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“The Ultimate Punishment: A Defense” by Ernest van den Haag

The death penalty is also referred to as capital punishment. It is a government-sanctioned

practice where an individual; is put to death by the state which acts as a penalty for a crime. The

sentence whereby a person is punished in such a manner is called death penalty while as the act it

is referred to as the execution. Capital crimes or offenses are the crimes, which are punishable by

this kind of punishment. There is no conclusive evidence proving that the penalty of the death

penalty deters crime. Evident points that punishments of this nature do not deter individuals from

engaging in criminal activities.

The way Van den Haag responds to the argument that capital punishment is wrong

because it is applied in a discriminatory manner is because capital punishment is viewed upon as

immoral, thus the distribution among the ‘guilty’ does not make it moral. He also switches it

completely by referring capital punishment as moral, the distribution among the ‘guilty’ does not

make it immoral. He believes improper distribution cannot change what is being distributed.

The way van den Haag responds to the argument that capital punishment is wrong

because an innocent person may be executed is because there are many prisoners who are

convicted of the same crime who do not receive the death penalty. He believes there is a

misdistribution, not to refer it as a racial/cultural but he does believe poor and black convicts are

usually given this punishment. He also stated that in a recent study conducted by Bedau and

Radelet found that 1000 persons were executed and 25 were found innocent.

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The way van den Haag responds to the argument that capital punishment may not be an

effective deterrent to crime is that he refers deterrence is less than decisive for either side

wherever one stands with their opinion. Haag states that most abolitionist would continue to

favor the death penalty to deter more murders. Haag believes that the death penalty does not

reduce the number of murders, there will always be murderers, so the death penalty does not

solve the issue, instead we promote unlawful killing.

According to van den Haag, justice and principle retribution require capital punishment

for some crimes because the convicted conducted the crime knowing there will be a capital

punishment towards it. The punishment he or she suffers could be avoided if they do not commit

the crime. Philosopher Immanuel Kant insists that the execution is well deserved because it

shows the responsibilities of those actions. Murdering someone dehumanizes them therefore the

death penalty makes no difference.

The way the death penalty violates the respect for human rights is violating their moral

rights. Children exposed to this type of matter can interpret the idea that someone who did

something bad deserves death. Giving the idea of homicide equals death upon the person just

appears injustice all together. The convicted deserves a right to defend and save themselves,

because humans can change, promoting the death penalty will not solve the issue, instead cycle

it. Capital punishment wastes limited resources by wasting the time and energy of the courts for

something far more important like a more serious case, not wasting the time of an attorney and

jury about whether this person should live or not. Instead those funds should be directed towards

preventing/solving crimes and provide education and jobs.

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