s argued in courts, including the Supreme Court, on behalf of the poor, minorities, and children. A film based on his book Just Mercy was released in 2019 starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx.

“I Know What It’s Like To Carry Out Executions”

By: S. Frank Thompson | From: The Atlantic 2019

In the death penalty debate, we often hear from the family of the victims and sometimes from those on death row. What about those responsible for facilitating an execution? In this opinion piece, a former superintendent from the Oregon State Penitentiary outlines his background. He carried out the only two executions in Oregon in the past 55 years, describing it as having a “profound and traumatic effect” on him. In his decades working as a correctional officer, he concluded that the death penalty is not working . The United States should not enact federal capital punishment.

Frank Thompson served as the superintendent of OSP from 1994-1998. Before that, he served in the military and law enforcement. When he first started at OSP, he supported the death penalty. He changed his mind when he observed the protocols firsthand and then had to conduct an execution.

“There Is No Such Thing As Closure on Death Row”

By: Paul Brown | From: The Marshall Project 2019

This essay is from Paul Brown, a death row inmate in Raleigh, North Carolina. He recalls the moment of his sentencing in a cold courtroom in August. The prosecutor used the term “closure” when justifying a death sentence. Who is this closure for? Brown theorizes that the prosecutors are getting closure as they end another case, but even then, the cases are just a way to further their careers. Is it for victims’ families? Brown is doubtful, as the death sentence is pursued even when the families don’t support it. There is no closure for Brown or his family as they wait for his execution. Vivid and deeply-personal, this essay is a must-read for anyone who wonders what it’s like inside the mind of a death row inmate.

Paul Brown has been on death row since 2000 for a double murder. He is a contributing writer to Prison Writers and shares essays on topics such as his childhood, his life as a prisoner, and more.

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About the author, emmaline soken-huberty.

Emmaline Soken-Huberty is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon. She started to become interested in human rights while attending college, eventually getting a concentration in human rights and humanitarianism. LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, and climate change are of special concern to her. In her spare time, she can be found reading or enjoying Oregon’s natural beauty with her husband and dog.

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Essay on Capital Punishment

Updated on
Jun 11, 2022

The phrase “punishment” is one that we are all familiar with. However, only a small percentage of the population is familiar with capital punishment. Capital punishment is a court-ordered death penalty for violating criminal laws . Furthermore, the method of punishment differs from one country to the next. Some countries hang the criminals until they die, while others shoot or inject them with a fatal injection. Keep reading the blog to find an IELTS Essay on Capital Punishment and much more!

Methods of Capital Punishment

Electrocution – In this method, the perpetrator is bound to a chair and a high-voltage current is passed through his body, quickly killing a guy. It also leads to organ failure (especially heart).
Tranquilization – This method causes the criminal to die slowly and painlessly by injecting toxin injections into his body. It can take up to several hours for the criminal to die.
Beheading – Arab and Gulf countries commonly use this method of capital punishment. In this, they just sever the person’s head from their body using this manner.
Stoning – It is a kind of capital punishment in which the criminal is beaten to death. It’s also the most agonizing technique of execution.
Shooting – In this approach, the culprit is shot either in the head or in the chest. Hanging – In this method, the culprit is hanged till death.

Advantages of Capital Punishment

A life sentence is disproportionate to the seriousness of the offense.
The death sentence has the potential to deter violent crime.
It does not have to be done in a violent manner.
The affected family is not re-victimized by the death penalty.
It eliminates the prospect of an escape and potential victims in the future.
When capital punishment is used in a fair manner, it can help to reduce prison overcrowding.

Disadvantages of Capital Punishment

When applied, it is the ultimate negation of human rights.
The death penalty has the potential to execute someone who is potentially innocent.
The cost of bringing a death penalty case to trial is substantially higher than in other situations.
With the death sentence in existence, there may be no deterrent to crime.
It’s used to keep political messages under control.
Capital punishment is occasionally used to put children to death.
There is no turning back once the execution has occurred.
Sometimes the evidence used to justify the death penalty is contaminated.
It is frequently used in a discriminating manner.
The death sentence has a negative influence on a victim’s family.
Only a few jail escapes occur each year, and even fewer involve violent offenders.
Some people are simply unconcerned.

IELTS Essay On Capital Punishment (Sample)

This is an IELTS essay on Capital Punishment which can help you for your exam-

Our lives are less secure without capital punishment, and violent crimes are on the rise. Capital punishment is necessary to restrain violence in society. Since the beginning of time, there has been debate about capital punishment, particularly for violent offences. Many regard it as one of the most heinous penalties, intended to convey a stern message to anyone who even contemplates trouble. While some believe it is natural justice, others believe it is unnatural and argue that humans should not play the role of demi-god. I am certain that people are incapable of deciding one’s death purely on the basis of a disruptive account.

Capital punishment strongly depicts eye-for-an-eye justice, which is a barbarous act in and of itself. Hanging someone to death will not improve the victim’s position, nor will it bring the dead back to life. It may provide a phoney sense of fairness to the people, proving transitory and fading with media attention. Instead, the victim must be given the opportunity to reflect on his own actions, perhaps by meeting the victim or the victim’s family. History has demonstrated that such an exercise acts as a form of punishment because the guilty is usually consumed by flames of repentance. Certainly, such a person deserves a second opportunity.

