Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of someone as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in capital punishment are called capital crimes or capital offences. A capital crime was originally to be punished by the loss of a head. There has always been controversy surrounding capital punishment. There are religious views that oppose capital punishment. There have been wrongful convictions of the death penalty. There are many international organizations such as the United Nations who oppose the death penalty. In fact, the United Nations called for a universal ban during the General Assembly's 62nd session in 2007.
The death penalty for criminals and political opponents was used in almost all societies. Other than crime the death penalty was also used to get rid of political dissent. These days, countries that use the death penalty use it only for major crimes such as murder, spying, treason, or drug trafficking. It is also used for military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, etc also lead to the death penalty. Religious crimes such as apostasy, can also lead to execution.
History
The use of the death penalty dates back to the beginning of recorded history. The death penalty was a part of the justice system. However, in those days crimes were rare in the small communities. Crimes such as murder were almost always crimes of passion. People would hesitate to murder another person. For this reason, execution and even banishment were rare. Compensation and shunning were enough as a punishment. However, outsiders were treated more harshly. Even there small crimes were severely punished. The punishments varied from beatings and enslavements to executions.
For most of history, capital punishments were often cruel and inhumane. These punishments included boiling to death, whipping, slicing, impalement, crushing, disembowelment, the cross, stoning, burning, sawing, decapitation, neck lacing etc. Trends began in the 18th century to move to more humane death penalties. France developed the guillotine, which would simply cut the head off. Hanging was developed, where the criminal would have as thick rope tied around the neck and would be dropped a longer distance.
In 1976, capital punishment was removed from the Criminal Code of Canada as a punishment. After many years of debate and controversy, the parliament decided that capital punishment was not an appropriate punishment. The reasons for this were the possibility of wrongful convictions, accusations that the state was taking the lives of people, and there was also uncertainty as to whether the death penalty was effective. The Parliament replaced the death penalty for murder with a life sentence in jail, with no possibility of parole after 25 years, in case of first-degree murder, and between 10-25 years for second-degree murder.
The only method of execution in Canada, before 1976, was hanging. In 1859, offences punishable by death in Canada included: murder, rape, treason, administering poison or wounding with intent to commit murder, abusing a girl under ten, buggery with man or beast, burglary with assault, arson, casting away a ship, and giving a false signal endangering a ship. This was changed to three by 1859: murder, rape, and treason.
Pros and Cons
There are many pros and cons for capital punishment. The pros of capital punishment seem to be reasonable. The cost of keeping a person in prison for life is more expensive than executing the same person. Another pro is that since the criminals that receive capital punishment are violent then it would be better for the society if those criminals were executed, that way it would not impose any danger to the police as well. Another pro is that many people believe that the punishment of a crime should equal the crime, also known as “eye for an eye”. Therefore the person that kills should also be killed.
The cons of capital punishment are just as reasonable as the pros. A prison's job is to rehabilitate a criminal so they can be released back to society. This means that capital punishment has no place in a prison. Another good point is that if somebody murders somebody else and the murderer's punishment is the death penalty, than what is the difference between the murderer and the law. The murderer killed somebody and so did the law. In other words 2 wrongs do not make a right. Some cultures prefer suffering to immediate death.
Solutions
One solution is the “eye for an eye” theory, where the criminal's punishment is the same as the crime that they committed. This solution seems reasonable because the criminal is experiencing the same pain that he/she has given others. Another solution is that a criminal who commits a capital offence shall be given life imprisonment as an alternative to capital punishment. The last solution is that they are sentenced to death.
Preferred Solutions
The solution that I believe is right is to have life imprisonment as an alternative to capital punishment. I believe that no crime deserves death as a punishment, even if the crime is murder. In fact, I believe that life imprisonment is a much more severe punishment than capital punishment. This is because if somebody is given life imprisonment than they are suffering every day of their life in prison, they will be begging for death.
