In a short, heated discussion with a friend about the death penalty, he explained to me if an ax murderer were to “chop up my old man,” then I would support capital punishment.

Well, I beg to differ.

If by the off-chance my father or another family member did receive an ax to the back (OK some of you are saying I’m one of those people who think it’ll never happen to me, but death is hardly a subject to be taken lightly by me or anyone else) I would want justice.

Let us take into consideration the law. The basic principle behind it is justice.

Each victim of a crime should receive justice. I agree with this wholeheartedly, but my idea of justice does not include committing murder.

I figure if a person is guilty he or she should feel the full extent of the law.

Let’s not forget the purpose of the law is to keep people from committing illegal actions.

Punishment, for one, is used to deter a criminal from committing crimes again.

The death penalty then defeats the purpose of punishment, since how is one to learn if unable to be confronted with similar situations in the future?

Some of you might think the idea of punishment is to make the criminal SUFFER!

Well is the criminal actually suffering if killed? Sure criminals receive some suffering from the thousands of bolts of electricity being pumped into their body, but is less than a minute actually enough?

Prison is the best way to cause suffering.

Humans are social beings, meaning they need to be a part of society, by denying them that right, they suffer. Prisoners suffer additionally due to confinement, how would you feel if you were stuck in the residence halls for the rest of your lives?

The law in some prisons is that there is no law and the police won’t be there to protect you when you sleep, so living in constant fear is yet another way to suffer. So should a criminal suffer for a few minutes or for years?

I suppose there is the issue of hell, for those who believe in it, but who is to say hell is as bad as we say it is, has anyone ever returned from the dead to speak about the terrifying events in hell? No, it’s always some white light or a tunnel, doesn’t anybody ever get images of hell?

Now back to this justice thing. The law considers murder punishable but then turns around and murders criminals, is this slightly hypocritical?

The government is supposed to represent a governing body that represents the people of the United States. As representatives, government officials should set an example for its constituents.

By murdering citizens for criminal actions, the government is condoning the act of murder.