The Death Penalty: Is it Ethical?
This article is about the death penalty and whether it is or isn’t ethical. The death penalty is centuries old, and was first debated in the eighteenth century with the writings of Montesquieu and Voltaire. The first countries to abolish capital punishment were Venezuela in 1863, San Marino in 1865, and Costa Rica in 1877. Today, more than half of the countries in the world have ceased to use the death penalty by law and through practice. With the use of the lethal injection as the predominant means of capital punishment in America, it is a very controversial subject. The rate of support for the death penalty has been decreasing and many physicians have refused to inject the vigilantes, saying it is too inhumane. Many argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment, yet recent polls show that 60% of Americans still support the death penalty. Thirteen states of abolished it and 2/3 of all executions have taken place in 5 states since 1977. Those who argue that it is ethical say that it deters many criminals. They say that it is one of the only ways to instill fear in some people and it will in turn decrease the crime rate. Other people say that they criminals deserve it and it is a fair punishment for the crimes they commit. Those who say that it is unethical say it is inhumane, it violates human rights, and it is racially biased. They say that many innocent people have been executed and their innocence was proven by DNA evidence only after they are already dead. In most cases both sides argue that it is unethical for both minors as well as the mentally retarded.
In my opinion, I totally do not support the death penalty. Although both sides do share good points, I feel that it is unethical to administer the death penalty on som ...