Hikmat Nassour
English 203
Mrs Dania Adra
21 october, 2016
Death Penalty is a very controversial topic in the present day when almost nothing can be hidden from the public, and where human rights activists are present in every corner of the world to tell the stories of those who cannot tell it themselves. I disagree with Robert Blecker where he says, “No matter how vicious the crime, no matter how vile the criminal, some death penalty opponents feel certain that nobody can ever deserve to die.” Blecker should tell that to the murderer, perhaps before he kills his next victim. One cannot simply overgeneralize this way because there is no limit to how vicious a crime may be, it could be worse than imaginable and who are we to decide that the person who caused this deserves to live? Perhaps his death would do well to humanity. Blecker ends his article with, “We, the People will find a constitutional way to do it.” Perhaps an alternative should be found before death penalty gets completely abolished.
On the other hand, there is little or no doubt that justice systems around the world try to be fair, however, the word “crime” is relative; in some countries insulting a leader would make you deserving of death in the eyes of the law. Furthermore, there are many instances whereby the punished (jailed, for example) turns out to be innocent. The article mentions the Boston Bombings, now how sure are we thatTsarnaev, the teenager was the culprit? We can never be fully sure, and giving him the death penalty in that case would be a huge injustice. Also, many may argue that race plays an enormous role in courts of law where the accused may be judged by his colour or background. If Tsarnaev was not Asian, would it be harder to believe that he was behind the Boston Bombings? There is no way to remedy the occasional mistake that results in the execution of innocents. What can the court do when this is discovered? What will they tell the family? People will no longer trust the law. In addition, death penalty does not deter crime, in the US, states that have the death penalty had higher crime rates than states that did not. When death penalty is applied, the family of the criminal pays the price, they are traumatized yet they are innocent. The death penalty does not help the family of the victim either; it does not bring back their family member and does not end their pain- itonly pays to encourage revenge.
Work Cited:
Blecker, Robert. "With death penalty, let punishment truly fit the crime". CNN. Web. August 22 2013.
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