The death penalty does hold value for society, given by its hybrid nature; acting both as deterrent and retributionEach of these theories can support criminal justice policies and serve as a valid lens but legislators often identify another reason to justify changes to criminal law—deterrence. The Deterrence theory of punishment can be traced in the works of three famous utilitarian philosophers–Hobbes, Beccaria and Bentham. They see it as a failure of death penalty to deliver the necessary deterrence to prevent capital crimes such as homicide. We can safely argue, given the world population and the disparity between those who commit capital crimes and those who do not, that death penalty largely is deterrent. The death penalty does hold value for society, given by its hybrid nature; acting both as deterrent and retribution.

Source: Pakistan Today October 07, 2020 16:52 UTC