Capital Punishment-The Moral Issue
Capital Punishment: The Death Penalty
By Paislee Semrau
The death penalty is a form of punishment which is currently used in many countries around the world, the USA being one of its largest supporters. Capital Punishment is no longer practiced in Australia, however, and the debate that's gripping the country is this: should Capital Punishment be legal? The answer is yes.
It is immoral to the furthest extent to proclaim that a person who commits an extremely heinous act; such as rape, brutal premeditated murder or torture of humans and animals, still deserves the right to live freely, or even in an incarcerated state, in our country.
We live in a digital age, where computers and machinery are a utility to help us learn. Thanks to DNA testing, forensic science and computers we are able to analyze evidence thoroughly and determine, beyond a shadow of a doubt, whether or not a person is guilty of committing a crime. This is not always the case, however, and in such instances it would be a blatant
display of bad leadership and moral values for the government to put someone to death. But if they know, with full certainty, that someone is guilty of a heinous crime such as murder, rape, torture or any other very serious crime, they should have full right to remove the offender from society.
Life Sentences
A life sentence is currently the second option in Australia, for individuals who commit heinous crimes. But it is a variable option. Sentences to life imprisonment may be withdrawn after twenty years, and the criminal is let back into the world, where they are likely to re-offend. The government is paying for sick criminals to rot away for the rest (or most) of their lives in prison. They use tax payer's money to fund the prisons, where criminals are vainly being kept alive, simply to live the rest of their lives in prison; a purgatory between their free life, and
finally their death. There is simply no point in keeping these people alive, consequently overcrowding prisons and costing tax payers more money.
The argument of Life Sentences vs. Death Sentences is a weak one; if opposers of the Death Penalty argue that no-one has the right to decide whether someone lives or dies, then should they not argue that no-one has the right to decide whether someone may live freely or be incarcerated locked up in prison for the rest of their lives, where they are no use to anybody.
Do They Deserve to Die?
Another argument used by opposers of Capital Punishment is that everyone deserves a life; that no-one deserves to be killed. But then, they support Life Imprisonment, simply because the offender is still alive even though there is really no point to their existence. There should be no argument here: some people simply deserve to die, to pay for their actions.
For example, a well-known and very tragic event was the Port Arthur Massacre of 1996. A man named Martin Bryant went on a shooting spree in the town of Port Arthur in Tasmania. He killed 35 people, injuring 37 others. One example is of Carolyn Loughton, who was in the Café where Bryant was shooting people. She lay on top of her daughter, to protect her, and Bryant
shot her in the back, and her daughter in the head. Carolyn survived, but learned of her daughter's death later. This is one of the many barbaric murders that Bryant commited that day. He was given 35 life sentences, with no chance of parole. So, this sick, horrible man is still alive, living off the money of hardworking, law-abiding members of the community. What this
man deserves, is to be killed, to have his existence wiped off the face of the earth. He is one of many who, by committing revolting and heinous acts, surrender their right to live.
Wrongful Execution
It would be incorrect to state that every person who has been put to death was guilty. Wrongful execution is definitely a major issue with capital punishment. It is the main plot of The Life of David Gale, A 2003 film directed by Alan Parker. In the film, David Gale, an anti-death penalty
activist was put on death row for the murder of his fellow Deathwatch activist, and good friend, Constance. At the end of the film, after Gale is put to death, evidence is released to prove that Gale was innocent; Constance killed herself in order to prove that innocent people are put to death.
This is a justified argument against the death penalty. But, as was earlier mentioned, we live in an intelligent and technological age, and should the death penalty be brought back into the Australian legal system, such mistakes definitely should not be made. In order for the death penalty to be effective, there must be an unquestionable amount of evidence to prove that
the offender is guilty before they are placed on death row.
Moral Values
When a person commits a heinous offence, when they appear in court they often present 'excuses' for their actions. The most common excuses are mental illness or mental scarring due to abuse as a child or a troubled upbringing; the offender might say that his mother was a drug addict, or that he grew up in an abusive environment, to justify his own acts of violence. But regardless of whether the offender didn't know they were doing wrong, or were in a psychotic state due to mental illness, the responsibility for their actions lays on them, and no-one else.
