Should the death penalty be brought back in to the United Kingdom in 2017?
Death Penalty is another way of saying ‘Capital Punishment’. The dictionary meaning of this is ‘The legally authorised killing of someone as a punishment for a crime’ . This means that someone of the authority, including the government or police force is legally allowed to kill someone for a crime they have committed. This was usually used for a murderer, rapist and serial killers in the UK. In my essay I will be looking at both the arguments for and against on whether the death penalty should be brought back in to the UK in 2017.
The death penalty is important to consider, especially in the UK due to the movement out of the European Union, as the Government has a wider range of powers to do things they previously were not allowed. This can include introducing the death penalty back, but only by a number of things have to be decided before considering this being brought back to the United Kingdom. My question is important also because there are still over 50 countries globally that still use it, including China. The death penalty gives more power to the police and government of each country.
I will be talking about the difference in pricing between imprisonment and execution of a criminal, the different ways in which they were executed, the reason as to why it was abolished and whether crime increased or decreased when it was abolished. The essay will also include some famous cases of murder within the UK to justify whether it would be a good or a bad idea but also some cases which are not well known. During this I will be giving my own judgement and opinion as to whether I am in favour or against bringing it back in to use. As well as that I will be hoping to discover more information, not only the main reason as to why it was abolished, but also all the external factors influencing to changing the UK’s decision to remove it being used. I hope that my essay will give people a different perspective of this topic, as most people have a dominant answer when first reading the question, therefore by reading this it may make people think about the death penalty in a different way.
What are the different ways of executing a person?
The Death Penalty can be done in different ways including; lethal injection, beheading, electric chair, hanging, being shot and stoning. However, the most common way is the lethal injection which is a 3 way drug including, ‘an anesthetic (usually sodium thiopental, until pentobarbital was introduced at the end of 2010), pancuronium bromide (a paralytic agent, also called Pavulon), and potassium chloride (stops the heart and causes death)’ . Although the injection is described to be ‘humane’, others describe it as being a ‘gut-wrenching’ and say that the prisoner is ‘stabbed repeatedly with a needle’ to be able to find a vein. This must be painful for a person because chemicals are then put in to their bodies until they are killed.
In the United Kingdom he most common way was hanging, including public hanging also as this was the cheapest, simple and quickest way of Capital Punishment. A more humane way rather than publicly humiliating a person was then the Electric chair. This is where a person is strapped to an electric chair with something to cover their head, and ‘2,000 volts is applied for up to 15 seconds’ and this is so the heart is made to stop in resulting in death. Some people will argue that the death penalty is used in the sense that it is an eye for an eye, meaning for the example of murder, they have taken someone else’s life so they should have theirs taken also.
Another method is shooting by firing squad which is a ‘method of execution in which a group of law enforcement officers or soldiers are designated to shoot a person condemned to death.’ , this is also legal in twenty-eight countries. This type has previously been used in Utah on a man and ‘Gardner was sentenced to death for the 1985 killing of attorney Michael Burdell during an attempted escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse’ . In my opinion this is one of the worst and brutal of the methods, this is because not only do you have one person shooting you, you have a group of them and this includes soldiers and officers which work with guns, therefore I believe they will be skilled and could lead to a better aim on you. However I believe that the worst method is one that is only authorised in one country in the world, ‘Iran is the only country to authorize pushing individuals from an unknown height’ . I believe this to be the worst method as it is the most inhumane and cruel, although they have done something very wrong this is not, in my opinion, a way that someone should be killed in a way that you’re falling to your death. I believe that a criminal, if death penalty was a punishment, should be executed by lethal injection. This is because after research this believes to not only be the most ‘humane’ but also one of the cheapest methods, although person has to stay on death row to wait to be punished, the drugs itself are cheap.
However, we have to look at the percentage of executions which have gone wrong to therefore work out which is going to be the fastest or best way to execute a person. Also to determine whether this is the best way to deal with criminals and people in prison.
