David

10/13/08

Unusual Punishment for Unusual Deeds

Crime is an unavoidable part of society.  Whenever there are large numbers of strangers in living in one place, crime is more or less a part of life.  Even in utopian dystopias like Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World have crimes, albeit ones stemming from freethinking ideals.  Such crimes in these dystopias are usually crimes like dissent or civil disobedience.  These crimes appear in our world; however, in the worlds of 1984 and Brave New World, these crimes have less to do with anarchy-related thought than they do with thoughts at all, since they come from people thinking democratically and freely.  People in these stories are literally bred to love what they do.  Any thoughts that are negative, individualistic, or otherwise expanding are considered dangerous and illegal, since those thoughts could be used to rebel against the set systems and promote other ways of life.  These crimes are investigated by the government, and they are dealt with swiftly.  The government sees these crimes as harmful, and relates to them as radical thoughts and other crimes.

 Wherever you are, people are bound to be greedy, and when there is greed, there is inevitably crime.  It is human nature.  Governments are tasked with handling and dealing with people who commit crimes, and usually the severity of the punishment depends on the severity of the crime.  Many people wonder what the government should do with people who commit such heinous crimes that regular jail sentences are not enough to punish the criminals.  The biggest question on people minds is about capital punishment, otherwise known as the death sentence.

According to PollingReport.com, a slim majority of people are for the death sentence, with a small (less than 10 percent) unsure about it.  In an ironic twist, most of the media coverage about capital punishment has been negative, labeling it as barbaric, cruel, and unusual, with many people spouting, “If you kill the criminals, you are no better than them.”  They bring up an issue of morality, and say that killing the criminals is a needless waste of human life.

One of the biggest problems with abolishing the death sentence is what to do with all the criminals who will be in prison for the rest of their lives, usually with no parole, and no other way to get out.  What do we do with them?  Letting them sit idly in prisons for the remainder of their earthly existence seems odd, since it is a waste of space and resources.  They take up needed prison cells, eat and drink food, and otherwise are intrusive.

Some people against the death penalty incorrectly assume that if the government makes the punishment mandatory, that most inmates in prisons would be murdered viciously, with no care to their crime, their state in life, or, in general, their individual scenarios.  The death penalty is not about killing every person in prison, nor is it about “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”  The death penalty is about removing mass murderers from the prisons and streets and not having to waste time and money to hold those incarcerated that will not be let out, ever, those inmates that are simply a waste.

Another backing against the death penalty revolves around the decision making.  Advocates ask who has the right to determine whether another person lives or dies.   They claim that since all men are created equal, no one is allowed to decide upon the life of another person.  This comes back to a single idea: responsibility.  There isn’t one single person deciding, but usually a group, such as a jury, that decides upon the fate of those incarcerated.  The criminals’ fates don’t just land on the shoulders of a single person, but on a group’s decision, which lets people have fair judgment cast upon their actions.

In conclusion, capital punishment is not a one-sided topic, and has many facets to consider if it is ever to be decided upon.  In my opinion, the death penalty is a way to clean the streets of vicious mass murderers and serial killers, but that’s not to say that I do not respect the opinions of others.  While there are morality issues and personal opinions on the topic, the debate on capital punishment will always go on.  I personally see the death penalty as good, and will continue to do so, whether or not anything comes of it within this debate.