Death Penalty Has Been a Highly Contentious Term Paper

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death penalty has been a highly contentious issue in the United States, especially during the last fifty years or so. The reason for this is that human rights have become, more than ever, the basis of the American culture. The death penalty is a complex issue, relating to the rights of both the victims and the perpetrators of crime. The complexity of the issue becomes clear once again in H.L. Mencken's article, "The Penalty of Death," where the author explains the death penalty in terms of human psychology combined with human rights.

In my view, a murderer takes away the right of the victim to live. This is in the first place not a right granted to anyone, and the perpetrator should be punished in kind. Regardless of all "Christian" values and norms, the katharsis mentioned by Mencken is something that I believe should count among the rights of those most directly affected by the murder. Indeed, as Mencken says about the families of murder victims:

"The thing they crave primarily is the satisfaction of seeing the criminal actually before them suffer as he made them suffer.

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" (p. 86).

I do not see why families should be deprived of the right of seeing the perpetrator suffer in order to relieve the emotional tension caused by their loss. The perpetrator acted on impulse, out of emotion. Having deprived someone else of the right to live, and consequently of the right to peace, the criminal deserves to himself be deprived of life in the presence of the victim's loved ones.

As for the death penalty not being a deterrent to other criminals, I believe this is not entirely true. Knowing that a person could be killed for committing murder would have to make anyone think twice before taking a life. Furthermore the fact that these executions happen in the public eye helps to remain familiar with the full horror of not only the execution, but also the crime leading to the execution.

I however agree with Mencken….....

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