A Death Penalty, My Humble Opinion
2011-02-06 @ 21:21:44
It is not easy to straightly say whether a death penalty is justified punishment and it is even harder to judge if it is allowed to particular human to decide about life and death as a question of morality or ethic.
The first thing needed to mention in the beginning is that there are strong arguments on both sides – people who stands for and against possibility of using capital punishment by legal system. And what is a bit paradoxical population usually supports the death penalty, it means the majority of them, but in most developed countries this punishment isn’t allowed at all, for instance in all Europe only Belarus still allows to reach criminals death sentence (and that is one of reasons why Belarus is the last European country out of The Council of Europe).
Another interesting thing is that death penalty is very spectacular and catchy matter, but actually executions are rarely done, so it’s not entire truth, that criminals are too expensive for society because of lack of death penalty. For example currently in Poland maintaining a prisoner cost approx 1000 zl (including electricity, guardians salaries etc.), but after the end of the communism to 1998 there were no death penalty sentenced at all (the last Polish execution was in 1987).
Besides surveys show that people don’t want let to live people who commit some horrible crimes, like murder or/and rape especially, and when there is some TV reportage about such criminals and viewers are encouraged to voting if they support death penalty (e.g. by SMS) the result is easy to predict. But what the surveys will be if there were some reportage about completely innocent man, who has been wrongly accused, and then executed – then maybe proportions could be opposite?
Basic ethical problem connected with death penalty is if deciding about death of other human isn’t too strong interference. For people who aren’t atheist there is some God’s order, and if legal, state court and the judge has power to judge people, the question is whether it/he has also too much power to let somebody live or not.
I think that the best material saying about the death penalty is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “A Short Film About Killing” in which the director (and co-writer in the same time) is trying to induce to discuss about this problem, and also to think about this on every viewer’s own. He doesn’t opt on either side, but give three different perspectives – of the murderer, of the victim and of the young barrister, who just get his application and first time is faced in reality with sth that knew only from books and theory.
There is also a question whether the crime that young man committed is only his own fault, whether the unfriendly world which has around him didn’t participate in that crime in some way? Another question is whether human can be used as a tool to scare other, potential criminals (and whether it is effective anyway)?
Personally I can’t say what I’m actually think about death penalty. I mean, I think, that I agree with current legal system in my country, where the highest punishment is a life sentence, and I don’t want to change it. However on the other hand I don’t think if I could say it without any hesitate. That’s too difficult, because personally I didn’t deal with this, I mean nobody who I know has never commit such serious offence and nobody who I know has never been a victim of such crime and has never been touched by that in any way.
The first thing needed to mention in the beginning is that there are strong arguments on both sides – people who stands for and against possibility of using capital punishment by legal system. And what is a bit paradoxical population usually supports the death penalty, it means the majority of them, but in most developed countries this punishment isn’t allowed at all, for instance in all Europe only Belarus still allows to reach criminals death sentence (and that is one of reasons why Belarus is the last European country out of The Council of Europe).
Another interesting thing is that death penalty is very spectacular and catchy matter, but actually executions are rarely done, so it’s not entire truth, that criminals are too expensive for society because of lack of death penalty. For example currently in Poland maintaining a prisoner cost approx 1000 zl (including electricity, guardians salaries etc.), but after the end of the communism to 1998 there were no death penalty sentenced at all (the last Polish execution was in 1987).
Besides surveys show that people don’t want let to live people who commit some horrible crimes, like murder or/and rape especially, and when there is some TV reportage about such criminals and viewers are encouraged to voting if they support death penalty (e.g. by SMS) the result is easy to predict. But what the surveys will be if there were some reportage about completely innocent man, who has been wrongly accused, and then executed – then maybe proportions could be opposite?
Basic ethical problem connected with death penalty is if deciding about death of other human isn’t too strong interference. For people who aren’t atheist there is some God’s order, and if legal, state court and the judge has power to judge people, the question is whether it/he has also too much power to let somebody live or not.
I think that the best material saying about the death penalty is Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “A Short Film About Killing” in which the director (and co-writer in the same time) is trying to induce to discuss about this problem, and also to think about this on every viewer’s own. He doesn’t opt on either side, but give three different perspectives – of the murderer, of the victim and of the young barrister, who just get his application and first time is faced in reality with sth that knew only from books and theory.
There is also a question whether the crime that young man committed is only his own fault, whether the unfriendly world which has around him didn’t participate in that crime in some way? Another question is whether human can be used as a tool to scare other, potential criminals (and whether it is effective anyway)?
Personally I can’t say what I’m actually think about death penalty. I mean, I think, that I agree with current legal system in my country, where the highest punishment is a life sentence, and I don’t want to change it. However on the other hand I don’t think if I could say it without any hesitate. That’s too difficult, because personally I didn’t deal with this, I mean nobody who I know has never commit such serious offence and nobody who I know has never been a victim of such crime and has never been touched by that in any way.