Caapital Punishment

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Capital Punishment

A RESEARCH PAPER ON. . .

C APITALPUNISHMENT

EAST EWST UNIVERSITY


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Capital Punishment

Course Code : ENG 102 (sec: 11)Course Title : Composition and Communication skills

Topic: A Research Paper on

Course Instructor:Farhana Zareen Bashar

Dept. of English

East West University

Prepared By:

Nusrat Jahan (2008-2-10-107)

Dept. of Business Administration

Submission date: 22 th April, 2009



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Capital PunishmentT able of Contents

Serial no. Title Name Page no.

1. Acknowledgement

2. Introduction

3. Capital Punishment

4. Historical considerations

5. Types of Execution

6. Changes the Death Sentence

7. Arguments for and against capital punishment

8. Religious views

9. Public opinion

10. Virginia surveys from 1989 to 1999

11. Conclusion

12. References

A cknowledgement



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Capital PunishmentI cant thank enough to Almighty Allah for His blessings and help that made this term

paper possible.

My thanks go to my course instructor Farhana Zareen Bashar teacher of the department of English,

East West University. It is because for giving me the opportunity to prepare this Term paper and for

helping me to understand about the structure and format of this term paper.

A bstract The main purpose of the research and the study of this term paper are to introduce capital

punishment. I tried to give some different people and religious views. I also tried to give a historical



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Capital Punishmentconsideration and how changes the punishments methods, and how people tried to give the capital

punishment with more humanism. Capital punishment is a controversial issue. So I give the reason of

arguments for or against capital punishment.



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Capital PunishmentI ntroduction

Crimes that can result in the death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. Capital

punishment has been used in societies throughout history as a way to punish crime and suppress political dissent. In most places that practice capital punishment today, the death penalty is reserved

as punishment for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some

countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious

crimes such as apostasy (the formal renunciation of the State religion). In many retentionist countries

(countries that use the death penalty), drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human

trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. It is a matter of

active controversy in various states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or

cultural region. The methods of execution and the crimes subject to the penalty vary by jurisdiction

and have varied widely throughout time. Some jurisdictions have banned it, others have suspended

its use, but others are trying to expand its applicability. Capital punishment is cruel, inhumane and

barbaric, and does not belong in the penal system of any modern, progressive culture.

C apital punishment The word "capital" in "capital punishment" refers to a person's head. In the past, people were oftenexecuted by severing their head from their body. The phrase 'capital punishment' comes from the

Latin word. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis , literally "regarding the head" (Latin

caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.

Capital punishment is the practice of executing someone as punishment for a specific

crime after a proper legal trial.It can only be used by a state, so when non-state organizations speak of having 'executed' a person

they have actually committed a murder. It is usually only used as a punishment for particularly

serious types of murder, but in some countries treason, types of fraud, adultery and rape are capital

crimes.



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Capital PunishmentH istorical considerations

Capital punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely employed in ancient Greece

under the laws of Draco (fl. 7th century bc), though Plato argued that it should be used only for theincorrigible.

Death was formerly the penalty for a large number of offenses in England during the 17th and 18th

centuries, but it was never applied as widely as the law provided. Beginning in the Middle Ages, it

was possible for offenders guilty of capital offenses to receive benefit of clergy, by which those who

could prove that they were ordained priests (clerks in Holy Orders) as well as secular clerks who

assisted in divine service (or, from 1547, a peer of the realm) were allowed to go free, though it

remained within the judges power to sentence them to prison for up to a year, or from 1717 onwardto transportation for seven years.

From ancient times until well into the 19th century, many societies administered

exceptionally cruel forms of capital punishment. In Rome the condemned were

hurled from the Tarpeian Rock; for parricide they were drowned in a sealed bag

with a dog, cock, ape, and viper; and still others were executed by forced

gladiatorial combat or by crucifixion. Although by the end of the 20th century

many jurisdictions (e.g., nearly every U.S. state that employs the death penalty, Guatemala, the

Philippines, Taiwan, and some Chinese provinces) had adopted lethal injection, offenders continued

to be beheaded in Saudi Arabia and occasionally stoned to death (for adultery) in Iran and The

Sudan. Other methods of execution were electrocution, gassing, and the firing squad.

Historically, executions were public events, attended by large crowds, and the mutilated bodies were

often displayed until they rotted. Public executions were banned in England in 1868, though they

continued to take place in parts of the United States until the 1930s. In the last half of the 20th

century, there was considerable debate regarding whether executions should be broadcast on

television, as has occurred in Guatemala. Since the mid-1990s public executions have taken place in

some 20 countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria, though the practice has been

condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Committee as incompatible with human dignity.

