Revealed Inequity: The Moral Dilemmas Regarding the Death Penalty
The death penalty is a controversial and morally wrong practice that has
sparked debate among medical professionals. Volker Türk, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, has criticized the death penalty as an outdated
relic of the past. Physicians have played a significant role in the practice's
executions, which have been linked to politics and discrimination. The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights bans the use of the death
penalty for serious crimes, but it is frequently associated with dictatorial regimes
that suppress political protest and enforce views on issues such as drug use and
LGBTQ+ identities (The Lancet, 2023).
Those in favor of the death penalty claim that it is a fair form of
punishment and that murderers give up their right to live the moment they
decide to murder someone. But the desire for retribution or the need to hurt
someone who has wronged us is insufficient justification for the death penalty.
Even the life of a murderer should be respected, and this should be reflected in
our laws and legal system. Being supportive of retribution frequently leads to
additional murders, promotes the cycle of violence, and validates killing as a
kind of "pay-back." Families of the victims opposed the death penalty because it
was an insult to them and causes additional suffering. The idea of a life for a life
or an eye for an eye is unsupported and oversimplified. The fact that the death
penalty deters criminal activity is another argument in its favor. Supporters of
the death penalty believe that it deters individuals from committing horrific
crimes. According to deterrence studies, the death penalty, on the other hand,
has no deterrent effect and actually causes harm to society by increasing the
chance of more murders. Countries without the death penalty have lower crime
rates than states that do, and the United States, which has the death penalty,
has a higher murder rate than nations like Canada or Europe. Furthermore, the
death penalty is an arbitrary system that chooses a selected group of criminals
based on factors such as the race of the victim or defendant, the location of the
crime, and the level of legal representation they received. Most defendants are
unable to afford their own legal representation, so they are forced to rely on stateappointed counsel, who may be unskilled or underpaid. Ineffective defense
attorneys increase the likelihood that a defendant will be found guilty and
executed. A recent study indicates that there are racial differences in the
probability that white murders will carry a death sentence when compared to
black ones. The death penalty is arbitrary when one person in one county is put
to death for the same crime while another person in the same county commits
the same crime but is given a life sentence. Prosecutors have plenty of
opportunity to ask for the death penalty or accept an agreement to plead guilty
the death penalty will remain an issue of disagreement until race and other
factors determined arbitrarily are removed.
The death penalty has an enormous effect on individuals, and it is
influenced by retribution, deterrence, and arbitrary systems. The pursuit of
retribution frequently reflects society's moral judgment on heinous crimes, but
the emotional toll on victims' families and those charged with carrying out
executions raises ethical and psychological concerns about justice. The deterrent
effect of capital punishment is debatable, with unreliable empirical evidence and
complex socioeconomic factors calling the assumption that it effectively prevents
crime into question. The arbitrary application of the death penalty, including
racial and socioeconomic disparities, undermines the principles of equal legal
protection and public trust in the justice system. To create a more just and
compassionate society, alternative approaches to addressing the complexities of
crime and punishment are required.
Kyambalesa, H. (2019). The Death Penalty: Arguments For and Against.
SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3474715
The Lancet. (2023, May). The death penalty: a breach of human rights and
ethics of care. The Lancet, 401(10389), 1629.
https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(23)01004-8