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Death Penalty
Current research shows even though the death penalty is a option in many countries, many people believe that capital punishment may lead to miscarriages of justice, or that it violates the criminal’s right to life; therefore, the US government and the United Nation needs to explorer other options to punish there convicts. Death penalty or capital punishment is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for capital crimes or capital offences (Death Penalty 1).
The use of formal execution extends at least to the beginning of recorded history. Historically, the execution of criminals and political opponents was used by nearly all societies both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. The Pentateuch (Old Testament) lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, magic, violation of the Sabbath, blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence suggests that actual executions were rare. In medieval and early modern Europe, before the development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalized form of punishment. For example, in 1700s Britain, there were 222 crimes which were punishable by death, including crimes such as cutting down a tree or stealing an animal (The bible and the death penalty 1). The methods were used before could be very brutal, historically the methods were used by families or tribes includes crushing by a weight, abruptly or as a slow ordeal, burning, especially for religious heretics and witches on the stake, Slow slicing, Snake pit (methods list 1).
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Among democratic countries around the work, most European (all of the European Union), Latin American, and many Pacific Area states (including Australia, New Zealand and Timor Leste) have abolished capital punishment, while the United States, Guatemala, and most of the Caribbean as well as some democracies in Asia and Africa retain it. Among none democratic countries, the use of the death penalty is common but not universal (Death Penalty 2). There is no rhyme or reason to there difference.
Canada is one of the countries that have banned death penalty. The only method used in Canada was hanging. In 1998, Parliament removed the death penalty for National Defense crimes. Canada banned the death penalty because of fears about wrongful convictions, concerns about the state taking the lives of individuals, and uncertainty about the death penalty's role as a deterrent for crime (CP in Canada 1). The death penalty has been abolished in almost all European countries. Only in Belarus and Kazakhstan (a little part of Kazakhstan is part of Europe) is it still practiced - this being one reason for which Belarus has been refused membership in the Council of Europe. In Albania it is
still in force for crimes committed in war time, Russia maintains it for ordinary crimes also.. Latvia maintains it for crimes committed in war time but is a member of the EU. The United Kingdom retained the death penalty for high treason until 1998 (CP in Europe
Compared to other developed countries, death penalty is carried out very quickly in China. Usually the time from trial to execution is less than one year and sometimes only months. China also has one unique kind of sentence, "death sentence with
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two years' probation". This sentence is generally reduced to life imprisonment after two years. China currently uses two methods of execution. The most common is execution by firearms, which uses an assault rifle to fire a single shot of a hollow point bullet designed to expand upon impact, resulting in the disintegration of the upper portion of the brain. Lethal injection was introduced in 1997. As lethal injection becomes more common, debate has intensified over the fairness of relying on lethal injection to execute high officials convicted of corruption while ordinary criminals get executed by firearms. It is public opinion in China that lethal injection is an easier way for the condemned to die. In the past the government collected a "bullet fee" from the relatives of the condemned (CP in China PR 1).
Capital punishment in the United States is officially sanctioned by 38 of the 50 states, as well as by the federal government and the military. The overwhelming majority of executions are performed by the states, the federal government maintains the right to use capital punishment but does so relatively infrequently. Each state practicing capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits, and crimes which qualify (CP in Unite State 1).
The state of Texas has performed more executions than any other state. Right now lethal injection is the method allowed in 37 of the 38 states which allow the death penalty and by the federal government. Nebraska requires electrocution. Other states also allow electrocution, gas chambers, hanging and the firing squad. From 1976 to June 30, 2006, out of 1,029 executions: 861 have been by lethal injection, 152 by electrocution, 11 by gas chamber, 3 by hanging, and 2 by firing squad (Life and Death Decisions 1).
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A Gallup International poll from 2000 found that "Worldwide support was expressed in favour of the death penalty, with just more than half (52%) indicating that they were in favour of this form of punishment." A break down of the numbers of support versus opposition: Worldwide 52%/39%, North America 66%/27%, Asia 63%/21%, Central and Eastern Europe 60%/29%, Africa 54%/43%, Latin America 37%/55%, Western Europe 34%/60%( CP in Unite State 2). In the U.S, surveys have shown a majority in favor of capital punishment. An ABC Nsws survey in July 2006 found 65 percent in favor of capital punishment, consistent with other polling since 2000. About half the American public says the death penalty is not imposed frequently enough and 60 percent believe it is applied fairly, according to a Gallup poll in May 2006. Yet surveys also show the public is more divided when asked to choose between the death penalty and life without parole, or when dealing with juvenile offenders. Roughly six in 10 tell Gallup they do not believe capital punishment deters murder and majorities believe at least one innocent person has been executed in the past five years(CP in Unite State 3).
Religions are often based on a body of teachings and scripture that be interpreted as either favouring or repudiating the death penalty. Some denominations, such as Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church, teach that while the death penalty is hypothetically permissible in certain circumstances, it should be abolished in the modern world. In the past, some religions either sentenced men to death for failing to convert or actually converting. Even now, according to Afghan religious law, a Muslim could be
sentenced to death for conversion to Christianity. The relationship between religion and
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the death penalty is further complicated by the fact that it is common for the followers of a religion to disagree with its official teachings on the subject.
Forensic scientists can use DNA in blood, semen, skin, saliva or hair at a crime scene to identify a perpetrator. This process is called genetic fingerprinting. In February 12, 2001 Earl Washington Jr. walked out of prison Monday after spending 9 1/2 years on death row for a murder he didn't commit. Largely illiterate and with an IQ of 69, Washington confessed to the 1982 rape and slaying of Rebecca Lynn Williams even though no fingerprints or biological evidence tied him to the crime. However, DNA tests showed he was wrongly convicted. He was moved off death row in 1994 after his sentence was commuted to life. "It made me happy," Washington said in an interview Friday. Gilmore "did a good job by my book (qdt Barisic 1)." "Just because Earl Washington worked his way through the system, that doesn't mean that the system always works for somebody like Earl Washington (qdt Barisic 2)," said Stolle, Republican.
There are several implications for further research. DNA tests are needed on every crime case to avoid false execution. The Unite Nation needs to develop less painful or more humane executions. Therefore electrocution and the gas chamber and lethal injection, which were introduced as more humane alternatives to hanging, should be banned, which in turn has been criticized as being too painful. Life imprisonment is an option for serious crime because it does not violates the criminal’s right to life. If death
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penalty is not abolished in all countries there could be thousands of innocent lives are taken away, that is why the U.N. needs to step up and come up with some new ideas.
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