It is not difficult to understand that when one makes some mistakes one will be punished, as a basis of cause and effect. The laws of punishments are then established, in order to maintain peace within the society. These laws try to prevent people from violating and overstepping others’ rights. The death penalty or capital punishment has been long practised and claimed as the most effective deterrent: a dead criminal cannot commit any more crimes. In some countries it has been abolished, while in some countries it is still using. When some say that there is no justice in the world, who is the one who has such perfect knowledge to decide the laws?
Wrongful execution is the most concern about death penalty. Cases have been found later after the innocents are sentenced to death, as it is, always, too late. When life is the most valuable and incomparable thing for everyone and nothing can compensate the loss of life, why this extreme way of punishment, to eliminate ones life, has to be written in the law? When the one who uses it isn’t the law itself, but just a normal person, how can we be sure that he or she has a fair, sensible and impartial judgement enough to practise this law? Under the death penalty law, any innocent might face this fate someday. Should we still maintain this chance of putting an innocent to death?
How many times and what is the assessment by whom that should be used to decide whether it’s a last chance or no chance—to make the wrong right? For death penalty, there is no chance for rehabilitation. This will be not an issue, if all of us humans are rational, who can realize the effects of our actions. But what about the case of a person who is not mature enough, a mentally unstable person, or the case of self-defence, who commits crime but not by a malicious purpose. Should those all be sentenced to death? Do they deserve second chance to be back to their community one day, after fully realizing that their guilt that was made by wrong judgement and too quick decision making?
The Death penalty is still being discussed in terms of whether it is just or not and if it is, under which circumstances it could be used. Two reasons above are the effects of death penalty toward the innocents and an innocent crime victim. When considering the families of those who are sentenced to death, how much sufferings they get and have to carry on after knowing that the one they love is a killer. One the other hand, the feeling of guilt may repeat again within sub-consciousness, when one realizes that one takes part in sending another one to death. Everyone who gets involved will lose in some points. There is no gain; only pain and guilty feeling spreads more.