Capital punishment essay

• Capital punishment is the legally authorised killing of someone as a punishment for a crime.There are several different methods of capital punishment,some examples are the lethal injection,hanging,electric chair and lethal gas.It was first established in the Eighteenth Century B.C,making it one of the first methods of punishment.In this essay I am going to explain why people see capital punishment as a moral issue,and the arguments for and against it.
• People are against the death penalty because somebody who is sentenced to it could be wrongly convicted and it makes the people carrying it out just as bad as the killer.But some people are for capital punishment because it’s a fair response to serious crimes and it’s a detterance for other people who want to commit the same crime 
• Amnesty International reports that by the end of 2022 122 countries had abolished the death penalty,but capital punishment is still in use in many countries,especially China,Iran,Saudi Arabia and Egypt.China is the country that uses the death penalty the most,and it’s likely that thousands of people were executed there in 2022.The death penalty has been abolished in the UK since 1998,but the last time it was used was in 1964.
• A case of the death penalty that was controversial was the case of Derek Bentley.Derek Bentley was executed in 1953 for the murder of Sindey Miles,a policeman who was shot during an attempted burglary.The case was controversial and many people believed that he did not deserve the death penalty because Bentley did not use his own weapons or try to escape the arrest.Bentley had said “Let him have it,Chris” and his friend Chris Craig fired a gun at a police officer when they were caught stealing
• .Chris Craig wasn’t sentenced to the death penalty since he was under the age of 18.Derek Bentley getting executed by hanging caused a lot of protesting,and his conviction for murder was set aside by the court of Appeal in 1998.Many people did not believe that he deserved the death penalty because he had learning disabilities,and 200 MPs signed a memorandum to cancel his execution,which was refused
• .This case changed many people’s views on the death penalty because some people though that Derek Bentley was guilty,and others thought that his case and some other cases were a miscarriage of justice.
• Derek Bentley was hanged.Hanging is a method of execution where the criminals neck is snapped by a rope.This method is meant to be painless and quick,but a lot of things could go wrong with it such as decapitation.Another method of execution is the electric chair.This method isn’t really viewed as a humane method of execution because it makes the criminal suffer a lot since they are being electrocuted by being strapped to a chair to stop the heart.
• A method of execution that is viewed as more humane is the lethal injection because it is meant to be painless and cheap.But problems can still occur with the lethal injection such as the injection not working properly or the anaesthetic not working.I think that if a criminal is going to be executed they should be executed in a way that is quick and painless,but at the same time if they have caused lots of other people to suffer then it doesn’t really matter if they suffer a lot(“Who cares if they suffer a little bit”) 
• Some people are for capital punishment because they think it’s a fair response to serious crimes like murder,and it’s a deterrence that scares other people so they won’t commit the same crime.I agree with this but at the same time I think that it might not be a fair response because the criminal could be wrongly convicted,so they suffer for no reason.
• Another reason why people are for the death penalty is because it gives the victims families a sense of justice.I disagree with this because if the victim's family want the criminal to be killed then it makes them just as bad as the criminal.Some people are against the death penalty because the criminal could be wrongly convicted.I agree with this because there has been many cases where criminals have been wrongly convicted and sentenced to the death penalty.
• Another reason why some people are against the death penalty is that it doesn’t act as a deterrent,since people still commit serious crimes even though people get sentenced to the death penalty for them
• Christians have views on whether they’re for or against the death penalty.Some Christians are for capital punishment because they believe that it’s a form of retribution.The bible says that retribution means “give in return,restore,pay back” which means that it is punishing somebody because they deserve it.This supports capital punishment because it is agreeing that people who have committed severe crimes like murder deserve to be executed.Another quote that shows that the bible supports capital punishment because of retribution is “eye for an eye,tooth for a tooth”.
• However,some Christians are against capital punishment because they believe that the bible is against it since the bible supports reformation.Reformation is making a criminal a better citizen by reforming them so the can rejoin society.
• The bible supports this as it says that Jesus taught forgiveness.I party agree with the Christian reason for supporting the death penalty because if somebody murdered somebody then they deserve to be executed,but then it makes the executioner just as bad as the killer.I party agree with the Christian reason for not supporting the death penalty because it’s good to have somebody re-enter society and contribute positively,but it’s not fair for the victim as they didn’t get a second chance 
• Amnesty International are a non-religious group that are against the death penalty.Amnesty International is the worlds largest human rights organisation,with over 10 million people who campaign about many different human rights issues.Amnesty International support the UNDHR(The Universal Decleration of Human Rights)which is a document of the history of all human rights.
• Article 3 of the UNDHR states “everyone has the right to life,liberty and security of person” and article 5 states “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel,inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment”.Both of these oppose capital punishment since capital punishment takes away a persons right to live,and it’s treating the person in a cruel way.This is why some non-religious people are against capital punishment.I partly agree with this because capital punishment can make people suffer a lot,but the criminals victim suffered as well.
• Amnesty International says “it doesn’t work”.This means that they don’t think that capital punishment works as a detterant,since a detterant is mean to dissuade other people from committing serious crimes,but people still commit them anyway.This is a reason why some non-religious people are against the death penalty.I don’t think that the death penalty should be used as a detterant because I don’t think it’s fair for some people to be punished really harshly just to scare others.
• Amnesty International says “innocent people have and will be executed”.This means that amnesty doesn’t think that capital punishment works as a protection since innocent people can be executed,even though protection is meant to shield innocent people form harm.This is a reason why some non-religious people are against the death penalty.I agree with this because since 1973 over 191 prisoners in America who have been sentenced to death row have been proved innocent.This shows that capital punishment can harm innocent people and protection would still if criminals were just held in prisons 
• Overall,I don’t think the death penalty should be used as a punishment in response to crime because people sentenced to it could be wrongly convicted,and often justice systems are unfair.I also don’t think that the death penalty should be used as a form of punishment in response to crime because it doesn’t work as a deterrent,since countries who haven’t abolished the death penalty still have high crime rates.
• Another reason why I don’t think that the death penalty should be used in response to crime is that a criminal could be reformed and become a better person and contribute positively to society,but this can’t happen if they get sentenced to capital punishment
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  To what extent do you agree that capital punishment should be used as a response to crime?