Death row is so inhumane. On the basis of a binding ruling by the European Court of Human

Rights (1989), EU countries may extradite an offender accused of a capital crime to a country that

practices capital punishment only if a guarantee is given that the death penalty will not be sought.



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Capital PunishmentT ypes of Execution

There are seven main types of execution:

1. Hanging: Hanging where the prisoner is blindfolded and stands on a trap door, with a ropearound his neck. The trap door is opened suddenly. The weight of the prisoner's body below

the neck causes traction separating the spinal cord from the brain.

2. Shooting, : where a firing squad shoots the prisoner from some meters away.

3. Guillotine : A device consisting of a heavy blade held aloft between upright guides and

dropped to behead the victim below.

4. Garroting : in which a tightened iron collar is used to strangle or break the neck of a

condemned person.

5. Electrocution: One of the more recent is electrocution, where the prisoner is fastened to a

chair by his chest, groin, arms and legs. Electrodes are placed around a band around the head,

and then jolts of 4-8 amperes at voltage between 500 and 2000 volts are applied at half a

minute at a time.

6. Lethal Injection :The newest forms of execution are lethal injection where a lethal poison isinjected into the prisoners arm

7. Gas Chamber: Where the prisoner is placed in a room with Sodium Cyanide crystals and

left to die.

C hanges the Death Sentence Actually the ancient forms of execution were often cruel and inhuman. Many historical penaltiesinclude boiling to death, flaying, slow slicing, crucifixion, guillotine, stoning and execution by

burning. . Executions in ancient China were carried out by many painful methods such as sawing the

condemned in half, flaying him while still alive, and boiling. Cruel forms of execution in Europe

included breaking on the wheel, boiling in oil, burning at the stake, decapitation by the guillotine

or an axe, hanging, drawing and quartering, and drowning. But as people had been to move

civilization they tried to give the capital punishment in such way that is less painful and more human.



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Capital PunishmentFollowing this trend, in the early 19 th century in Britain hanging by turning the victim of ladder or by

dangling him from the back of a moving cart, which causes death by suffocation was replaced by

only Hanging where the subject is dropped a longer distant to dislocate the neck and server the

spinal cord. Taking this advantage, criminals were realized from death at that time because Neck was

not mentioned. So hanging could be possible by hands or by legs.

1. Crucifixion 2.Flaying 3. Guillotine

Then the death sentence replaced Hanging by Neck. But still there was a link that no time

dimension was mentioned. Finally the death sentence converted into Hanging by Neck until

Death. And still this sentence is used in our country to give the capital punishment. Then people are

introduced by some new execution methods which are less painful but more humane such as-gas

chamber, lethal injection, electrocution etc. now many countries used these methods for giving the

capital punishment.

However after this process many alternatives to hanging were introduced such as electrocution, lethal

injection, gas chamber etc. Now these methods are using for giving capital punishment which are

more humane and less painful.

A rguments for and against capital punishment

Arguments for the death penalty

Appropriate for some crime


SOME ANCIENT FORMS OF EXECUTION


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Capital PunishmentCapital punishment permanently removes the worst criminals from society. It is appropriate for some

crime such as murder, rape.

It is Justice, not Laws that cures the society. And Capital Punishment is the only Justice

that suits a murderer. - Saqib Ali

Cost

It saves money compared to the alternative of life in prison.

Retribution

Execution is a very real punishment rather than some form of "rehabilitative" treatment, the criminal

is made to suffer in proportion to the offence.

Deterrence

The death penalty deters murder and prevents murderers from killing again by putting the fear of

death in to would be killers.

Public safety

Once a convicted murderer is executed, there is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone.

Arguments Against the Death Penalty

The value of human life

Human life has intrinsic value. They believe that the value of the offender's life cannot be destroyed by the offender's bad conduct - even if they have killed someone.

The right to live

Everyone has an inalienable human right to life, even those who commit murder; sentencing a person

to death and executing them violates that right. An example - a person forfeits their right to life if

they start a murderous attack and the only way the victim can save their own life is by killing the

attacker.



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Capital PunishmentThe medieval philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas made this point very clearly:

Therefore if any man is dangerous to the community and is subverting it by some sin, the treatment

to be commended is his execution in order to preserve the common good... Therefore to kill a man

who retains his natural worthiness is intrinsically evil, although it may be justifiable to kill a sinner

just as it is to kill a beast, for, as Aristotle points out, an evil man is worse than a beast and more

harmful. (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae)

Aquinas is saying that certain contexts change a bad act (killing) into a good act (killing to repair the

violation of justice done by the person killed, and killing a person who has forfeited their natural

worthiness by killing).