Few people, on the other hand, would argue that capital punishment restricts criminals and makes the general public feel safe, which is the establishment’s primary responsibility. It is not, in my opinion, lethal punishment that induces a sense of security. People will feel safer in countries like India if decisions are delivered on time and the process is transparent because justice delayed is justice denied.

It should be emphasized that the main goal of punishment is to reform and rehabilitate a criminal. The state’s job should be to punish the guilty person in a way that re-educates and morally redeems him. Given the inevitability of capital punishment, it should not be used in any circumstance.

A life sentence could instead be used for this purpose where it’s possible that the criminal is given a second opportunity.

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Amnesty International UK / Issues

Why we’re working to end the death penalty

Six reasons why we must abolish the death penalty

At Amnesty International, we firmly believe that no one – including any government – has the right to take away someone else’s life. We’re working to end the use of the death penalty around the world, and won’t stop until every country in the world has abolished it.

What is the death penalty?

The death penalty (also known as capital punishment) is the premeditated, judicially sanctioned killing of an individual by a state. It’s an irreversible and violent punishment that has no place in any criminal justice system.

We oppose the use of the death penalty in every single case. No matter what the crime, who the alleged criminal is, or the method proposed to execute them – we will always stand against it.

Why are we against it?

There are many reasons that the death penalty is an unacceptable punishment. Here are six:

1. It’s the ultimate denial of human rights

First and foremost, sentencing someone to death denies that individual two vital human rights guaranteed under international law, as established by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):

the right to life (Article 3)
the right not to be tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment (Article 5).

Our aim at Amnesty is for every person on the planet to enjoy their human rights, as enshrined in the UDHR and similar international human rights standards. The death penalty violates basic human rights in every case.

Full List Of Your Rights In The UDHR

2. It doesn’t deter crime

People in favour of the death penalty often say that it’s a useful deterrent for the most abhorrent crimes in society – but evidence shows that this isn’t the case.

A 2012 report by independent researchers at America’s National Research Council of the Academies found that US states using the death penalty have a similar murder rate to states that don’t use it: the threat of capital punishment did not appear to prevent homicides.

3. It’s irreversible, and mistakes happen

Execution is the ultimate, irrevocable punishment: the risk of executing an innocent person can never be eliminated, and such mistakes cannot be unmade.

Since 1976, 195 US death row prisoners have been exonerated completely for their crimes. Who knows how many have been executed for a crime they did not commit? The flaws in state systems that dole out the ultimate irreparable punishment have been documented in the One for Ten film project . Furthermore, the United States accounts for a fraction of global executions, with 93% of known 883 global executions in 2022 being carried out in the Middle East and North Africa. This number does not include the potentially thousands of executions that are not reported in China, Viet Nam and North Korea. For more statistics on the death penalty, visit our Death Penalty Report for 2022 .

4. It’s often used within unfair justice systems

The countries executing the most people are often the same countries about which we have serious concerns regarding the fairness of their judicial systems.

‘Top’ executing countries such as – China, Iran and Saudi Arabia – are all guilty of issuing death sentences under circumstances that are far from transparent.

China is the world's most prolific executioner. But use of the death penalty in the country is regarded as a state secret; we suspect, based on all the evidence we have, that thousands of people are executed in China every year, but without credible information from the Chinese state government, we cannot know how many death sentences are issued and executions carried out every year.

In both Saudi Arabia and Iran, death sentences are sometimes issued after convictions relying on ‘confessions’ from prisoners that have been obtained by force, often through torture in detention. Furthermore, in 2022, drug-related offences caused a significant portion of death penalty sentences , while some were executed publicly. Some were also executed for crimes that occurred when they were below 18 years of age.

OUR LATEST DEATH PENALTY REPORT

5. It discriminates

You are more likely to be sentenced to death if you are a member of a minority group within a state that executes. The death penalty disproportionately affects members of racial, ethnic and religious minorities, as well as those living in poverty.

In the US, there's extensive evidence of racial bias on death row . The race of the victim remains the single most reliable factor in determining whether a defendant will be given a death sentence. For example, a 2007 study in Connecticut showed African American defendants to be three times more likely to receive the death penalty than white defendants, where the victims are white.

Serious mental health issues are also common in defendants sent to death row. At least one in ten prisoners executed in the US between 1977 and 2007 had experienced severe mental health problems that meant they were literally unable to comprehend the crime they were alleged to have committed, and unable to understand the terms of their sentence and imminent execution.

"It’s often those from disadvantaged backgrounds that are disproportionately affected by this callous punishment." Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

6. It can be used as a political tool

You are more likely to be sentenced to death if state authorities see you as a threat.

Authorities in Iran, Sudan and Saudi Arabia all have a track record of issuing death sentences to opposition activists or potential threats to those in power.

Where is the death penalty used?

A small number of countries around the world continue to sentence people to death. The number of states carrying out executions is steadily decreasing, year on year: we have charted a worldwide trend towards abolition since we began campaigning for it.

Thousands of people remain on death rows awaiting execution in prisons around the world, and many hundreds are still executed in a minority of states every year.

Death Penalty Report - 2022 Global Trends of Executions & Death Sentences
More about our work on the death penalty
2023 World Day Against Death Penalty

While you’re here…

Like you, we are horrified by the violence and the civilian death toll in Gaza, Israel and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We’re calling for an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the occupied Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent further loss of civilian lives. Amnesty International is investigating mass summary killings, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks, hostage-taking, and siege tactics.

