“capital Punishment Is as Fundamentally Wrong as a Cure for Crime as Charity Is Wrong as a Cure for Poverty”

“Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty” - Henry Ford. Over one hundred countries have abolished capital punishment (also known as the death penalty) leaving another fifty three countries that have not yet put an end to the punishment. There are both pros and cons to the death penalty that not everyone can agree on, but the capital punishment has not worked to eliminate crimes in the past and in countries that still use it. Capital punishment is a tyrannous way to punish an individual for the crime that they have committed and the harsh penalty for some crimes should not be reintroduced into the Australian legal system.

Capital punishment is a legally authorised death of an offender for committing a crime and being found guilty of the offence. It is also known as an “execution” or “death penalty”. Furthermore, there are different types of methods utilised for executions. This consists of death by hanging, gas chamber, gun shooting, lethal injections as well as beheading. Consequently, executions are still legal in countries such as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Moreover, the comparison between Australia and the United States is that Australia does not utilise capital punishment and the crime rate of this country is 46.01 percent as well as the crime rate of the United States of America, which does utilise capital punishment, is 55.4 percent. The difference rate of the United States to Australia is 21 percent and is one of the many examples that suggests capital punishment is not successful within countries that do employ it in order to deter crime.

However, there is no evidence to support if capital punishment actually has an impact on reducing the amount of crimes that are committed in countries which have it legalised. In 1990, the murder death rate in states that used capital punishment was 9.5 percent and the murder rate in states that had not utilised the punishment was 9.16 percent, depicting a 4 percent difference. Subsequently, by 2016, the murder rate in states that employed capital punishment decreased to 5.63 percent and the murder rate in states that did not use capital punishment decreased to 4.49 percent, which conveyed a 25 percent difference. Furthermore, these rates from 2016 demonstrate that the murder rates in states that did not utilise capital punishment were lower than the murder rates in states that did utilise capital punishment on their offenders. Additionally, Jeffrey Fragan, a professor of law at Columbia University in the United States, said “Even when executions are frequent and well publicised, there are no observable changes in crime. Executions serve only to satisfy the urge for vengeance. Any retributive value is short-lived, lasting only until the next crime.” This conveys that executions are not encouraging the deterrence in crime across the world.

Consequently, there are various pros and cons distinguished between capital punishment. The advantages of capital punishment vary greatly, which is one of the reasons why countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Yemen still engage in the punishment on offenders. Some examples of the advantages of pursuing the death penalty in countries include if an offender is gaoled for murder and receives a time sentence in prison. Once the offender is due to come out of prison, he or she may commit the same crime again. Giving them the death penalty ensures that society will be safer. Another essential advantage is sentencing capital punishment on an offender cuts down the cost of the state having to feed, shelter, clothe as well as to provide all of the other basic necessities that a human needs to survive. Furthermore, prison is highly expensive and instead of the state having to spend money on criminals to assist them with survival, they could use that money for the benefits of the community which may include things such as more transport and reconstructions.

Similarly, the disadvantages of the death penalty also vary substantially. Some of the following disadvantages of capital punishment links to the reasons behind why countries such as Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand do not make use of capital punishment. To elaborate, one major disadvantage of capital punishment is that there is a chance that an innocent person could be executed mistakenly. Unfortunately, some individuals have been framed for crimes they did not commit and end up having to be the ones to suffer, rather than the actual offender of the crime. Equally

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