The possibility of error:

Sometimes a person might be put to death that is innocent .

The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably

claim innocent victims. As long as human justice remains fallible, the risk of executing the

innocent can never be eliminated .

(Amnesty International)

In 1987, a study was published by the Stanford Law Review. They found some evidence that

suggested that at least 350 people between 1900 and 1985 in America might have been innocent of

the crime for which they were convicted, and could have been sentenced to death. 139 "were

sentenced to death and as many as 23 were executed."

Capital punishment is cruel, inhumane, and horror

Regardless of the moral status of capital punishment, some argue that all ways of executing people

cause so much suffering to the condemned person that they amount to torture and are wrong. Some

consider capital punishment to be cruel and unusual punishment.

Unfair Judgment



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Capital Punishmentessential" can become a society attitude. By witnessing such acts, our own mental makeup starts

believing that violence is necessary to curb the wrongdoings.

Lack of jury convictions

Some jury members are reluctant to convict in murder trials because of the possibility of executing

an innocent person. Thus, many killers go free and are never punished.

Capital punishment is unnecessary

Killing a murderer does not bring his victim back to life. It achieves nothing but the death of still

another person.

One way of settling the issue is to see whether states that don't use capital punishment have been ableto find other punishments that enable the state to punish murderers in such a ways as to preserve an

orderly and contented society. If such states exist then capital punishment is unnecessary and should

be abolished as overly harmful.

R eligious views

Buddhism and capital punishment

In terms of doctrine the death penalty is clearly inconsistent with Buddhist teaching. Buddhists place

great emphasis on non-violence and compassion for all life. The First Precept requires individuals to



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Capital Punishmentabstain from injuring or killing any living creature. The Buddha did not explicitly speak about capital

punishment, but his teachings show no sympathy for physical punishment, no matter how bad the

crime.

If a person foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my boundless love. The

more evil that comes from him, the more good will go from me . (The Buddha)

Buddhism believes fundamentally in the cycle of birth and re-birth (Samsara) and teaches that if

capital punishment is administered it will have compromising effects on the souls of both offender

and the punisher in future incarnations .

Christianity and capital punishment

Christians argue both for and against the death penalty using secular arguments but like other

religious people they often make an additional case based on the tenets of their faith.

For much of history, the Christian Churches accepted that capital punishment was a necessary part of

the mechanisms of society The Roman Catechism, issued in 1566, and stated that the power of life

and death had been entrusted by God to the civil authorities. The use of this power did not embody

the act of murder, but rather a supreme obedience to God's commandments. In the high Middle Ages

and later, the Holy See authorized that heretics be turned over to the secular authorities for execution.

Hinduism and capital punishment

"An eye for an eye ends up making the whole world blind" (Gandhi)

There is no official Hindu line on capital punishment. However, Hinduism opposes killing, violence

and revenge, in line with the principle of ahimsa (non-violence). The debate on capital punishment in

India was revived in 2004 by the case of Dhananjoy Chatterjee who had been sentenced for rape and

murder. The Indian Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty should only be used in the rarest

of rare cases.

Islam and capital punishment

Islam on the whole accepts capital punishment.

...Take not life, which God has made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus does He

command you, so that you may learn wisdom? Qur'an 6:151



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Capital Punishment

But even though the death penalty is allowed, forgiveness is preferable. Forgiveness, together with

peace, is a predominant Quran theme. Muslims believe that capital punishment is a most severe

sentence but one that may be commanded by a court for crimes of suitable severity. While there may

be more profound punishment at the hands of God, there is also room for an earthly punishment.

Each case is regarded individually and with extreme care and the court is fully able to impose more

lenient sentences as and when they see fit. Muslim countries vary in the extent to which they practice

capital punishment, though all retain it at present.

Islamic countries that practice a very strict Sharia law are associated with the use of capital

punishment as retribution for the largest variety of crimes. At the other end of the spectrum arecountries such as Albania and Bosnia, which still retain the death penalty as part of their penal

system, but are abolitionist in practice.

P ublic opinion Although public support for capital punishment remains strong,

concern about the possibility of wrongful executions is reflected in

the writings of criminologists, lawmakers, and theologians.

According to Gallup's latest update on public support for the death

penalty, 65% favor it as the penalty for someone convicted of

murder, while 31% oppose it. This is based on Gallup's annual

Minority Rights and Relations survey, conducted June 4-24, 2007.