As ever, our mission to protect human rights remains. Please donate today to help expose war crimes and protect human rights. Thank you.

18 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty

The death penalty, or “capital punishment” if one prefers a friendlier term, is the planned killing of an individual by a government or ruling entity in response to a crime. It is considered the just punishment for a person legally convicted of an action which is deemed a safety threat to society.

Most states in the U.S. which allow for the death penalty due so because of murder. Capital punishment is a legal penalty at the federal level in the United States for murder as well, along with treason, espionage, piracy, certain drug-trafficking offenses, or the attempted murder of a juror, court officer, or witness in some situation.

As of 2018, every prisoner under a federal death sentence was convicted of aggravated murder. There were 63 offenders on “death row” at the Federal Bureau of Prisons as of September 2018. The U.S. military has a death penalty as well, and the branches have executed 135 people since 1916. That includes Private Eddie Slovik, who was executed on January 31, 1945 under the conviction of desertion.

There are passionate people on both sides of this debate, so it is imperative to take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty with an open mind whenever possible.

List of the Advantages of the Death Penalty

1. A sentence of life in prison is disproportionate to the capital crime. Almost all death sentences handed out by the United States or state-level justice systems are for aggravated murder. Only two people were on death row for a non-murder offense when the Supreme Court last ruled on the validity of the death penalty in 2008. Both inmates were convicted of the aggravated rate of a child under the age of 13, including Patrick Kennedy who was sentenced for raping his step-daughter.

“As it relates to crimes against individuals… the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim’s life was not taken,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2008 when the sentence was overturned. If a convicted criminal receives life in prison for taking a life, proponents argue that this is not justice because the outcome is disproportionate to the action taken.

2. The death penalty can provide a deterrent against violent crime. When many criminologists define deterrence in terms of the death penalty, they are looking at how the presence of this sentencing can stop violent acts by preventing someone to commit them in the first place. It becomes a value proposition. Do I want to risk my life because I have a willingness right now to take the life of another? In that circumstance, 88% of criminologists agree that the presence of the death penalty is not useful.

What we must look at for this advantage is the actual convicted person. Capital punishment creates an irreversible deterrent that the murderer will never get the chance to take a life again. It is a form of incapacitation that helps to protect society by preventing future crime in this manner.

“Capital punishment is likely to deter more than other punishments because people fear death more than anything else,” said Ernest van den Haag, Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham University. “They fear most death deliberately inflicted by law and scheduled by the courts. Whatever people fear most is likely to deter the most.”

3. It doesn’t need to be carried out with brutality. The focus of the death penalty in the United States today is focused on ending life as quickly and as peacefully as possible. That is why the process is typically carried out through the use of a lethal injection, creating a medically-imposed death that involves the least amount of pain possible.

At various points in history, the death penalty was carried out by beheading, stoning, crucifixion, electrocution, shooting, or hanging. Saudi Arabia still carries out sword-based executions, while India, Japan, and Singapore use hanging. China uses a single shot to the back of the head, while Indonesia uses a firing squad.

4. The death penalty does not re-victimize the affected family. There is rightful sympathy or empathy directed toward the family of someone accused of a capital crime. These people are losing a loved one because of this legal structure. The family of the victim has also lost someone as well. The person who does not deserve sympathy is the criminal who decided to commit the capital act (usually aggravated murder) in the first place. When the death penalty is one of the possible consequences that someone faces for their conduct, then it shields the family of the victim from another form of victimization.

If given life without parole, there is always the possibility that the criminal could discuss their side of the case, describe the actions they took, or issue threats to other members of the family. Capital punishment eventually stops this issue so that the victim’s family can feel like they can be safe again.

5. It eliminates the possibility of an escape and future victims. Drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as “El Chapo,” has a long history of being captured and escaping from maximum security prisons. In 2001, with the help of guards that he bribed, he escaped in a dirty laundry cart, and then into the trunk of a waiting Monte Carlo. He hid in tunnels for days when captured in Mazatlan in 2014. He then escaped through a tunnel in 2015 out of Mexico’s top-security prison.

When there is a life in prison sentence, then an individual has nothing to lose with their effort to escape. What can the criminal justice system do to that person except add more time to their life sentence? By using capital punishment, this threat disappears – which means there will be no future victims either.

6. The application of capital punishment in just ways can limit prison overpopulation issues. People are living longer today than arguably at any other time in history. California’s criminal justice system became so overcrowded with prisoners that the federal courts had to step in to order changes or risk letting convicted prisoners loose because there was no room to house them. The state has the largest death room in the country, and with new capital convictions happening every month, their prison ran out of room.

There were 750 people on death row in California in 2015, up from 646 in 2006. By managing this process so that it is efficient, including any appeals or pleadings which are legally permitted, it becomes possible to manage the population and limit costs without creating the potential for harm in the rest of society.

List of the Disadvantages of the Death Penalty

1. It is the ultimate denial of human rights when implemented. Amnesty International describes the implementation of capital punishment like this. “The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights,” the organization says. “It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. It violates the right to life. It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or cruel treatment.”

