Capital Punishment
When European settlers first came to the new world, they brought with them the practice
of capital punishment. The use of capital punishment in America was mainly influenced by
Britain. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was Captain George Kendall in
the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608 for being a spy to Spain (deathpenaltyinfo.org). Death
sentence go back as far as the fifth century B.C. in Roman law. Throughout the seventeenth,
eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries there has been a rise in the use of capital punishment followed
by the early twentieth century, this is a trend toward more executions in recent years. Capital
Punishment is also known as Death Penalty or execution. Societies from all over the world have
used this sentence at one point in history, to avenge criminals. Most common reasons for being
sentenced to death were war crimes, war treason, murder and espionage. Back then capital
punishment was almost always accompanied by torture, and executions were public. The most
employed execution method was by beheading and hanging in public.
Today death penalty is used for people who commit what is called capital crimes or capital
offenses. These consist in first degree murder, acts of terrorism, espionage, drug trafficking,
religious crimes and acts against national security. In some muslin countries, offenses like
adultery, blasphemy, sorcery and rape are also considered capital crimes and are being punished
by execution. Persons who were under 18 when committing the capital offense are exempted from
death penalty. However, several Arabic countries don’t respect this exception and have carried out
executions of underage felons. While in some societies, violent death penalties are still being
employed – like shooting, hanging, electric chair and gas chamber – in most countries, these have
been replaced with a painless method – the lethal injection.
Death penalty is still used in practice, in modern days, in countries like USA, China, Iran, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Japan, Somalia, Sudan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Nigeria,
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Afghanistan and more. As it is only normal, there are a lot of debates for and against the capital
punishment. The first argument in favor of death penalty is that it discourages people from
committing felonies and so, the crime rate decreases. Those tempted to do bad deeds would think
twice before acting, when knowing there’s a possibility of being executed for their acts. As proof
that this theory is applicable in reality is the study from the late 1960’s. It shows that in the years
following the capital punishment abolition, the crime rate increased with 7%.
Next, some people state that this is a logic punishment for those who commit crimes against
humanity and violate others’ rights to life, freedom and safety. Everyone can act on their own
judgment, but in the end, they must support the consequences. Related to this theory, there are
voices saying that death penalty only continues the series of violence. Therefore, it avenges one’s
deeds by committing the same crime against humanity – taking the life of a human being.
