Position Paper about Death Penalty, Essays (high school) of English

Download Position Paper about Death Penalty and more Essays (high school) English in PDF only on Docsity! Position Paper about Death Penalty as the Solution to the Ever-Increasing Crime Rate Death penalty is the act of executing someone as punishment for the crime they committed that is authorized by the government. In the Philippines, it is written in Republic Act No. 7659, an act to impose the death penalty for certain heinous crimes. The actions punishable under this Act are those considered as ‘heinous’ or those that ‘manifest wickedness’ and violates morality and decency in an ordered society. While many people may think that death penalty is a good idea to control and bring down the alarming increase in crime rates in the country, we cannot deny that the Philippine justice system, as a whole, is flawed. For death penalty to work in favor with justice, our system should be fair and clean in the first place. Proponents of death penalty argue that it is a crucial instrument in order to maintain law and order, as it discourages criminals from committing crimes. They claim that vengeance respects the victim and reassures the mourning families by reassuring them that the perpetrators will be punished accordingly. But isn’t it strange that we condemn murder by killing, too? If we look at the bigger picture, reestablishing death penalty in our country would impose great risk considering how the state has a distorted judicial system, it does not guarantee to lower crime rates, and it’s overall futile. According to Lauren Valderrama’s Practicality of Death Penalty essay, “The criminal justice system is full of defects such as faulty police work, coerced confessions, prosecutorial misconduct, inept defense counsel, mistaken or perjured testimony and trial court decisions based on seemingly inconclusive evidence. How can death penalty be a practical when the judiciary of the country is inefficient and full of incompetence?” It is also unfeasible as there are no concrete evidences showing death penalty as a factor in lowering crime rates. In a 2004 survey of 1,121 death row inmates conducted by the Free Legal Assistance Group, most of the inmates are aware of the death penalty even before they committed their actions. This only shows that death penalty might instill fear to some, but it doesn’t entirely discourage people to commit crimes. Death penalty, by and of any means, violates human rights. In the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Article II, Section 11, it says that, “The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights”. Implementing death penalty would violate this and is against the culture of the Filipino people. If the goal of death penalty is to punish people, then it should be the country’s judicial system that we must improve. Killing in the name of justice don’t justify killings. Philippines is not ready to reestablish death penalty yet, as this might be abused by people in power. It is impractical and immoral. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “an eye for an eye would only turn the world blind.”