THE DEATH PENALTY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

THE DEATH PENALTY - Essay Example As abolition becomes an important issue around the world, advocates of the death penalty face an uphill battle as important international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union have recently debated the validity of this particular form of punishment. Accordingly, the European Union, in its Charter of Fundamental Rights, has effectively banned this practice in all of its member states. Seeking to explore the death penalty by arguing that it is an unnecessary form of retribution, this essay will persuasively argue against the death penalty in the United States. We will show that the potential for a miscarriage of justice is far too great to allow for the death penalty in the United States. Once applied, this particular form of punishment is unfortunately irreversible. As a result the death penalty must be contested (Death Penalty Information Centre 2009). According to the Death Penalty Information Centre, there has been a global trend in recent times to the abolishment of the death penalty. Despite this trend, a handful of countries in the world which continue to use the death penalty as a form of punishment and while 92 countries have now abolished the death penalty (including France, Canada and the United Kingdom), 59 countries worldwide continue to have death penalty legislation on their books. China, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Pakistan remain some of the largest supporters of the death penalty with China the overwhelming leader in total executions worldwide. Is the death penalty a deterrent? It is to this question that we now turn (Hood 3-10).