Research Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research Argument - Essay Example Admittedly the various crimes for which execution was the verdict have been brought down in recent times. Also the methods of execution (quartering, boiling, and impaling to name a few) have been made less barbaric in the recent years. However whether death penalty should be allowed a place in our law at all is a much debated point. Two thirds of the countries around the world have completely abolished capital punishment for any crime. Many countries have even abolished it as late as 2008: Uzbekistan for one did so on 1st January 2008. The European Union is also firm in its stand against death penalty. Currently though 60 countries retain the use of the same for certain crimes like premeditated murder while others retain death penalty but have not executed anyone within a span of 10 years (â€Å"Death penalty: Abolitionist and Retentionist countries†). The United States has been under fire from various fronts regarding the large number of executions since 1976, the year during which death penalty was reinstated in the country. The support in the nation against death penalty is steadily on the rise. Yet there is a strong belief among quite a large population that the only punishment fit for a person who has taken the life of another is death itself and no less. A legal scholar, writes, â€Å"Abolitionists appear to value the life of a convicted murderer or, at least, his non-execution, more highly than they value the lives of the innocent victims who might be spared by deterring prospective murderers.† (van den Haag). In certain cases like that of Timothy McVeigh, where the convict shows no remorse for his heinous crimes it seems like death penalty is the only fitting verdict that can be pronounced. Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed on 11 April 2006 for the attack on a federal building in Oklahoma. He was responsible for the death of 168 individuals, including 19