The Death Sentence

So then, Capital Punishment, controversial and divisive, it is nonetheless a topic guaranteed to draw an emotional response from most individuals. It raises many questions that probe deeply into our sense of moral justice, and many answers that themselves force us to examine our own humanity.

But what exactly is Capital Punishment? It is the termination of another's life usually under State Control as a means of punishment for some heinous crime for which no lesser punishment is deemed appropriate.

It is reserved for extreme criminal acts, such as Murder.

In various Countries today Capital Punishment is enforced for various crimes, similarly in other Countries it is considered too extreme a punishment to consider, and is thus not enforced. Indeed, forward thinking modernists favour rehabilitation of criminals within the community, even though this is condemned by some communities as unthinkable. How then should punishment be administered to our most violent of criminals, and should we punish them at all?

It is long established that justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done, and must not in any way be perceived as an act of revenge. Here in the United Kingdom Capital Punishment was abolished many years ago as it was seen to be not only too controversial, but several instances of judicial errors culminated in the hanging of innocent people who for various reasons were incapable of proving their innocence.

The last thing the Law Courts want is their ability to determine the guilty from the innocent called into question, and executing an innocent person will always be possible as long as Defence Attorneys are human beings with human frailties.

Which puts us in a quandary, do we thus rely on our learned Lawyers to put aside their frailties when separating the wheat from the chaff in our courts, or do we say the hell with it and burn the witch? After all, it is not only the victims of these inhuman crimes that need justice, victims' families and loved ones demand it too, and if justice is not best served by correct sentencing then how do we deter other criminals, and bring a sense of justice to the community. I have my own views on this, but I am human as are you, kittens.

What course of action therefore do we take to deal with our most violent criminals and bring justice to our peoples? I do believe that that is another question for another challenge.

So then I fear I cannot be trusted to provide a solution to this ongoing debate, for I am by nature human and it is my nature to avenge a wrongdoing, thus I must be ruled out of this debate. All I will say is burn the witch.