Introduction
Although the number of countries that still use the death penalty as a form of punishment has drastically reduced, some countries such as Saudi Arabia and China and some states in the USA still use it.
As per Amnesty International’s research reports, over 90% global states have completely abolished this form of punishment and for those that still use it, they normally use it to punish crimes that they consider to be very heinous (Radelet and Lacock 495-509).
Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia
For a while now, Saudi Arabia has remained one of the global nations that strongly believe that punishing by death is one of the ways of giving justice to victims of crime and one of the best ways of deterring heinous crimes.
Capital punishment in this Arabic country is well defined in Sharia laws, and once somebody has been found guilty of a capital offense, the best form of punishment they are subjected to is the death sentence. Some of the wrongdoings that attract such a sentence are theft, infidelity, witchcraft, rape, killing, and if you are assumed or found guilty of being a false prophet or apostrophes.
When one is convicted with one of these offenses, there is normally a couple of ways justice is applied with the favourite being a public cutting of the head, which is done in the middle of Riyadh. There have been 345 executions carried out in the three years culminating to 2010, 82 executed in 2011 and 17 to date. Other methods of execution are death by stoning, although this method is not currently used.
Before the execution day comes, the defendant firstly has to undergoes a trial (which is usually a closed door meeting) and is allowed legal representation and a right to appeal if the case goes against him or her for fairness purposes.
Later on if one is found guilty, they will have to go to prison and await their execution day; whereby the family of the victim will be given a chance to decide what they want to be done. Any guilty individual can be punished by death, be allowed to serve a jail term and compensate the bereaved family or pay the government some fine and serve some jail term (Lines 6-17 and Schabas 225-231).
Effectiveness
According to Hands off Cain (1), in 2003 there were 52 executions, in 2004 38, in 2005 90, in 2006 39, in 2007 166, in 2008 102, in 2009 27, in 2010 81, and in 2012 the figure stood at 78. The statistics above show that, although the number of executions has not reduced very much, there is a slight reduction; hence, showing that this form of punishment has really helped to reduce occurrence of heinous crimes.
Considering that every year the population increases, statistically, there should be a larger number of perpetrators of capital crime. Therefore, even though the figures may seem to go up in certain years, the figures point to a startling finding that indeed capital punishment is effective.
The Death Penalty in the United States
Although the United States is a first world country and the use of this form of punishment is one of the most controversial topics, this form of punishment is still alive and practised in some if it’s states with immense support from its population.
According to Radelet and Lacock (481-487), for a long time now, there have been numerous individuals who support this from of punishment, because to them there is no any better form of punishment for heinous crime perpetrators. Although a good number of individuals who are found guilty of committing of heinous crimes are put on death row, most of these convictions are normally overturned for lesser forms of punishments.
Before being convicted, the accused will have to first pass through the legal system of the court; whereby, they will be charged. After this, a direct review of the conviction is made to ascertain if the sentencing was fair. This is the final stage where the defendants can have their case overturned based on the judge’s final ruling.
If a defendant is unsuccessful with the above process, there is the “Federal habeas corpus”; where one can demand their case to be heard by the federal court. In case all the above appeal processes completely fail, the last process will be the “section 1983 contested”, which involves setting of the execution date.
Most convicted felons on death row in this continent are normally executed by lethal injection. Though hanging is the oldest method that was used, it’s unpopular now and less likely to be used. Other ways that are used are electrocution, using the lethal gas or a firing squad.
Effectiveness of this form of Punishment in Deterring Crime
Some Americans still think that the death penalty is not being utilised to its capacity, since some killers actually slip through the hand of justice and are left to kill again.
Most people justify the death penalty on grounds that that the convicted killer will never live to kill again, and is seen as the best deterrent to potential future murders. As per Weisberg (153-161), as far as can be established, a single death sentence helps to prevent more than 18 murders; hence, this sentence is effective.
Conclusion
In conclusion, considering the numerous benefits of this form of punishment and because of the significance of a fair justice system, capital punishment should be appreciated and embraced. However, to limit the chances of killing innocent people and executing the guilty ones cruelly, state and governmental organs must endeavour to find better ways of executing this form of punishment
Works Cited
Hand off Cain. Saudi Arabia – Retentionist. 2013. Web.
Lines, Rick. “The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: A violation of international human Rights law.” London: International Harm Reduction Association (2007):1-30. Print.
Radelet, Michael and Lacock, Traci. “Recent Developments: Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates? The Views of Leading.” The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology Criminologist 99.2 (2009): 489-508. Print.
Schabas, William A. “Islam and the Death Penalty.” William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 9.1 (2000): 223-236. Print.
Weisberg, Robert. “The death penalty meets social science: Deterrence and jury behaviour under new scrutiny.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 1(2005): 151-170. Print.