Method Total Executions Botched Executions Botched Execution Rate
Hanging 2,721 85 3.12%
Electrocution 4,374 84 1.92%
Lethal Gas 593 32 5.4%
Lethal Injection 1,054 75 7.12%
Firing Squad 34 0 0%
All Methods 8,776 276 3.15%
Here we can see that the method with the least botched executions is firing squad having none at all. I believe this is because it is performed by skilled people, like I said earlier, they will most likely have a good aim in order to not miss the person so they will not have to go through as much pain, also shooting someone would be the quickest in my opinion. The lethal injection has a 7.12% botched execution rate. One way in which this can go wrong is that the seductive drug, to put the person almost to sleep to be less painful, may not work or go in to the person’s veins. One case in which this happened was to a man called Brian Steckel. During his execution it was described that the ‘sedative source did not release, leaving Steckel conscious as the deadly chemicals entered his body. When the heart-stopping potassium chloride set in, Steckel felt like his veins had been set on fire. Although executions are meant to be swift and painless, Steckel’s “burning” demise didn’t seem to spark much outrage.’ . We can see that the injection was more painful for the person and described the pain to be burning him, with the seductive drug working this would not have happened. As well as that this would have caused the authority and the person carrying out the execution to get in to a lot of trouble. The second highest rate for botched execution was the lethal gas, with a botched execution rate of 5.4%. this is where, ‘the condemned person is strapped to a chair in an airtight chamber. Below the chair rests a pail of sulfuric acid. A long stethoscope is typically affixed to the inmate so that a doctor outside the chamber can pronounce death. Once everyone has left the chamber, the room is sealed. The warden then gives a signal to the executioner who flicks a lever that releases crystals of sodium cyanide into the pail. This causes a chemical reaction that releases hydrogen cyanide gas.’ One case in which this happened was to a man called Jimmy Lee Gray. He was sentenced to execution by lethal gas chamber. ‘As the gas reached his lungs, he began to choke and gag for about eight minutes, to the horror of the witnesses. Gray’s unstrained head began to smash into a steel pole placed directly behind the death chair’ the execution was then stopped. Hanging was then the next highest rate, having 3.12% executions being botched. One case in which there was a botched execution was to a man named George Painter. It was said that during the execution ‘Painter swung open with a bang, dropping his body through. The rope became taught, then, as the crowd breathed a heavy gasp, snapped and sent the man’s body hurtling to the solid ground in a heap.’ This therefore indicated that the man was killed not by the hanging itself, but by falling to the ground, although his neck did snap it was said he was still alive, therefore hung Painter again. The second to last leats botched execution is electrocution which has a rate of 1.92% botched execution rate. One case in which this went wrong was to a Man called William E Vandriver. During the exection it was said that ‘after the first administration of 2,300 volts, Vandiver was still breathing. The execution eventually took 17 minutes and five jolts of electricity. Vandiver’s attorney, Herbert Shaps, witnessed the execution and observed smoke and the smell of burning.’ . This shows that sometimes the amount of volts is not enough and may be more needed.
After researching both the methods and botched rates of executions it has based my opinion that based on this the death penalty shouldn’t be brought back. This is because not only does it cause the person to suffer severe pain, it also isn’t humane. As well as that, for the people involved with the actual execution, this may impact on their life from being involved in the killing of someone else. However even though the botched executions do cause the person harm
Was the Death Penalty previously used on those who have been innocent?
One of the reasons why people argue against the death penalty being brought back is due to it being used and then later found not guilty. One of these cases is Timothy Evans who was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and daughter. The real killer was a serial killer called John Christie who used a ‘special gas to incapacitate and then strangled and raped’ Evan’ wife, although he claimed was carrying out an abortion as it was illegal in the past. Timothy Evans was hanged on the 9th March 1950, and was found that he was in fact innocent in 1953 as a new landlord found a room where ‘Bundled into the tiny recess were the bodies of three women, all strangled’ in Christies flat. This shows that the police are not always accurate with their discoveries and there could be more cases where an executed person has been innocent but not be accounted. Some people argue that to bring it back, the police need to take more time and be more accurate before finding someone’s guilt to justify them being executed.
Although there is no real statistics for just how many wrongful convictions have been committed, one of the most famous cases is of a man executed called Troy Davis. This man was wrongly convicted of a murder of a police officer named Mark MacPhail. There was a petition that showed there was around 600,000 people who were against his execution, one reason being that there was ‘no DNA, fingerprint or blood evidence’ linking to Davis, therefore this couldn’t have justified for him to be murdered, especially since he was innocent. Some would argue however to some extent it should be used to some extreme cases only.
One example being one of the worst, if not worst, serial killers in the country. This is a man called Harold Shipman who was responsible for at least 200 deaths of his patients in 23 years, however it is still unknown as to when he started to kill his patients and an exact amount that there were. The way that the doctor killed off his patients were ‘ by injecting them with opiates, often at home, sometimes in the surgery.’ . Other doctors only started to notice when all of his patients were dying in the same way, this was brought to people’s attention twice, although the first time no action was taken and more killings could have been prevented. Does a man like this really deserve to keep his life after taking so many of others?
After researching this and based on this information I have decided that in my opinion the death penalty shouldn’t be brought back. This is because before I started the project I didn’t know just how many cases there has been where an innocent person has been executed, and not only does it affect the innocent peoples families, it also affects the people of those who have actually committed the crime as they feel guilt and know that if it was the other way round that they would too be devastated.
How did the human rights interfere with Capital punishment in the United Kingdom and has crime rates risen since the abolition?
In 1961 the United Kingdom made their first application to become part of the European Union. The EU has a number of laws which all countries have to follow who are within this, if they do not follow it then they will not be allowed to be part of it. One of the rules includes the Human rights in these countries which states, ‘Respect for human rights and dignity, together with the principles of freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, are values common to all European Union (EU) countries’. This is why one of the main reasons for the death penalty being banned is due to the Human Rights Act on the 8th November 1969. Although some people say that it is justification for the defendant as they have taken someone else’s life some would argue why is it okay for the Government to kill and not anyone else? The human rights act states that under Article 2, everyone has a right to life and nobody, even including the Government, is allowed to take that away from a person, even if they have done wrong. The main thing about death penalty is that it is a humane treatment, meaning it causes intense physical suffering. In my opinion hanging, injecting and beheading someone is not only inhumane, but only very degrading treatment. I think this because it shows that the Government and anyone to do with the law and their life is more important than anyone else’s, yet they are supposed to be the ones to teach and put in place that everyone is equal. Using my example of Harold Shipman earlier, although the human rights state that everyone is entitled to their life, how is it fair that over 200 people had their life took by one man, but the law says he’s still allowed to keep his?
We also have to consider the recent events in the United Kingdom of the ‘Brexit’, where the country has decided to leave the European Union. This then lead to the change in Prime Minister from David Cameron to Theresa May. During the Conservative Party conference in 2011, May made a statement that she would personally abolish The Human Rights Act and replace it with another. Her reasons for this was to make it so terrorists are sent back to their own country, if they are from another, rather than taking room in the United Kingdom’s prison. In her words she said ‘We all know the stories about the Human Rights Act. The violent drug dealer who cannot be sent home because his daughter – for whom he pays no maintenance – lives here. The robber who cannot be removed because he has a girlfriend. The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – and I am not making this up – he had a pet cat. This is why I remain of the view that the Human Rights Act needs to go’ , therefore saying that it was just an excuse to stay in this country and there was no need for it. This could mean that the Death Penalty is allowed to be brought back as this was the reason for it being abolished, and without human rights this will mean that police and Government will have a lot more power.
What are some of the positives and negatives of executing a person?
In reality the cost of keeping someone in prison for life costs a lot more than capital punishment like lethal injections and hanging. In the United Kingdom to firstly send someone to prison after the cost of investigation and court hearings it initially costs ‘£65,000’ . After that it then ‘costs a further £40,000’ for every year they are in prison, this will include health care, food, beds etc. An average time a person is on death row is 13 years, this means that if it costs £40,000 per category A prisoner a year, this totals to £520,000 in total. Whereas ‘the cost for the drugs used in lethal injection is $86.08’ which is £67.67. This would mean by bringing back the lethal injection for prisoners who have committed a really serious crime, they would be saving tax payers more money which the government can use to help people in need such as health care. In my opinion I believe that bringing back the death penalty will mean that it will cost the tax payers a lot less to keep criminals in jail, as well as that I believe that prisoners are treated better, in some cases, than the elderly in nursing homes.
It is said that prisoners get 3 meals a day, get to play video games and get to watch television, and in my eyes is this really punishment at all? This then leads to another advantage of execution which is that it represents a sentence aim of retribution which means that the punishment is proportional to the crime that has been committed, therefore enhancing the idea that a punishment should be an eye for an eye. On the other hand it is said that prison in the UK isn’t like this at all, ‘For a year in prison I was treated like the scum of the earth’ . This is how a man described prison after being in for being wrongly accused of rape. He also described it as ‘my life became unbearable. They would put razor blades under the door and urinate into my cell. They threatened me and my family. I was in a cell for 23 hours and 45 minutes a day for my own safety. The only time I was allowed out was for 15 minutes at night time when all of the other prisoners were asleep.’ This shows two completely different sides to prison, one from how people see it on the outside and the other how people in there would actually describe how it is.
However, there is also a lot of negatives in using this. ‘The death penalty adversely affects both families of murder victims and families of the accused’ This can be because a person is averagely on death row for around 15 years, which can mean that family members wait anxiously to see whether it will go through or not, then are put through a life time of pain of the loss of a family member, friend or even partner. As well as that the closest people around the person being accused and the victim’s family are allowed to be in the room when the person is being executed, and not only does it affect the people around the accused but also the victim’s family and friends. In Texas, the brother of the victim says that ‘Watching the execution left me with horror and emptiness’ then continues to also say that the death penalty ‘only continues the violence that has a powerful, corrosive effect on society’, showing that the people around the victims can also be against this. As well as that, you have to take in to consideration about how the victim’s family feels if there is a possibility the accused was actually innocent, that family will have to feel somewhat guilty as the accused will now be a victim due to false investigation and evidence. In 1982 a woman was raped and murdered and two men were wrongly accused in 1988, and the cousin of the victim had stated that ‘It is horrible to think that you prayed, wished, helped and condoned to bring harm to someone else and then to find out that it wasn’t deserved and later learn what they went through.’ . I believe she felt a lot of guilt, but imagine the guilt she would have felt if they were set to go through Capital Punishment earlier and eventually went through. In my opinion I don’t think someone should have to go through this amount of pain and loss due to other people’s actions as it is in no way their fault, but I also believe the accused, and have truly accused, should go through life being punished in prison with the guilt of taking someone’s life or raping them forever as they shouldn’t have an easy way out and make their families suffer with the process of capital punishment, meaning they would also suffer loss from a family member or friend, as agreed by aa woman who’s infant was raped and killed who said ‘”To me, the justice is in someone living with what they have done to you, your family, and having to live with that for the rest of their life knowing they will never walk out those bars.’
Another thing that we have to consider before executing a person, is the mental stability of them. This is because say for example someone is very depressed and has been said by a doctor, or the illness is very clear, this can change how the person thinks and their actions. Therefore, this person’s punishment should take in to account their illness/mental stability to then get the appropriate sentence, which in my opinion would be rehabilitation the then get the best care to reform the person the then get their mental health to somewhat ‘sane’. It is also said that ‘over 90% of prisoners have a mental disorder’ Therefore in my opinion there should be a way in helping these people before actually deciding whether their actions were due to their health or was just their own actions.
