Death Penalty Essay: The Barbaric Practice of Capital Punishment

The Barbaric Practice of Capital Punishment      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Rarely has any issue across the world faced such fierce debate as the practice of sentencing convicted persons to death. Capital punishment, or the death penalty, was until the last few centuries, a widespread and common event, applicable for even a minor offense. As society and culture have evolved, however, the barbaric practice has come under close scrutiny. Today, many first-world countries have outlawed the death penalty in all but the rarest instances, such as treason during wartime.    The United States, however, which has stood at the forefront of the fight for global human rights, still uses the death penalty liberally, and can apply it for a great many crimes. This archaic and primitive practice rightly leads other nations to question the United States' self-appointed leadership for global human rights. As many have that have closely examined the practice have concluded, this practice in the United States is not only impractical, immoral, but also fraught with error to such a degree that it could be easily outlawed. The unfortunate part, as many inside and outside our great nation believe, is that it is not.    The development of societies and their governments lead naturally to systems of laws and punishments. Originally, there were far more illegal acts than exist today, and the punishments were harsher, since an advanced prison system had not been developed. The basic premise of any legal system worldwide has always been simple, however: to take those who pose a threat to society and to remove them from it. The next act of choosing to actually kill these people was never a necessary act for society. Instead, it was a form of retributive justice,... ... Campaign to End the Death Penalty: Illinois Moratorium, "Moratorium Victory In Illinois" 13 Dec 2000 http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/ilmoratorium.html Dieter, Richard C., The Death Penalty in Black & White: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides June 1998, 13 Dec 2000 http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/racerpt.html Genesis and John. Holy Bible (Chicago: Good Counsel Publishers, 1966) Hook, Donald D. and Lothar Kahn, Death in the Balance, (Lexington: Lexington Books, 1989) John, Mark and Alastair Macdonald, "Bush Hard Line on Executions Will Trouble Europe" 14 Dec 2000, 14 Dec 2000 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001214/pl/bush_death_dc_1.html National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, "Deterrence...Fact Or Fiction?" 13 Dec 2000 http://www.ncadp.org/fact5.html Sellin, Thorsten, Capital Punishment, (NY: Harper & Row) 122-124 and 239-253