The definition of justice can be a tricky element. How a society chooses to punish its offenders is more reflective of them than it is the choices that criminals make. Sparing someone’s life, even if that person took the life of another, takes vengeance out of the scenario. Being pro-life by definition means that one must be for every life.

2. The death penalty can execute someone who is possible innocent. Ever since the United States reinstated the death penalty after a Supreme Court ruling allowed for it as part of the justice system, over 1,400 people have been executed by the state or federal government. Courts in the U.S. don’t usually entertain a claim of innocence until after the convicted individual dies of natural causes or goes through with the execution. There are 15 cases where there is strong evidence to suggest innocence out of this number, with the latest being Carlton Michael Gary, who was executed in 2018 by the state of Georgia.

A police statement withheld from the defense indicated that the witness who identified Gary in court was actually asleep at the time and that she could not describe or identify her attacker. DNA evidence left at the scene excluded him as well. Improper handling of evidence and a lack of presentation of other items were also part of the issue, along with a lack of federal review despite all of these concerns.

Even one innocent person being put to death by the state is too many.

3. The cost to prosecute the death penalty is much higher than other cases. When the state of Oklahoma examined the differences in cases where capital punishment was the desired outcome sought with a conviction rather than life in prison, the overall cost of pursuing the death penalty was 3.2 times higher. This data is similar to that found in a review of 15 state studies that looked at the cost of this issue and found that seeking the death penalty raises the average cost of a case by over $700,000. Even the most conservative estimates from this information finds that there is a $110,000 increase in expense.

When you incorporate the time spent on death row, the cost of the lengthy appeals process in the United States, and the issues with secure housing, it can cost over $1 million more to proceed with capital punishment instead of a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

4. There may not be any deterrence to crime with the death penalty in place. “I know that in practice, the death penalty does more harm than good,” said Police Chief James Abbot of West Orange, NJ. “So, while I hang on to my theoretical views, as I’m sure many of you will, I stand before you to say that society is better off without capital punishment. Life in prison without parole in a maximum-security detention facility is the better alternative.

When examining data between states with and without the death penalty, there are five specific conclusions to draw.

States with the death penalty have higher murder rates than those without it.
National trends do not impact local decisions by criminals to break the law, whether the death penalty is present or not.
There is no apparent correlation between the death penalty and changes in murder rates.
Capital punishment has no discernible effect on the killing of law enforcement officials.
The abolition of the death penalty occurs most often in states where the murder of police officers is a very low percentage of all homicides.

In 2014, there were 14,000 murders that took place in the United States, but there were only 35 executions that took place.

5. It is used to control political messages. The United States uses the death penalty exclusively for the punishment of crimes as defined by legal code and precedent. It is a principle which is not consistent for other countries in the world. 78% of global executions because of capital punishment come from just four countries when excluding China: Iraq, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Some countries, including Sudan and Iran, use the death penalty as a political tool. It becomes a way to punish political opponents who might want to take their country in a different direction. There were a total of 2,500 death sentences recorded in 54 countries in 2018, with about 20,000 people currently under sentence around the world at the end of the year.

6. Children are sometimes put to death through the use of capital punishment. There are at least 97 kids who were put to death by capital punishment laws in Iran since 1990. Another 145 child executions have happened in China, the Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria – and the United States.

Scott Hain, Toronto Patterson, T.J. Jones, Napoleon Beazley, Gerald Mitchell, Shaka Sankofa, Glen McGinnis, and Steven Roach were all put to death in the United States for a crime that they committed at age 17. Sean Sellers was executed when he was 29 for a crime that he committed when he was 16.

7. There is no going back after the execution takes place. When we carry out a death sentence, it is an irreversible sentence. Over 160 people sent to death row in the United States have either been exonerated of the crime or released because there was direct evidence of their innocence. Even though a grand jury must indict someone and then the case and sentencing are both held before another jury in the U.S., their finding that someone is guilty does not mean the individual is innocent.

Conservative estimates on the number of innocent people convicted in the United States suggest that at least 0.4% of convicted criminals are not guilty of the crimes for which they are accused. If the death penalty were not in place, then there would be time to reverse an unjust conviction.

8. The evidence obtained to justify the death penalty is sometimes tainted. There are specific guidelines in the United States today that limit how and when law enforcement can obtain evidence during questioning. This structure of protection is not always available around the world. There are numerous people executed after being convicted during an unfair trial, often on the basis of evidence or confessions obtained through the use of torture. Some defendants were not given adequate legal representation.

Some countries even use the death penalty as a mandatory punishment for specific offenses, which means the judge cannot consider the circumstances of the crime during the sentencing phase of a trial.

9. It tends to be applied in a discriminatory way. “The weight of the death penalty is disproportionally carried by those with less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds or belonging to a racial, ethnic, or religious minority,” writes Amnesty International. The Women Donors Network found that 95% of the elected prosecutors in the United States are white, and 79% of them are white men. In nine of the death penalty states, there was not a single elected prosecutor who came from a minority group.

Professor Katherine Beckett of the University of Washington found that jurors were 4.5 times more likely to impose a capital punishment sentence on a defendant who was black compared to a white defendant in a similar circumstance in an examination of 285 cases.

10. Family members of a victim are adversely impacted by the death penalty. The Marquette Law Review found that when family members go through the capital punishment process after someone they love becomes a victim, they have higher levels of mental, physical, and behavioral health problems when compared to when the perpetrator receives a sentence of life in prison. Although this issue does not happen in every circumstance, some family members can feel responsible for the fact that the government is putting this criminal to death.

Proponents would argue that capital punishment provides relief because it guarantees that person can no longer harm another, but there are many families who do not feel a sense of satisfaction with this action. If they are the ones who experience loss, then there should be a way to provide input for them.

11. There are very few prison escapes that occur, and fewer that involve violent criminals. The number of escapes from prison in the United States declined by more than 50% between 1998-2013, falling to a rate of 10.5 escapes per 10,000 prisoners in 2013. At the same time, the number of life sentences handed out by the court system has gone up by 500%. Most of the incidents that contribute to a prisoner escape come from low-security situations, like when 16 prisoners walked away from a work site and another 3 disappeared from a community work center.

Out of all of the reported escapes in 2013, only one inmate from a secured facility was able to get away.

12. Some people just don’t care. There are people who will always decide to operate outside of the rules that society sets for safety and security. These are the criminals that filter into and out of prison consistently until they end up spending their life there. Rehabilitation doesn’t work because there is no investment to be different. The death penalty is not going to stop someone from hurting another person in this situation because the criminal is living for the thrill of the moment instead of thinking about their future consequences.

Verdict on the Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty

As of May 2019, about 60% of the world’s population lives in a country, state, or province where the death penalty is a possible outcome for criminal conduct. There are 56 nations which retain the option for capital punishment for a variety of crimes, including incidents that do not include aggravated homicide.

Some countries execute people who are under the age of 18 when the crime was committed. It is used against those with intellectual or mental disabilities. There are times when it is applied after an unfair trial in clear violation of international laws and norms. “The death penalty is a symptom of a culture of violence,” writes Amnesty International, “not a solution to it.”

The advantages and disadvantages of the death penalty rely on several instruments to restrict its use to the most severe situations while providing states, provinces, and nations the freedom to implement it as local populations see fit. Whether it is the right or wrong approach is ultimately up to you to decide.

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Regions & Countries

10 facts about the death penalty in the u.s..

Most U.S. adults support the death penalty for people convicted of murder, according to an April 2021 Pew Research Center survey . At the same time, majorities believe the death penalty is not applied in a racially neutral way, does not deter people from committing serious crimes and does not have enough safeguards to prevent an innocent person from being executed.

Use of the death penalty has gradually declined in the United States in recent decades. A growing number of states have abolished it, and death sentences and executions have become less common. But the story is not one of continuous decline across all levels of government. While state-level executions have decreased, the federal government put more prisoners to death under President Donald Trump than at any point since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.

As debates over the death penalty continue in the U.S. , here’s a closer look at public opinion on the issue, as well as key facts about the nation’s use of capital punishment.

This Pew Research Center analysis examines public opinion about the death penalty in the United States and explores how the nation has used capital punishment in recent decades.

The public opinion findings cited here are based primarily on a Pew Research Center survey of 5,109 U.S. adults, conducted from April 5 to 11, 2021. Everyone who took part in the survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology . Here are the questions used from this survey, along with responses, and its methodology .

Findings about the administration of the death penalty – including the number of states with and without capital punishment, the annual number of death sentences and executions, the demographics of those on death row and the average amount of time spent on death row – come from the Death Penalty Information Center and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Six-in-ten U.S. adults strongly or somewhat favor the death penalty for convicted murderers, according to the April 2021 survey. A similar share (64%) say the death penalty is morally justified when someone commits a crime like murder.

A bar chart showing that the majority of Americans favor the death penalty, but nearly eight-in-ten see ‘some risk’ of executing the innocent

Support for capital punishment is strongly associated with the view that it is morally justified in certain cases. Nine-in-ten of those who favor the death penalty say it is morally justified when someone commits a crime like murder; only a quarter of those who oppose capital punishment see it as morally justified.

A majority of Americans have concerns about the fairness of the death penalty and whether it serves as a deterrent against serious crime. More than half of U.S. adults (56%) say Black people are more likely than White people to be sentenced to death for committing similar crimes. About six-in-ten (63%) say the death penalty does not deter people from committing serious crimes, and nearly eight-in-ten (78%) say there is some risk that an innocent person will be executed.

Opinions about the death penalty vary by party, education and race and ethnicity. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to favor the death penalty for convicted murderers (77% vs. 46%). Those with less formal education are also more likely to support it: Around two-thirds of those with a high school diploma or less (68%) favor the death penalty, compared with 63% of those with some college education, 49% of those with a bachelor’s degree and 44% of those with a postgraduate degree. Majorities of White (63%), Asian (63%) and Hispanic adults (56%) support the death penalty, but Black adults are evenly divided, with 49% in favor and 49% opposed.

Views of the death penalty differ by religious affiliation . Around two-thirds of Protestants in the U.S. (66%) favor capital punishment, though support is much higher among White evangelical Protestants (75%) and White non-evangelical Protestants (73%) than it is among Black Protestants (50%). Around six-in-ten Catholics (58%) also support capital punishment, a figure that includes 61% of Hispanic Catholics and 56% of White Catholics.

Atheists oppose the death penalty about as strongly as Protestants favor it

Opposition to the death penalty also varies among the religiously unaffiliated. Around two-thirds of atheists (65%) oppose it, as do more than half of agnostics (57%). Among those who say their religion is “nothing in particular,” 63% support capital punishment.

