Thursday, November 5, 2015

The Death Penalty Worldwide


Above is a map that shows the use of the death penalty in nations around the world. Most of Europe has done away with the death penalty altogether, and it has shown results. Meanwhile, the US has retained capital punishment, and as I described in a previous post, the US still has a very high violence rate, especially in comparison to countries which have abolished it.

Some may still be skeptical of banning the death penalty as they believe it is the best option when it comes to dealing with crime. However, the life sentence without parole is a cheaper and more humane alternative that is used throughout the world. It has also been shown that inmates sentenced for life also are less violent in prison than others - Alabama officials noted that their life without parole inmates commit 50% fewer disciplinary offenses per capita than all other types of inmates combined.

While it may take a while for the idea to catch on, I think there is a possibility that the US will continue to ban the death penalty. The ideal is to completely get rid of it, but even a little progress is better than none at all. By spreading the facts about capital punishment, a change can hopefully be made.


6 comments:

  1. I loved your use of the map to compare countries. Also, I found it interesting that Russia does not use it, considering how harsh its reputation is. The United States would benefit greatly from abolishing it completely, however I think we've still got a long way to go.

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  2. More than 150 men and women have been released minutes before execution. I think executing an innocent person is a risk we cannot take. I favor the idea of life sentence without parole, over the death penalty.

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  3. I don't think the fact that the US's crime rate is high has much if anything to do with the death penalty. That seems counter intuitive. I think there are other factors that grace us with that statistic. Also I don't think that being sentenced to prison for life is more humane. I'd rather be dead in a few years than sit in prison for a life sentence. And should we sentence temperamental animals to life without parole too? Because putting them down is seen as humane. I see no difference between people and animals.

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    1. Well, the real difference between humans and animals is morality - it isn't possible for animals to be good or evil, as they act only on instinct. Putting down a violent animal is completely different - their behavior can be neither justified or criminalized.

      On the subject of whether life with parole or capital punishment is crueler, I think it's more about taking a person's life away against their will AKA murder. But when we start talking about people who would opt for the death penalty over life in prison, we enter a bit of a gray area in the topic of assisted suicide, which I have no desire to address as it opens a whole other door regarding legal issues which I'm not sure I'm well informed enough about to argue either way.

      Regarding statistics, I'm not sure that "death penalty = high crime rate" is true either, it simply seems that it isn't a real deterrent to crime. There are other factors at work here as well, but capital punishment certainly doesn't seem to be helping in states where it is utilized.

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  4. I too believe that capital punishment is showing its obsolescence in this modern world of ours. After all, at the end of the day, executions are little more than state-sanctioned murders. It is an understandably contentious issue however, for one's resistance to the death penalty could very well vanish with one catastrophic phone call. I liked the pie chart by the way, quite enlightening. I was surprised that more people than not actually reject capital punishment.

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  5. I also think the the death penalty should be taken away we should limit it at least. I believe this is a big issue that not many think about. This should be a topic that needs to be taken to a higher level!

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