Death penalty
Capital punishment, or death penalty, is when a court sentences a criminal to get executed. It’s most commonly used for crimes like murder, war crime and treason. Most countries have abolished capital punishment as of now, but it is still in use in some of the largest countries in the world, like China, USA, India and Indonesia.
The biggest question when it comes to capital punishment is the question regarding morality. Is it ever morally right to end another human beings life? Even a gruesome murderer is a human being, and many murderers could be decent people who simply was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Eye for an eye has no place in modern politics, and revenge is not the point of the criminal justice system. It is hard to say if a death penalty is less morally justifiable than a life sentence however, since they arguably hold about the same meaning to the felon. Many people would probably not even say that a life with no freedom is preferable to no life at all.
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There are many documented cases of victims of capital punishment who were later proven innocent. Life in prison is always reversible whereas a carried out death sentence cannot be undone. On the other hand, death penalty in the USA is quite a long process to make sure and prove that the felon is indeed guilty. Death sentences require a long trial where the accused individual is represented by 2 highly skilled attorneys, and a jury of 12 citizens must be unanimous about the verdict. Furthermore, the whole ordeal is overseen by an independent judge to make sure that everything is done by the