OBERNECK Xavier

BAC-2 2005-2006
FUNDP Namur, Département de Langues et littératures germaniques

The death penalty: Right or wrong?

Even if the death penalty has been overturned in a rather large amount of countries-
eighty-six at the moment; the majority of these lands being industrial ones-there are still many
countries that do not have abolished it. There are even countries, such as the United States,
that overturned this punishment but reinstated it after a more or less long span of time. The
death penalty is today more than ever topical. It is thus a still much disputed issue in the
political agenda. A stormy debate has set in between those who are in favour of the death
penalty and those who are not. There are a number of arguments for and against the death
penalty. The goal of this essay is to show some of those pros and cons in order to answer to
the question of whether the death penalty should be legalised or not.

One of the main arguments used by the persons who are in favour of the capital
punishment is that it has a deterrent effect on the people. Indeed, it is perfectly easy to
imagine that the mere thought of being executed should deter any potential murderer, who
will then think twice before committing his crime or even- and it is the goal of this
punishment- abandon his idea of killing someone. If the murderer, even so, commits his
crime, he will be executed and this will be an example for the others. By executing a murderer
the society will get rid of an annoying citizen who represented a threat for her.

However, it seems that the threat of death punishment is not as efficient as most people
think. This is easily shown by the statistics. When we look at the figures of murder rates
where death punishment is applied, the rates are not lower than where it has been abolished.
In fact, murder rates are the same, or at least almost the same, in the countries- or states in
United States- where death penalty is applied in comparison with those where it is not. A 1998
research study conducted for the United Nations concluded: "This research has failed to
provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.
Such proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. The evidence as a whole still gives no positive
support to the deterrent hypothesis."1 This shows that, far from having a deterring effect on
people, the death penalty, on the contrary, doe not have any effect on the diminution of the
violence.

Another claim used by the supporters of death penalty is that capital punishment could
be a possible solution for the problem of lack of space in jails. This problem exists in many
jails in many countries. The jails are overcrowded and are not able to cope with this problem.
Many persons have tried to solve the problem but, at the moment, no valid solution has been
found. The problem is that there is still more persons in the prisons while few people leave the
prisons. It is more and more difficult to find space for a new prisoner. There are even prisons
where it is no longer possible to receive a new one. So the prisons are obliged to group the
prisoners together, who already have a stressful life. So they get angry very quickly and it
makes the task of the warders even more difficult than it already was.

1
http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut4.htm
 Nevertheless, the problem is that, as a matter of fact, it takes a long time for a prisoner
before being executed. Sometimes, it takes up to twenty years or more for the execution to
take place. This is due to different parameters, several of which are the overcrowding of the
prisons and the judicial outstanding. In fact, a large amount of prisoners die in prison before
their execution. Besides, the prisoners that are executed may have become totally different
persons during the time spent in prison and may have become a mentally healthy person. At
this point, the death of this person might be a loss for society rather than a gain. There also is
an underlying problem to the problem of overcrowding, namely the fact that nine out of ten
persons that are executed in the United States are black. There is clearly a problem of
discrimination.

The last argument that will be dealt with has to do with ethics as well as with an aspect
of human psychology. This argument is the proscription of murder. This is something shared
by all human beings. This proscription has been expressed in many instances but two texts are
enough to show its importance and its righteousness. Those two texts have both a function of
reference. There is firstly the Freudian theory and secondly the Bible. In his theory of the
child’s development, Freud states that the child must integrates this notion if he wants a good
and healthy psychological growth. This concept is vital for the human life, otherwise life
would be unbearable. Indeed, if there was not this proscription we would, for instance, always
fear to be killed after having done something wrong. The murder proscription will reassure
the child because, if he disobeys, he will know that he will not be killed. Similarly the Bible
forbids us to kill each other. This is told us in the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses
by these words: “Thou shalt not murder”.2 We have not been created to kill each other but,
above all, all human beings are equal. This has been clearly stated in the Declaration of
human rights. The first article of this declaration says:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.3

On this basis, none human beings has the right to take away the life of someone else.

This essay has shown that there are numerous arguments for which we should legalise
the death penalty, as well as there are many arguments against this penalty. The supporters of
this punishment have indeed a point in several of the arguments that they use to justify the
legalisation of the death penalty. Nevertheless, the arguments used by those who are against it
are certainly not less worthy of note. On the contrary, they have more weight and tip the
scales in favour of those who are against the death penalty. Anyway, the debate on the death
penalty has always been sensitive, and it is likely to remain so. Yet, every human being wants
freedom, respect and above all wants to be treated equally as any other one. Therefore the
death penalty should not exist.

Bibliography

http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html
R. Hood, "The Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective," Clarendon Press, (1996), Page 238.
Consulted (28.03.2006) at: http://www.religioustolerance.org/execut4.htm

2
Exodus 20:12
3
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html