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Justice demands the death penalty for serious crimes. Discuss

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﻿Perlie Mong Justice demands the death penalty for serious crimes Using death penalty to administer justice has long been a subject of debate. There are many arguments both for and against it. In my opinion, I think justice does demand the death penalty for serious crimes. Firstly, justice is the fair treatment for all and assigning punishments and rewardes impartially. According to Colossians 3:25, ?Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is not favourtism.? This biblical quote suggests that punishment should fit the crime. For someone who has committed serious crimes, i.e. murder, surely he should receive serious punishment, i.e. capital punishment, as Exodus 21:23 states, ?But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.? Death penalty not only punishes the criminal, but also offers closure for the victim?s family even though the victim cannot be brought back. Some people might argue that a society needs to move away from the ?revenge mechanism? to become truly civilised and ?Christian?, as Micah 6:8 says, ?Christian justice has no place for vengeance, self-righteousness, or ?getting even.? Instead, justice requires us to seek the good of others, even those who have wronged us. ...read more.


They also get the chance to make a will and prepare for death which the victim never had the chance to do. Therefore it is in fact a merciful way of punishing the criminals who have committed serious crimes while administering justice and so is not revenge. Furthermore, even though everyone, including the criminals, is entitled to sanctity of life, it is the sanctity of life of the victim that justifies death penalty, as written in Genesis 9:6, ?Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.? Moreover, killing can sometimes be justified if there is a good cause behind it, therefore death penalty can be justified. It is also arguable that death penalty is an act of an society to defend itself. Apart from the retributive justice aforementioned, utilitarianism justice is another type of justice. Utilitarians argue that justice requires the maximization of the total or average welfare across all relevant individuals; therefore death penalty should be carried out as it is effective to keep the society safe. It has the ability to achieve future social benefit, i.e. reduction in crime rate. A society needs to use punishment to deter would-be criminals from unlawful actions. ...read more.


First of all, there is always a chance that a criminal will be given a parole even if the sentence of the criminal is supposed to be life imprisonment without parole. While some people think that paroles offer a second chance for criminals to ?be good? again, there is no guarantee of it. In fact, 5% of murderers released on parole in Oregon committed homicide again within the subsequent five years. Moreover, there is also the chance that the criminal might escape, with or without murdering the prison officer, who is also innocent. For the third counter-argument, although there is no absolute proof of the deterrent effect, there is no absolute evidence to disprove it either. If it does not have a deterrent effect, we have just punished people according to the gravity of their crimes and stop them from murdering anyone else again; but if it does have a deterrent effect, we are actually saving innocent lives. Therefore social justice and utilitiarianism justice does demand the death penalty for serious crimes. Therefore, in conclusion, I think that death penalty should be used as a punishment for serious crimes. This is because it is adminstering justice on the victim?s behalf by giving punishment to the criminals according to the gravity of their crimes. It also protects the society by deterring potential criminals and prevent serial killers to murder anyone again. ...read more.

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