The controversy over whether capital punishment should be executed or eliminated has been of concern for many years. There are arguments that it is a source of discrimination as it is only implemented on more blacks than white. This is evidenced by the fact that there are many black people in prisons as compared to the whites. Therefore the argument lies on the distribution of the punishment and not the fairness of its implementation.
As a matter of fact it is against the law to impose penalties unfairly on equally guilty or innocent individuals. And looking at the nature of capital punishment and its irreversibility, the above statement ought to be considered in detail. The sensitivity of this matter is the reason that capital punishment has not been included in the constitution hence barring its implementation. Other external forces such as Governor’s intervention or judicial reviews have also affected its execution. Therefore the fact that death ought to be a natural phenomenon it makes capital punishment be termed as a cruel act since death is cruelly forced by inflicting pain on the individual.
Nevertheless, Ford gives various justifications for the execution of capital punishment in this paper. He terms it as a way of instilling justice in the society. This is on the basis that committers of crimes calling for capital punishment are barred from repeating the crimes as well as preventing those intending to indulge into such criminal offence. In the end, the society is bestowed with disciplined civilians hence safe for everyone.
Ford argues that it would be better to eliminate one individual who is a danger to the society than putting the whole society at risk because of one individual. It is as a result of this that he concludes that Ford calls for the execution of capital punishment as a penalty in criminal offences.