Shatha Hakami
30 May, 2014
All provisions of the divine in the holy books such as the Quran, the Bible and the Torah forbid murder and impose a painful punishment to the perpetrators of this crime. There are 36 biblical violations in the Torah listed by Maimonides to cover violent attacks like killing and kidnapping (MT Sanhedrin 15:10-13). In the Quran, Allah (God) prescribes a sentence of death for murders by saying, "O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered." (Surah 2: Verse 178). Likewise, the Old Testament Law in the Bible prescribes the death penalty for an extensive list of crimes including murder as it mentioned in Exodus 21:12-14 that "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall be put to death." Therefore, all holy books agree that murderers should be punished and pay the price for their wrongdoings. There are many benefits for having death penalty in society, some of which are securing people, saving their lives and solving many other issues such as overcrowded prisons. However, many people are against the capital punishment because they think that it is inhuman to kill murderers and they still have the right to live.
Firstly, the death penalty is a deterrent force that saves human being's lives and discourages being murder. In the United States, eighteen of the states which are Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin do not allow the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center 2014). According to Neighborhood Scout, a website that shows enterprise-grade data for every neighborhood and city in the U.S., in Michigan, the number of violent crimes per a thousand residents was 44,922 in 2013 ("Crime rates for Michigan "). Meanwhile, in 2013, Oklahoma, which allows the death penalty, had 17,902 violent crimes ("Crime rates for Oklahoma"). This means, by using death penalty, Oklahoma avoided the additional 27020 violent crimes that Michigan had and it saved and secured many people's lives. In other study, according to Edward I. Koch, a former Congressman, between 1963 and 1980, the murder rate increased 122 percent. In the same period, New York City had 400 percent rate of murder and there was worse statistics in many other cities (Death and Justice 1985). If the law of such large population state had supported the death penalty, the murder rate would not be increased that much. The death penalty is a scared deterrent tool for preventing the violinist crime, murder.
Secondly, death penalty could be a solution for the problem of overcrowded prisons and other issues related to this overcrowding. Building new prisons is not a radical solution for such a problem. Different challenging problems contribute to the problem of overcrowding prisoners, such as inadequate medical care and financial resources, understaffed prisons and an inmate-on-inmate violence (Death Row Conditions 2012). Indeed, it is a complex formula; poor medical services, for example, may be threatening illness prisoners' lives or makes infection for them. Therefore, prisoners may suffer from bad condition inside the prisons that ended them to death; otherwise, the death penalty could be much merciful and easy comparing to that bad situation. In the same way, according to the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, the lack of financial resources could leads to the lack of essential and hygienic necessities, like water and food, soap and laundry detergent, and other proper facilities that are important to live (Death Row Conditions 2012). The need of providing suitable place and condition leads to the need of hiring more prisoners' guiders and other staff which increase the need of higher budget. As a result, building new prisons will cost the government billions of dollars for providing health care and essential necessities for prisoners, while death penalty will be the perfect and the cheapest solution for the overcrowded prisons.
People who are against death penalty believe that it is inhuman to kill murderers in which they still have the right to be live. Ray Jasper, who was convicted of participating in the 1998 robbery and murder of recording studio owner David Alejandro, protested against the use of the lethal injunction in death penalty. He claimed that the lethal injunction is an old Nazi practice from the Jewish Holocaust, and it is unconstitutional to use it on dogs. While it is true that the lethal injunction may be painful, murderers still have to be punished by the death penalty to affirm the justice and there are many other manners to apply the capital punishment rather than the lethal injunction. Koch has replied to Jasper's objection by saying, "It is not the method that really troubles the opponents. It is the death itself they consider barbaric," after he mentioned the New York time's publication of an editorial that attacked the new hygienic method of death by injunction, and stated that "execution can never be made humane through science" (Death and Justice 1985). In other words, the capital punishment is a good way to apply the justice for murderers who deserve death for their violent crimes that they committed it toward their societies.
In sum, although many people opposed the capital punishment, it has been approved that the death penalty is a powerful deterrence from committing violent crimes. In addition, the death penalty is the best solution for crowded prisons, and it is a considerable method for applying the justice in the societies. Along with this, death penalty is affirmed by all holy books and it is allowed in many countries in the world.
