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Capital Punishment: Fighting Off Crime Effectively
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AI Editor

 
By AI Editor
Published on 12/3/2007
 
Capital Punishment: Fighting Off Crime Effectively
With crime so rampant in today’s society, it is a must to consider the positive effects of capital punishment.

Capital Punishment: Fighting Off Crime Effectively

Chaos and order are inevitable two sides of the same coin. Sometimes, though, the line between these two is just too fine that a mere flap of a butterfly’s wings is enough to influence on which side the coin would fall. And when it comes to chaos and order, crime is indeed one of the important aspects that intertwine both.

 

Sadly, crime is indeed part of any society nowadays. What’s worse, the crimes being committed are getting more and more heinous in nature. This is primarily the reason why a lot of courts in countries all over the world are now implementing capital punishment. And the countries that have not yet implemented such are also considering it.

 

Why capital punishment, some people may ask? Well, why not? If you think about it, even the Bible promotes capital punishment to some extent! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That’s the way the saying goes in the Bible, right? Of course, there are people who would say that this is just according to the Law of Moses, way back into the time of the Old Covenant. There are people who would also say that Jesus Christ himself rebuked this particular law, by saying “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn the other to him also.” This is according to the New Testament already.

 

Still, the crimes being committed are growing more and more violent! There was a time when a burglar would break into a house, just to steal off whatever valuables he can come up with. Now, burglars are no longer afraid to do more than just steal. There are a lot of burglars today who would go the extra mile and kill anyone who gets in their way. This is precisely why I am all for capital punishment.

 

Let me present the pros that I can easily come up with for my argument on capital punishment. First would be the incapacitation of the person who committed the crime. With capital punishment, there would be one less criminal to worry about. And this can go a very long way because there is just no way of knowing how far a criminal would go these days.

 

There’s also the matter of cost. We, law-abiding citizens, are actually the ones paying for the housing of these criminals through our taxes. I personally do not like the idea of a portion of my taxes going into the budget for these criminals. My tax payments could be spent for other more worthwhile purposes.

 

Retribution is another appealing aspect here, especially for the victims of the crime themselves. Let’s face it: execution gives the victims the most effective rehabilitative treatment possible. Lifetime imprisonment only means the criminal is still alive while the victim is nursing the wounds of the crime that has been set upon him or her. Worse, if the crime involved were murder, then the victim would no longer enjoy seeing the criminal behind bars for the rest of his life. Even the families of the victim would find execution rehabilitative.

 

Deterrence is another aspect worth discussing. With the implementation of the death penalty, fear would be stirred amongst the many criminals all over the world. They would be discouraged from committing crimes, especially when execution is indeed carried out. Although today’s cases show just a small proportion here, this would inevitably grow if the sentence would be effectively carried out in a consistent fashion. There would indeed be fewer crimes committed in the long run.

 

Of course, with capital punishment comes the fear that the one put to death are actually innocent of the crime they are sentenced for. Now, here comes the inevitable need to turn things around for the judicial system. Every nook and cranny has to be cleaned out to ensure that the sentence is properly and accordingly carried out. This might be hard to do, but it is certainly doable.