1 SHOULD ANY PERSON DIE FOR A CRIME S/HE COMMITTED? THE ISSUE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Christopher Ullman Ethics

2 SHOULD ANY PERSON DIE FOR A CRIME S/HE COMMITTED? TOPICS TO CONSIDER: Theories of punishment Arguments for capital punishment Arguments against capital punishment Evaluating the objections FOOD FOR THOUGHT Televised executions? Torture: is it ever an option to consider?

3 Theories of punishment Retribution (the Deserts Theory) Goal: To discipline the wrongdoer for the crime to the degree of severity that fits the crime Utilitarian (the Results Theory) Goals: To punish to accomplish a purpose To deter crime To protect society To rehabilitate the criminal

4 Theories of punishment (continued) Restitution (the Compensation Theory) Goal: To pay back or compensate the crime victim(s) Question: Is there room in any of the theories for the death penalty? The Deserts Theory: The Results Theory: The Compensation Theory:

5 Arguments FOR Capital Punishment 1. “It’s not torture...” 2. “Execution alone satisfies the need for justice.” 3. “The ultimate crime demands the ultimate punishment.” 4. “The death penalty deters others and stops the criminal from striking again.”

6 Arguments FOR Capital Punishment 5. “Rehabilitation is not possible in some cases.” 6. “Some criminals want to be executed.” 7. “The victim’s family demands revenge, or at least closure.” 8. “To murder a human is to destroy one made in the image of God. Murder, therefore is in a category all its own.”

7 Arguments AGAINST Capital Punishment 1. “Capital punishment imposes suffering not only on the criminal but also on his executioners.” 2. “The death penalty is irrevocable.” 3. “The nature of the death penalty distorts the justice system: It’s not swift. It imposes obsessive fear on the condemned.”

8 Arguments AGAINST Capital Punishment 4. “The State is a teacher. How can the State teach its citizens that death by execution is an acceptable and necessary function of the State, while protecting life in all of its other capacities?” 5. “Death penalties do not deter violent crime.” 6. “Death penalties are unequally enforced on the poor and minorities.”

9 A Key Consideration Is our opposition to capital punishment An objection to the ways in which C.P. currently takes place? This would be a “what-ness” objection “It’s what actually happens that bothers me” An objection to C.P. in any form? This would be a “that-ness” objection “I object to the very idea that anyone should be executed for a crime, regardless of what actually happens.” What-ness objections can be resolved by changing the ways in which C.P. takes place

10 SCRIPTURES Genesis 9:6 Exodus 20:12-15 A few examples of specific directives Exodus 21:12 Exodus 21:16 Romans 13:3-4 Do the personal ethics directives of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (“Turn the other cheek,” etc.) negate corporate ethics directives? Matthew 5:17 Acts 25:11

11 A Conclusion Mosaic specific capital crimes are Not required in our legal code Instructive in assessing levels of non-capital punishment Genesis 9:6 predates the Mosaic Code C.P. for premeditated murder based on imago Dei Corporate ethics differ from personal ethics Governments are to be God’s ministers of judgment