Capital Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Capital Punishment - Essay Example It is very clear from the arguments mentioned above regarding the violation of human rights that capital punishment is in fact a cruel way to punish a criminal. Deterrence is one of the most common arguments which are used to justify capital punishment. The question that lies in this argument is whether capital punishment has been successful in creating deterrence and has lowered the crime rate. According to these statistics five countries with highest criminal killing rate are Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad Tobago and Lesotho, these countries do have a legal system of capital punishment and even then the homicide rate in these countries is 46.6 murders per 100,000 people while on the other hand five countries that have abolished death-penalty and have highest average homicide rate of 41.3 murders per 100,00 people include Honduras, Venezuela, Columbia, South Africa and Ecuador (O'Leary, 2011). These statistics show that capital punishment has failed in its purpose of creating deterrence as countries with capital punishment have higher homicide rates. Further to prove the failure of capital punishment as a deterrent is what a lieu tenant in Kansas had to say about this subject, â€Å"I have never heard a murderer say they thought about death penalty as consequence of their actions prior to committing their crime† (Ruff). When shed light on the topic of capital punishment and deterrence it can be seen very clearly that it has failed to create deterrence and lower crime rate. ... The question that lies in this argument is whether capital punishment has been successful in creating deterrence and has lowered the crime rate. According to these statistics five countries with highest criminal killing rate are Jamaica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Trinidad Tobago and Lesotho, these countries do have a legal system of capital punishment and even then the homicide rate in these countries is 46.6 murders per 100,000 people while on the other hand five countries that have abolished death-penalty and have highest average homicide rate of 41.3 murders per 100,00 people include Honduras, Venezuela, Columbia, South Africa and Ecuador (O'Leary, 2011). These statistics show that capital punishment has failed in its purpose of creating deterrence as countries with capital punishment have higher homicide rates. Further to prove the failure of capital punishment as a deterrent is what a lieutenant in Kansas had to say about this subject, â€Å"I have never heard a murderer say they thought about death penalty as consequence of their actions prior to committing their crime† (Ruff). When shed light on the topic of capital punishment and deterrence it can be seen very clearly that it has failed to create deterrence and lower crime rate. Looking at the increasing homicide rates one can wonder if death penalty is not a good solution then what else would provide justice to a person who’s closed one has been killed or justice for the person you cold bloodedly killed that person. Well to look closely at the whole process of punishment there are many other ways that would serve as a better punishment than capital punishment. Life in prison without parole will have to be a suitable punishment for capital crimes as it will make the criminal realize that he or