There are five basic reasons that society uses when imposing "punishment" that I've been able to conclude from my readings. I will discuss these societal concepts and show that the death penalty does not serve to further them. As a result William Smith should not be subject to the death penalty and in fact the same should be abolished from our system of "punishment".
Deterrence
Deterrence is basically defined as "the punishment should fit the crime." Under this concept, the individual committing the crime and society are prevented from committing this action again. In the case of the death penalty, an individual kills another human and he is "punished" for it by death. Punishment is supposed to be a temporary penalization for a wrongful action. Death is far from temporary. One is to learn from one's mistakes. How can the person learn if they are paying for their mistake with their life? In Ernest van den Haag's article, "The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense" he......
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Approximate Word Count: 1223
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |