Capital punishment has been a prominent subject in society ever since the first civilizations and it continues to be used today as a form of punishment. It has been used in various crimes ranging from rape to the more recent crimes of terrorism and mass murders. However, the fact that this brutal form of punishment has been the policy of many nations in the past does not subsequently warrant its use in today's society.
The death penalty is morally and socially unethical, and should be interpreted as cruel and unusual punishment since it is both discriminatory and prejudicial; it has no proof of serving as a deterrent, and it risks the brutal and unacceptable injustice of executing innocent people. As long as capital punishment exists in our society it will continue to spark the injustice which it has failed to control. .
Capital punishment is not only immoral and unethical but it doesn't matter who has done the killing because when life is taken by another human it is wrong. By killing a human being the government lessens the society's value of life and also contributes to the growing opinion today that certain individuals are worth more than others. When the value of life is lessened under certain circumstances such as the life of a murderer, what is stopping others from creating their own circumstances for the value of one's life such as race, class, religion, and economics? .
Immanual Kant, a philosopher on the matter of ethics, founded the Categorical Imperative, which is a rule known all around the world, that states that society and its individuals "must act in such a way that you can will that your actions become a universal law for all to follow" (Palmer 265). There has to be a set of moral and ethical standards that even our all knowing government can not supercede, otherwise how can any nation or let alone any state expect its citizens not to follow in its foot steps.
Those who support the death penalty believe, or claim to believe, that capital punishment is morally and ethically acceptable.