Support for the death penalty is consistently higher in online polls than in phone polls. Survey respondents sometimes give different answers depending on how a poll is conducted. In a series of contemporaneous Pew Research Center surveys fielded online and on the phone between September 2019 and August 2020, Americans consistently expressed more support for the death penalty in a self-administered online format than in a survey administered on the phone by a live interviewer. This pattern was more pronounced among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents than among Republicans and GOP leaners, according to an analysis of the survey results .

Phone polls have shown a long-term decline in public support for the death penalty. In phone surveys conducted by Pew Research Center between 1996 and 2020, the share of U.S. adults who favor the death penalty fell from 78% to 52%, while the share of Americans expressing opposition rose from 18% to 44%. Phone surveys conducted by Gallup found a similar decrease in support for capital punishment during this time span.

A majority of states have the death penalty, but far fewer use it regularly. As of July 2021, the death penalty is authorized by 27 states and the federal government – including the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. military – and prohibited in 23 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Death Penalty Information Center . But even in many of the jurisdictions that authorize the death penalty, executions are rare: 13 of these states, along with the U.S. military, haven’t carried out an execution in a decade or more. That includes three states – California , Oregon and Pennsylvania – where governors have imposed formal moratoriums on executions.

A map showing that most states have the death penalty, but significantly fewer use it regularly

A growing number of states have done away with the death penalty in recent years, either through legislation or a court ruling. Virginia, which has carried out more executions than any state except Texas since 1976, abolished capital punishment in 2021. It followed Colorado (2020), New Hampshire (2019), Washington (2018), Delaware (2016), Maryland (2013), Connecticut (2012), Illinois (2011), New Mexico (2009), New Jersey (2007) and New York (2004).

Death sentences have steadily decreased in recent decades. There were 2,570 people on death row in the U.S. at the end of 2019, down 29% from a peak of 3,601 at the end of 2000, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). New death sentences have also declined sharply: 31 people were sentenced to death in 2019, far below the more than 320 who received death sentences each year between 1994 and 1996. In recent years, prosecutors in some U.S. cities – including Orlando and Philadelphia – have vowed not to seek the death penalty, citing concerns over its application.

Nearly all (98%) of the people who were on death row at the end of 2019 were men. Both the mean and median age of the nation’s death row population was 51. Black prisoners accounted for 41% of death row inmates, far higher than their 13% share of the nation’s adult population that year. White prisoners accounted for 56%, compared with their 77% share of the adult population. (For both Black and White Americans, these figures include those who identify as Hispanic. Overall, about 15% of death row prisoners in 2019 identified as Hispanic, according to BJS.)

A line graph showing that death sentences, executions have trended downward in U.S. since late 1990s

Annual executions are far below their peak level. Nationally, 17 people were put to death in 2020, the fewest since 1991 and far below the modern peak of 98 in 1999, according to BJS and the Death Penalty Information Center. The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted legal proceedings in much of the country in 2020, causing some executions to be postponed .

Even as the overall number of executions in the U.S. fell to a 29-year low in 2020, the federal government ramped up its use of the death penalty. The Trump administration executed 10 prisoners in 2020 and another three in January 2021; prior to 2020, the federal government had carried out a total of three executions since 1976.

The Biden administration has taken a different approach from its predecessor. In July 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered a halt in federal executions while the Justice Department reviews its policies and procedures.

A line graph showing that prisoners executed in 2019 spent an average of 22 years on death row

The average time between sentencing and execution in the U.S. has increased sharply since the 1980s. In 1984, the average time between sentencing and execution was 74 months, or a little over six years, according to BJS . By 2019, that figure had more than tripled to 264 months, or 22 years. The average prisoner awaiting execution at the end of 2019, meanwhile, had spent nearly 19 years on death row.

A variety of factors explain the increase in time spent on death row, including lengthy legal appeals by those sentenced to death and challenges to the way states and the federal government carry out executions, including the drugs used in lethal injections. In California, more death row inmates have died from natural causes or suicide than from executions since 1978, according to the state’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation .

Note: This is an update to a post originally published May 28, 2015.

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Death penalty draws more Americans’ support online than in telephone surveys

Most americans favor the death penalty despite concerns about its administration, california is one of 11 states that have the death penalty but haven’t used it in more than a decade, public support for the death penalty ticks up, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Capital Punishment Advantages and Disadvantages

Capital punishment or the death penalty is a type of a government-sanctioned execution whereby an offender is put to death for a committed crime. Capital punishment has been a highly controversial topic for a long time. People widely applied this brutal measure throughout the history. However, this question raised a huge wave of resentment in the previous century, which caused the prohibition of the death penalty in many countries. People realized that it cannot be an option. However, some individuals believe that under certain circumstances capital punishment is necessary. The main goal of this paper is to discuss the issue of the death penalty in order to demonstrate proof that this measure is unacceptable and should be prohibited.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Death Penalty

Many people still support the death penalty, and they have various reasons for that. However, the three most significant points are worth a profound and comprehensive discussion. The first widespread opinion is that this measure prevents criminal from committing heinous crimes. The effectiveness of capital punishment is often emphasized by its supporters (“Cost of the death penalty”). Advocates for the death penalty state that potential offenders are scared of being executed. Therefore, this fear stops them from committing serious crimes like rapes or murders. It is considered to be the strongest deterrent to violations of federal laws. Executed offenders serve as an example for potential felons because the news about such executions becomes widely known among criminal community.