For example, a man was in a car accident as a child which caused damage to his brain and gave him a psychotic anger management problem. He flew into a fit of rage, and bashed his daughter to death. He was most likely unaware of what he was doing, nor was he able to control it, but he still did it. He was sentenced to life in prison. Regardless of the 'excuse', regardless of
the 'justification', that man was responsible for his actions.
The argument of deciding whether a criminal should live or die does not come down to
'playing god' by putting them to death, nor does it matter whether the offender had an 'excuse'. It comes down to moral values. The man bashed his daughter to death; no-one would want this man living in their community, because he committed a heinous act.
The Death Penalty is the strongest promoter of moral values. By putting a dangerous criminal to death they are removed from a lawful society where they may re-offend, they are not placed in confinement where they live pointlessly off the community, and their misjudgment of moral values is made public. The public will know, then, that if they are humane and moral
beings, they will be free to live peacefully with others.
The Families
It is natural that in the event of a murder or serious offence, the only people taken into consideration are the family of the victim. A thought is rarely spared for the family of the sentenced offender; it is unlikely that an unrelated party could imagine how the offender's family may feel knowing that their relative is suffering in an overcrowded prison, rather than being put out of their misery. The death penalty is a justice to the victim and
the offender, as well as their families, by bringing justice to the victim and putting the offender out of their misery.
Playing God
Whenever the issue of capital punishment comes up, religion is thrown into the works. Religious people argue that their particular god created life and is the only one who has the right to end it. This causes a whole other argument; Atheism vs. Christianity vs. Islam vs. Hinduism, etc. The same way that a person should not be put to death simply because someone believes that they are guilty, a person should not be put to death simply because someone
believes in a higher being which controls the occurrence of life and death.
The government is representative of the wider community, and the government makes decisions to benefit the community. They decide which people are to be removed from society and incarcerated, for the benefit of the community. It is simply the matter of the Death Penalty being an improved alternative to life imprisonment, therefore the government has full right to put an undeniably guilty person to death.
Methods of Capital Punishment
The current most common methods of putting someone to death are: lethal injection, firing squad, electric chair, and in some countries hanging, gas chamber and beheading are still used.
It is important for any human being, criminal or not, to die with dignity. A murderer may display his or her own immorality by taking another's life, but it would be inhumane for anyone to put them to death in an undignified manner. For example, the lethal injection is the most commonly used method in the United States. It involves the offender being given a last meal, being made to wear a diaper (because when the lethal injection kills the person, their bodily functions fail) and lead down a corridor to the chamber where they are strapped down and injected with either Sodium Pentothal, Pancuronium Bromide, or Potassium Chloride. It is clear that this method does not display humanity in letting the offender die in a dignified matter.
It is the same with hanging, gas chamber, and electrocution. If people were to be put to death in Australia, the most respectable option would be death by firing squad. The offender would be taken to a secluded area, blindfolded, and shot, causing instant and painless death. No undignified violation of the living offender or dead body would occur, and the desired
solution would be achieved.
The death penalty should be brought back into the Australian legal system. It will free space in prisons, cease tax payer's funding the life of undesirable criminals, bring justice to both offender and victim, and keep heinous crime out of society.
Life sentences are not an effective alternative; the offenders may be released, causing them to reoffend, or if they are kept in prison for the rest of their lives they suffer, cause overcrowding of prisons, are cause for their families to suffer, and are simply no use to society.
Capital Punishment is the strongest promoter of moral values. By letting a criminal rot in prison, simply because the victims or affected people want them to suffer, simply causes them to stoop to the criminal's level of inhumanity. The death penalty is there to eliminate inhumanity in our
society, while Life Sentences support it.
People who commit heinous crimes deserve to die; they surrender their right to live freely in society by displaying inhumanity towards others.
The death penalty is no longer an option in Australia, but should the government make a decision to seriously consider humanity and moral values, it is very possible for Capital Punishment to be brought back into the Australian legal system. Currently, Capital Punishment is an idea, but it is not full of empty words. It definitely could work and could be treated with
responsibility.
It is time to mend the mistakes made in society and make Australia a better country.
