Is Capital Punishment Ethically Acceptable?

The issue of whether capital punishment is ethically acceptable has proven to be extremely controversial, with numerous arguments both for and against it. In my opinion, for many reasons, capital punishment is ethically unacceptable. Most notably, capital punishment is cruel, is not justified, and involves risks in which the stakes are far too high.

Firstly, capital punishment is cruel. This is primarily because it involves the killing of human lives. Denying a person the right to live is the ultimate cruel, and no crime, no matter how severe, should ever warrant it. Capital punishment is also cruel because it denies the felon a second chance. When a criminal is convicted, he might feel remorse for what he has done and might desire to turn over a new leaf. However, when sentenced to death, he would not be able to live life anew. By our nature, all humans make mistakes and should be given a chance; a chance to redeem ourselves and make up for our wrongdoing. The death sentence does not suffer the felon this chance and so, it is cruel and ethically unacceptable.

Secondly, capital punishment is not justified. One of the main justifications for capital punishment is its supposed effectiveness as a deterrent against crime. With such a high price to pay, many argue, no person in his right mind would dare commit a crime where such a sentence would be of consequence. What these people fail to realise is that most potential felons pre-meditating such crimes are never really rational. Studies have shown that violent criminals tend to have anger-control issues or be risk-seeking. In committing crimes, they never believe that they would get caught. True, they might have seen other criminals convicted, even sentenced to death, but they simply shrug it off, saying, “It will never happen to me.” If a potential felon really believed that he would be caught and sentenced to death, how likely is he to commit the crime? Furthermore, there is little statistical evidence showing a negative correlation between capital punishment and murder rates. Even if capital punishment does deter crime, it only does so by insignificant amounts. Capital punishment does not effectively deter crime, and hence, the loss of human life cannot be justified. Therefore, it is ethically unacceptable.

Lastly, capital punishment is very risky. When a person is sentenced to death, there is always the possibility that he is innocent. If this is the case, the execution amounts to murder of an innocent person. With other forms of punishment, such as life imprisonment, there is still a chance that the wrongfully accused person might be released and exonerated. However, if the person is executed, all the court can do is compensate his family. This risk is terrifying and far outweighs any benefits capital punishment might have. The stakes – life or death of an innocent – are too high. Hence, due to its high risk factor, capital punishment is ethically unacceptable.

In conclusion, due to the above factors and many others, capital punishment is ethically unacceptable. It is an unnecessary evil which should not be implemented in any judicial system on any basis.