Hence, it discourages people to breach the law. The second reason that supporters of the death penalty refer to is that the government needs to spend much money on maintaining prisoners (Blakelock 1). If capital punishment is banned, criminals who have been convicted of violent crimes will get only a life sentence. Therefore, they will stay in prison for a long time. It requires additional funds. Moreover, the number of inmates is becoming bigger and bigger nowadays. It means that citizens will pay for their accommodation, food, and healthcare services. Many people believe that such spending is irrational and impractical. The third reason for the death penalty is that this measure is humane and painless. Lethal injections are widely used in different states and countries (“Cost of the death penalty”). Such a method is perceived to be civilized and appropriate.

However, these reasons cannot be fully justified. First of all, the death penalty does not necessarily reduce crime rates (“5 reasons to abolish the death penalty”). For example, despite legitimating it, the population of inmates in the United States is one of the biggest in the world. On the contrary, India, which banned capital punishment, is at one of the lowest positions for this indicator (“Highest to Lowest – Prison Population Total”). Also, different studies are conducted to obtain relevant data. Statistics show that states that have banned capital punishment have lower murder rates by 25 percent in comparison to states that apply this measure (“Deterrence: States without the death penalty”). In addition, there are various studies that support such a position. For example, a survey by the New York Times demonstrates that “states without the death penalty have lower homicide rates than states with the death penalty” (“Deterrence: States without the death penalty,” para. 1). Moreover, it reports that homicide rates are below the national average in these states.

Second, in spite of the fact that inmates require additional financing, it is totally reasonable. The death penalty does not reduce the population of prisoners. Therefore, the prohibiting of this measure will not cause an increase in spending on prison maintenance. Another important fact is that substances that are used in lethal injections and other expenses associated with death penalty procedure cost a lot. Research conducted in the United States revealed that “seeking and imposing the death penalty is more expensive than not seeking it,” and “capital cases cost 3.2 times more than non-capital cases” (“Cost of the death penalty,” para.1). Also, there is not enough evidence that capital punishment is economically effective measure.

Finally, the nature of human beings implies dignity, equality and hence reverence towards each other. All these are totally incompatible with such a horrible execution. There are some cases when the executed did not die after lethal injections. They suffer excruciating pain for about half an hour. Such incidents are traumatic not only for criminals but also for witnesses and personnel. Therefore, the claim that the death penalty is humane is false.

There are several important reasons against the death penalty. First, there is always a little chance to execute an innocent person. Statistics present an enormous number of such cases. Death Penalty Information Centre provides real numbers of people who were pleaded guilty to crimes they have not committed. According to official statistics, “there have been 160 exonerations in 28 different States” in 2017 (“Innocence and the death penalty,” para. 3). Therefore, in case if every person who is accused of violent felonies is sentenced to death, many mistakes will be made, and people who do not deserve it will be put to death.

In addition, capital punishment violates an inherent right of all people. Every human being has the right to live, and it is untouchable. Neither government nor other individuals can deliberately take a person’s life. It is one of the main points of people who are against death penalty. All human rights activists strongly disapprove of this measure, emphasizing that society cannot develop without prohibiting capital punishment. This right should be guaranteed by law.

Finally, many criminals change their perceptions while being in prison. Such people regret their terrifying felonies and eventually want to make amends for their mistakes. Many of them serve as a role model for other prisoners and promote another lifestyle. Their examples inspire people and teach them that crimes do not pay. However, the death penalty takes away their opportunity to evolve into better persons.

In conclusion, many people totally disagree with such views. They insist that the death penalty is an unquestionably reasonable measure that should be applied under certain circumstances. Capital punishment supporters state that individuals who expose society to the inevitable threat must be stopped at any cost. However, this method is not humane as it violates the fundamental human right to live. In addition, the death penalty is not economically effective because the government has to spend a substantial amount of budget to carry out such executions. Also, capital punishment does not lead to a reduction in crime rates. Moreover, states with the death penalty have a larger number of felonies. Therefore, civilized communities should not continue to use this type of execution, and every effort has to be made to ban it.

Works Cited

Blakelock, Mary. Disadvantages of the death penalty . 2013. Web.

“Cost of the Death Penalty.” DPIC , Web.

“Deterrence: States without the Death Penalty Have Had Consistently Lower Murder Rates.” DPIC , Web.

“5 Reasons to Abolish the Death Penalty.” Amnesty International . 2017, Web.

“Highest to Lowest – Prison Population Total.” PrisonStudies , Web.

“Innocence and the Death Penalty.” DPIC, Web.

Capital Punishment Essay for Students and Children

500+ words essay on capital punishment.

Every one of us is familiar with the term punishment. But Capital Punishment is something very few people understand. Capital punishment is a legal death penalty ordered by the court against the violation of criminal laws. In addition, the method of punishment varies from country to country. Where some countries hung the culprits until death and some shoot or give them a lethal injection.

Types of Capital Punishments

In this topic, we are going to discuss the various methods of punishment that are used in different countries. But, before that let’s talk about the capital punishments that people used in the past. Earlier, the capital punishments are more like torture rather than a death penalty. They used to strain and punish the body of the culprit to the extreme that he/she dies because of the pain and fear of torture.