After research, based on this, I have a mixed view of whether the death penalty should be brought back or not. This is because although I believe that if you’ve killed someone then they should have the same treatment and prison life is said to be too soft, there is other evidence to believe that really prisons are brutal. As well as that the cost of prison is already high enough, therefore by bringing it back it would just cos tax payers even more money to kill them also.
Have crime rates changed after the abolition?
The death penalty was abolished in 1969 and it has been said that after this date, crime rate was to have started to accelerated, ‘over one million crimes recorded each year in the 1960s, increasing to two million during the 1970s’ . This can show that people thought now that they wouldn’t be killed for any crime they can commit, that they would only get imprisonment, which could then give them some sort of motivation to do more crime. Here is a graph to show the homicide rate, which means the murder rate, and how it has changed over the decades in the UK.
This proves that after the abolition it did in fact increase. It then shows the graph fluctuating. After 1969 it shows that the lower was in 1970 being around 7 per population, then being the highest in 2001 being at around 22 per million populations.
Death penalty in the United Kingdom was also used for rapists, and since the abolition I researched the rate of sexual offences in the United Kingdom.
This shows that although there was a decrease in rate in 2008/09, the rate in crime involving sexual offences has continued to rise over the years, being the highest in 2014/15 having a total of 88219 sexual offences all together. Other sexual offences include any sexual activity without consent and sexual activity with a child. This means that the punishment for raping someone is not high enough, or the aim of the sentence is not seen as a deterrence by other people. Some would argue, however, that some are punished harder than others, and others may not know the meaning of the word or how others interpret it, for example both members being drunk and not remembering but this can be classed as rape in some cases.
This shows the number of indictable cases that have been committed in the United Kingdom between March 2014 and March 2015.
As previously said there are still many countries globally that still use The Death Penalty as a form of punishment.
This shows that nearly all countries to the north of the world, except from United States of America, do not use death penalty as there are no executions. Whereas in Africa There Is exceptional and widespread sue, showing that it is still being used and used a lot! To the south of Asia, the map shows that countries including China and India use the punishment widespread. If we compare this to the international homicide rate, we can see whether there is a link between countries using this as a punishment and if this decreases their crime rates on a whole.
This shows that although Africa still use the death penalty, the homicide rate is still high having between 10 to 40 homicides between 100,000 people. This means that although they use it as a punishment, people do not fear it and will still continue to kill therefore this punishment is being used as a deterrence, generally or individually, therefore capital punishment is simply aiming to be used as retribution therefore simply punishment. Whereas in countries such as the United Kingdom, they have a relatively low homicide rate between 0.9 to 1.3 per 100,000 people. This shows that United Kingdom may not need It as the rate is low already, and bringing it back may cause a conflict rather than reducing crime as they feel that it is unnecessary.
Conclusion
After researching the types of executions, why and when the death penalty was abolished, the different cases in where it was used and the crimes rates relating these, my opinion is that I do not believe the death penalty should be brought back in 2017. My main reason is due to the conflict this may bring in the United Kingdom between the residents and the Government, this is because people may feel they have too much power, therefore rising crime rates when they are not particularly low anyway. As well as that, not only does death penalty affect the defendants who are being executed, but we also have to take in to account that they also have family too, and although murderers are taking the life of another, the government should let the person being punished with the guilt for the rest of their life locked away in a prison cell, alone. As well as that, not only does it affect the person being killed by losing their life, but also the people in their lives including their friends, family, partners and sometimes their children. Although there is still crime happening around in the world with clear and transparent evidence of who has committed the crime, there is a chance that the evidence is incorrect which then results in an innocent person being killed, which after research, is at a higher rate than what I initially thought. After an innocent person is executed and evidence showed that it wasn’t them, not only do the family suffer of the innocent person, but also of the person who had actually committed the crime, because while the criminal may not feel guilt, the families of them do as they feel it is unfair.