Paper Summary:

This paper provides a review of the relevant literature to determine the best reason in favor of capital punishment and whether this reason is sufficient to justify this practice. The first paragraphs review literature on both sides of the issue, which include both legal and philosophical sources. Various points are examined, such as using capital punishment as deterrence or simply the punishment matching the crime. The paper analyzes E. van den Haag's article "In Defense of the Death Penalty: A Practical and Moral Analysis" at length. The paper concludes by weighing the various outlooks on capital punishment and coming out mildly in favor of the practice.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Capital crimes, or those that allow the use of the death penalty as a punishment alternative, are generally so offense to the public and state that a measured response is required. According to the ambivalent analysis presented by Reiman (2000), the practice of capital punishment can be at least superficially justified from a retributive perspective because like few other punishments, the death penalty does in fact match the crime but there are a number of considerations that must be taken into account before this ultimate punishment can be used. As this author emphasizes, "In my view, the death penalty is a just punishment for murder because the lex talionis, an eye for an eye, and so on, is just, although it can only be rightly applied when its implied preconditions are satisfied" (Reiman, pp. 273-274). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Black's law dictionary. (1991). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co.
• Cahn, S. M. & Markie, P. (1998). Ethics: History, theory, and contemporary issues. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Reiman, J. H. (2000). Justice, civilization and the death penalty. In White at 273-283.
• van den Haag, E. (1978). In defense of the death penalty: A practical and moral analysis. Criminal Law Bulletin, 14(1), 51-68 in Cahn & Markie at 837.
• White, J. E. (2000). Contemporary moral problems (6th ed.). Belmost, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

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