Besides, modern methods are quicker and less painful than traditional methods.

Electrocution – In this method, the criminal is tied to a chair and a high voltage current that can kill a man easily is passed through the body. In addition, it causes organ failure (especially heart).
Tranquilization – This method gives the person a slow but painless death as the toxin injections are injected into his body that takes up to several hours for the criminal to die.
Beheading – Generally, the Arab and Gulf countries use this method. Where they decide the death sentence by the crime of the person. Furthermore, in this method, they simply cut the person’s head apart from the body.
Stoning – In this the criminal is beaten till death. Also, it is the most painful method of execution.
Shooting – The criminal is either shoot in the head or in his/her chest in this method.
Hanging – This method simply involves the hanging of culprit till death.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Advantages and Disadvantages of Capital Punishments

Although many people think that it’s a violation of human rights and the Human Rights Commission strongly opposes capital punishment still many countries continue this practice.

The advantages of capital punishment are that they give people an idea of what the law is capable of doing and the criminal can never escape from the punishment no matter who he/she is.

In addition, anyone who is thinking about committing a crime will think twice before committing a crime. Furthermore, a criminal that is in prison for his crime cannot harm anyone of the outside world.

The disadvantages are that we do not give the person a second chance to change. Besides, many times the real criminal escape the trial and the innocent soul of the prosecution claimed to guilty by false claims. Also, many punishments are painful and make a mess of the body of the criminal.

To conclude, we can say that capital punishment is the harsh reality of our world. Also, on one hand, it decreases the crime rate and on the other violates many human rights.

Besides, all these types of punishment are not justifiable and the court and administrative bodies should try to find an alternative for it.

FAQs about Capital Punishment

Q.1 What is the difference between the death penalty and capital punishment?

A.1 For many people the term death penalty and capital punishment is the same thing but there is a minute difference between them. The implementation of the death penalty is not death but capital punishment itself means execution.

Q.2 Does capital punishment decrease the rate of crime?

A.2 There is no solid proof related to this but scientists think that reduces the chances of major crimes to a certain level.

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IELTS band 9 essay: death penalty

Here you can find advice how to structure IELTS essay and IELTS model answer for death penalty topic. Question type: advantages and disadvantages .

Here is the question card:

Some people advocate death penalty for those who committed violent crimes. Others say that capital punishment is unacceptable in contemporary society.

Describe advantages and disadvantages of death penalty and give your opinion.

So this is the advantage/disadvantage essay. In this essay you're asked about :

Advantages of capital punishment
Disadvantages of capital punishment
Your opinion about it

Before writing this IELTS essay, you should decide what’s your opinion and then choose your arguments to describe pros and cons of death penalty. You don’t have to make up very complicate ideas. Even simple, but well-written arguments can often give you a band 9 for writing .

Some of the possible arguments :

Disadvantages of capital punishment :
we have no rights to kill other humans
innocent people can be killed because of unfair sentences
even criminals deserve a second chance
Advantages of capital punishment :
it prevents major crimes
it restores equilibrium of justice
it lessens expenses on maintenance of prisoners

How to structure my answer?

Surely, there are a lot of ways to organise this essay. But here is one possible way of structuring the answer to produce a band 9 essay :

Introduction : rephrase the topic and state your opinion.

Body paragraphs :

paragraph 1: disadvantages of death penalty
paragraph 2: advantages of death penalty

Conclusion : sum up the ideas from body paragraphs and briefly give your opinion.

Band 9 essay sample (death penalty)

Many people believe that death penalty is necessary to keep security system efficient in the society. While there are some negative aspects of capital punishment, I agree with the view that without it we will become more vulnerable to violence.

Death penalty can be considered unsuitable punishment for several reasons. The strongest argument is that we have no rights to kill other humans. Right to live is the basic right of any human being, and no one can infringe this right, irrespective of the person’s deeds. Moreover, innocent people can face wrongful execution. Such unfair sentences take away lives of innocent people and make other citizens lose faith in law and justice. And besides, sometimes criminals repent of their acts. In this case they should be given a second chance to improve themselves.

However, I believe that capital punishment is necessary in the society. Firstly, it is an effective deterrent of major crimes. The best method to prevent a person from committing crime is to show the consequences of his or her actions. For example, the government of Pakistan has controlled the rate of terrorism by enforcing death penalties for the members of terrorist organisations. Secondly, the governments spend large sums of national budget on maintenance of prisoners. Instead, this money can be used for the development of the society and welfare of the people.

To sum up, although capital punishment has some disadvantages, I think that it proves to be the best way of controlling criminals, lessening governmental expenses and preventing other people from doing crimes.

(257 words)

Useful vocabulary

capital punishment = death penalty

to commit a crime - to do a crime

deterrent of major crimes - something that prevents big crimes

to face wrongful execution - to be mistaken for a criminal and killed for that

to infringe someone’s right - restrict someone’s right, hurt someone’s interests

innocent people - people who are not guilty or responsible for crimes

to repent of something - to feel sorry for something

right to live is basic right of any human being

unfair sentence - not fair judgement

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Stoning - In this the criminal is beaten till death. Also, it is the most painful method of execution. Shooting - The criminal is either shoot in the head or in his/her chest in this method. Hanging - This method simply involves the hanging of culprit till death. Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas.
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