Capital Punishment the Ethical Issues

Capital Punishment

The ethical issues surrounding the problem of capital punishment are still being debated in many countries of the world today. While some countries and judicial systems outlaw any form of capital punishment others have rationales and reasons for the implementation of this form of punishment. In fact the United States is one of the few developed countries that still retain capital punishment. Other countries that uphold the death penalty include the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iran. This means that America is the only Western democracy"… where capital punishment is still practiced ." (Bienen 752) This leads to the question as to whether capital punishment is intrinsically morally and ethically permissible.

From one perspective there is no ethical or moral stance that can justify the killing of another person. This view is deeply embedded in the Western Christian ethos of "Though Shalt Not Kill." On the other hand, arguments for the implementation of the death penalty include a sense of legitimate retribution when someone has intentionally taken the life of another. Those in favor of the death penalty argue that the punishment must fit the crime and that capital punishment is the only way to ensure that society and innocent people are protected from murderers and extreme criminals. From this perspective the law has a moral duty to protect citizens from these criminals and therefore capital punishment is ethically justified.

However, the ethical and moral dimensions of capital punishment are also compounded by other arguments and factors. For instance, some critics claim that the legal system is not perfect and that many people have been put to death when in fact it has been later established that they were innocent of the crimes for which they died. This view relates to new technologies such as DNA testing which has "… shown that a large proportion of people sentenced to death are, indeed, innocent." (Human rights) This view therefore sheds a great deal of moral ambiguity on the argument for the legitimacy of the death sentence.

The present debate and strong reaction against the death penalty began in a contemporary sense in the 1960's. During this period there were many legal challenges to the fundamental legality of the death sentence in many Western countries and in the United States. "… it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment, and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment." (Introduction to the Death Penalty) an important decision was taken by the Supreme Court in 1958 which stated that "… the Eighth Amendment contained a & #8230;evolving standard of decency that marked the progress of a maturing society." (Introduction to the Death Penalty) This decision referred to standards of decency and morality in civilized countries which also implies that the death penalty was not socially or morally acceptable. (Introduction to the Death Penalty)

This view was also based on the important morals issue of the right to life. In terms of this ethical stance which emphasized the sacred nature of life there can be little moral justification for the implementation of the capital punishment. There is also another moral dimension that should be considered in this regard. This refers to the view that in a civilized society there should be humane and make use of more sophisticated ways of dealing with extreme crimes -- such as rehabilitation of the criminal through therapy and counseling. This in itself is seen by some as a moral imperative in a civilized and advanced culture.