Death Penalty “to Take a Life When a Life Has Been Lost Is Revenge, Not Justice”

Death Penalty
Seongman An
















Death Penalty
“To take a life when a life has been lost is revenge, not justice.”
Desmond Tutu
      It is believed that the main issue of the death penalty as a punishment is a dispute between its opponents and supporters about the existence of the death penalty itself. Thus, humanity has been divided into two public camps – for and against, which express the current state of the public mind. Despite the evidently clear separation of the positions, the deeper involvement into the problem shows that the burning issue of the death penalty has been artificially created for political manipulation in the community. However, different views on the death penalty still exist, but I would rather not refer them to such abstract relations as “for-against”. It would be better to emphasize on the differences in death penalty evaluation. In my opinion, it is hard to judge about the favor capital punishment brings, and I consider such measures totally inhuman and cruel.
      Death penalty is one of the most ancient forms of punishment. Initially, it appeared during the implementation of the old principle “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.   According to this principle, fair punishment for causing the death of another person is the death penalty. In addition, the custom of blood revenge played the main role here. It existed in many societies and intended to replace the death penalty, carried out by the state.
      In modern developed countries, a long trial period on different state levels, when the defendant has the possibility to appeal, precedes the death penalty decision. Often, this leads to the fact that it takes years or even decades between sentencing and execution (as well as oblivion or the death of the convicted person because of natural reasons). Only a representative of the state can authorize penalty, otherwise this action is a murder and is punishable by law.


      Bureau of Justice...