SWA #3 "Argument Is Everywhere"

The arguement I chose to write about was that of capital punishment. Although this argument is not heard as often as it used to be, it is still a topic that has been in great debate throughout several years. Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment for a crime, and today the United States government along with the Chinese, Japanese and many Asian and Middle Eastern governments still employ this death penalty for certain felonies. However, the argument for this topic is if the punishment is either ethical or unethical. The government has no true right to decide a person's life, however almost all countries practice capital punishment that is "masked," for example hiring police officers who can shoot and kill people using their own judgement. The overall idea of true capital punishment, however, has had governments fighting for years, and both sides of the argument provide strong beliefs.

One argument for the death penalty is the idea of money. Using capital punishment on a criminal who has committed serious crimes allows the government to gain money by not having to pay for more jail cells and long term imprisonments. This money can then go towards helping the sick and elderly. A second argument is that incapacitation permanently removes a criminal from the world, and therefore increases the safety of civilians by insuring that a dead criminal cannot commit any more crimes.

On the other hand, an argument against capital punishment is that sometimes innocent people will be charged of a crime they did not commit, and therefore be penalized beyond retribution for something they did not do. Another argument provided against capital punishment can be seen by looking at the familys of crimanals who have been executed. The time leading up to and the time after an execution can and usually prove to be extremely traumatic for the friends and family of those who undergo the death penalty.

Both sides of this argument provide valid points, and to reach a fair conclusion all points of the argument would have to extensively be examined and negotiated on. While today in our society the death penalty is still a means of punishment for certain crimes, in the future this option may change due the constant emergence of arguments both for and against capital punishment.