There are significant differences in the degree of support among some of these groups, especially

between Republicans and Democrats; however, in each case, more still favor than oppose it. The

most notable distinction is between whites and blacks because a majority of whites (70%) favor

capital punishment, while a majority of blacks (56%) oppose it.

Public opinion should not determine justice. Justice is not supposed to be up to public opinion. On a

matter that is so centrally about justice, public opinion should play a minimal role.



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Capital Punishment

V irginia surveys from 1989 to 1999: A poll conducted by the Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989 asked adults in the state:

"Do you support the death penalty for convicted murderers?"

"Would you favor abolition of the death penalty if the alternative were a life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years, combined with a restitution program requiring the prisoner to?

Work for money that would go to families of murder victims?"

They found that a majority of subjects surveyed preferred the latter alternative.The Center for Survey

Research at Virginia Tech has conducted a series of annual "Quality of Life in Virginia" polls from

1993 to 1999. They asked the identical questions. The polls showed that support for the death penalty

is high in that state, but is slipping. A strong majority of adults has consistently favored the

suggested alternative.

Percent supporting the death penalty:

82.8% in 1996

79.5 in 1997

75.4% in 1998

74% in 1999

Percent opposing the death penalty:

13.2% in 1996

17.1% in 1997

20% in 1998

20% in 1999

Percent supported the suggested alternative:

56.3 in favor, 37.9 disagree in 1998

54.8 in favor, 40.5 disagree in 1999



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Capital Punishment

C onclusion Putting to death people who have been judge to have committed certain extremely heinous crimes is

a practice of ancient standing. But now it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on

this difficult issue led the Supreme Court to abolish capital punishment in 1972 but later turned to

uphold it again in 1977, with certain conditions. Indeed, restoring capital punishment is the will of

the people, yet many voices have been raised against it.

Supporters have drawn a different conclusion that if the judicial system works so well the wrongful

convictions are the rare exceptions. So society must feel that capital punishment ensures safety

among people. So supporters believe that the death penalty is not administered for revenge, but for

safety. With the growing of inner city life, capital punishment is a growing subject that must be used

effectively.

But opponents denounce it as murder, say that it does not cause deterrence but rather promotes

violence and claim that it introduces the chance of an innocent person being executed , capital

punishment is a moral dishonor. Since every person has their own opinion on this topic, either for or

against. Actually we still confused that the capital punishment is better than life imprisonment or not.

So the debate is going on.

As Most Rev. David B. Thompson, Bishop of Charleston, S.C. said, "Capital punishment feeds the

cycle of violence in society by pandering to a lust for revenge. It brutalizes us, and deadens our

sensitivities to the precious nature of every single human life."

The economic malfunctions and cultural diseases in those very societies contribute to the violence.

So, instead of inflicting Capital punishment, its our duty to provide opportunities for all people to

accomplish a good life in a rational culture.

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Capital Punishment------------------

R eferences

http://www.google.com/search?q=capital%20punishment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty

http://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:Capital_Punishment#Families:_Is_capita

l_punishment_good_for_the_families_of_victims.3F http://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=150

http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/676.php

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_2.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtml

http://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Capital-Punishment/32569

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Abolish-Capital-Punishment/159021

http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/608/index.php

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-against-capital-punishment-death-penalty.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=capital%20punishmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penaltyhttp://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:Capital_Punishment#Families:_Is_capital_punishment_good_for_the_families_of_victims.3Fhttp://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:Capital_Punishment#Families:_Is_capital_punishment_good_for_the_families_of_victims.3Fhttp://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=150http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/676.phphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_2.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_2.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtmlhttp://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Capital-Punishment/32569http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Abolish-Capital-Punishment/159021http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/608/index.phphttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-against-capital-punishment-death-penalty.htmlhttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-against-capital-punishment-death-penalty.htmlhttp://www.google.com/search?q=capital%20punishmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penaltyhttp://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:Capital_Punishment#Families:_Is_capital_punishment_good_for_the_families_of_victims.3Fhttp://wiki.idebate.org/index.php/Debate:Capital_Punishment#Families:_Is_capital_punishment_good_for_the_families_of_victims.3Fhttp://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=150http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/676.phphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_2.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtmlhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/buddhistethics/capitalpunishment.shtmlhttp://www.deathpenaltyreligious.org/http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Capital-Punishment/32569http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Abolish-Capital-Punishment/159021http://www.essaydepot.com/essayme/608/index.phphttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-against-capital-punishment-death-penalty.htmlhttp://www.buzzle.com/articles/reasons-against-capital-punishment-death-penalty.html


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