Death Penalty: Doesn't Deter Crimes

The death penalty or capital punishment is a punishment by death against criminals who commit capital crimes against the society. The death penalty has been around for as long as the 18th century and the death Penalty in the Philippines has different history and is currently suspended as of 2006. With that history, it is very popular with the majority of Filipinos. Maybe it feeds the human to feel scared in doing crimes but Filipinos have mixed opinions about the death penalty, with many opposing it on religious and humanitarian grounds, while some advocates see it as a way of deterring crimes.

Death penalty is also very popular politically and provides a way for politicians to show that they are fighting against crime here in the Philippines. Some people believe that death penalty is effective mechanism for crime deterrence but I, personally would characterize the public opinion on the death penalty as being an uninformed opinion. For me, people are not well informed on the real situations and statistics of the death penalty, like the number of prisoners, or the racial discrimination in the United States or in Canada, for example.

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I think that if many people would be informed those opinions would be changed.

Many may believe that the purpose of the death penalty is to deter crime but, that is not true because states with the death penalty have higher death rates. Canada is one example of why the death penalty has provided statistics that conclude that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent.

Canada decided in 1976 to abolish the use of capital punishment (Death Penalty Info). During 1975, there were 721 homicides committed in Canada (Death Penalty Info).

During 2001 Canada had 554 homicides which are 23% lower than the number of homicides committed before the abolition of the death penalty. If the death penalty was a deterrent, why would there have been 167 more homicides committed when Canada had enforced the death penalty. During 1999 there were 5.7 million homicides per 100, 000 people, while the homicide rate was three times lower than the United States, with a homicide rate of only 1.8 homicides per 100, 000 people (Death Penalty Info). According to my research, since abolishing the death penalty in Canada last 1976, Canada's murder rate has steadily declined and as of 2016 was at its lowest since 1966.

Many scientific studies have consistently failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than other punishments. The most recent survey of research findings on the relation between the death penalty and homicide rates, conducted for the United Nations in 1988 and updated in 1996, concluded: "Research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.

The death penalty has been considered to be one of the most cruel and unusual punishments for sentencing criminals. I do not believe that the death penalty should exist, even when the wicked crimes have been committed. The death penalty will always be a debatable topic because no one should have the right to decide who should live or who should die for life. Death Penalty as a way of deterring crimes it's not right because how far can this punishment go, should the government have rights to kill someone if a person kills people or does anyone have the right to sentence a person to the death penalty even if they stole bread because they are hungry. The death penalty may limit crime, but it is not a positive form of punishment. Death penalty will be violating citizen's right. The life of one person is put into another person's hands to determine that they deserve to die or not based on a punishment given to them.

The Philippines is currently not ready for death penalty. Our judiciary system, sadly, is anti-poor. As what we can see in our society, poor people get imprisoned, while rich people get away. They simply fly to other country without extradition treaty with the Philippines or bribe officials while the poor don’t have a choice. Death penalty is also against our constitution and our rights as a human being.. The death penalty is unjust and morally wrong. When someone murders someone else, the correct punishment to it is not to murder him or her, but to try and help them. For me, it is just a quick death and a quick punishment. Lifetime imprisonment is better than death penalty because they have to spend their life behind bars and suffer loss of freedom and loneliness. Maybe in that way they will learn of what they have done to the victim of their crimes. Sometimes the justice systems of the Philippines are not fair because for instance there is always a possibility that the person that will be punished by the death penalty is innocent.