30 May, 2014
All provisions of the divine in the holy books such as the Quran, the Bible and the Torah forbid murder and impose a painful punishment to the perpetrators of this crime. There are 36 biblical violations in the Torah listed by Maimonides to cover violent attacks like killing and kidnapping (MT Sanhedrin 15:10-13). In the Quran, Allah (God) prescribes a sentence of death for murders by saying, "O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered." (Surah 2: Verse 178). Likewise, the Old Testament Law in the Bible prescribes the death penalty for an extensive list of crimes including murder as it mentioned in Exodus 21:12-14 that "Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall be put to death." Therefore, all holy books agree that murderers should be punished and pay the price for their wrongdoings. There are many benefits for having death penalty in society, some of which are securing people, saving their lives and solving many other issues such as overcrowded prisons. However, many people are against the capital punishment because they think that it is inhuman to kill murderers and they still have the right to live.
Firstly, the death penalty is a deterrent force that saves human being's lives and discourages being murder. In the United States, eighteen of the states which are Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin do not allow the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Center 2014). According to Neighborhood Scout, a website that shows enterprise-grade data for every neighborhood and city in the U.S., in Michigan, the number of violent crimes per a thousand residents was 44,922 in 2013 ("Crime rates for Michigan "). Meanwhile, in 2013, Oklahoma, which allows the death penalty, had 17,902 violent crimes ("Crime rates for Oklahoma"). This means, by using death penalty, Oklahoma avoided the additional 27020 violent crimes that Michigan had and it saved and secured many people's lives. In other study, according to Edward I. Koch, a former Congressman, between 1963 and 1980, the murder rate increased 122 percent. In the same period, New York City had 400 percent rate of murder and there was worse statistics in many other cities (Death and Justice 1985). If the law of such large population state had supported the death penalty, the murder rate would not be increased that much. The death penalty is a scared deterrent tool for preventing the violinist crime, murder.
Secondly, death penalty could be a solution for the problem of overcrowded prisons and other issues related to this overcrowding. Building new prisons is not a radical solution for such a problem. Different challenging problems contribute to the problem of overcrowding prisoners, such as inadequate medical care and financial resources, understaffed prisons and an inmate-on-inmate violence (Death Row Conditions 2012). Indeed, it is a complex formula; poor medical services, for example, may be threatening illness prisoners' lives or makes infection for them. Therefore, prisoners may suffer from bad condition inside the prisons that ended them to death; otherwise, the death penalty could be much merciful and easy comparing to that bad situation. In the same way, according to the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, the lack of financial resources could leads to the lack of essential and hygienic necessities, like water and food, soap and laundry detergent, and other proper facilities that are important to live (Death Row Conditions 2012). The need of providing suitable place and condition leads to the need of hiring more prisoners' guiders and other staff which increase the need of higher budget. As a result, building new prisons will cost the government billions of dollars for providing health care and essential necessities for prisoners, while death penalty will be the perfect and the cheapest solution for the overcrowded prisons.
People who are against death penalty believe that it is inhuman to kill murderers in which they still have the right to be live. Ray Jasper, who was convicted of participating in the 1998 robbery and murder of recording studio owner David Alejandro, protested against the use of the lethal injunction in death penalty. He claimed that the lethal injunction is an old Nazi practice from the Jewish Holocaust, and it is unconstitutional to use it on dogs. While it is true that the lethal injunction may be painful, murderers still have to be punished by the death penalty to affirm the justice and there are many other manners to apply the capital punishment rather than the lethal injunction. Koch has replied to Jasper's objection by saying, "It is not the method that really troubles the opponents. It is the death itself they consider barbaric," after he mentioned the New York time's publication of an editorial that attacked the new hygienic method of death by injunction, and stated that "execution can never be made humane through science" (Death and Justice 1985). In other words, the capital punishment is a good way to apply the justice for murderers who deserve death for their violent crimes that they committed it toward their societies.
In sum, although many people opposed the capital punishment, it has been approved that the death penalty is a powerful deterrence from committing violent crimes. In addition, the death penalty is the best solution for crowded prisons, and it is a considerable method for applying the justice in the societies. Along with this, death penalty is affirmed by all holy books and it is allowed in many countries in the world.