Capital Punishment in Bahamas

Nonetheless, genuine evidence can inform policymakers. Public opinions overpoweringly stand up for capital punishment, however, the government has the willpower and audacity to impose laws which are now on the books in the Bahamas. Over the past years, Bahamas recorded one hundred and nineteen murders on average (Brunello, 2015). The reasons for committing unlawful felonies including murder are diverse and depending on capital punishment as the limiting factor might not work out in the real sense. Capital punishment may play little role in putting off criminal offenses cases concerning the murder. Research suggests that states in the United States that have retained capital punishment have higher rates of murder compared to other states which have abolished it (Brunello, 2015). In the Bahamas, capital punishment has been associated with an increased rate of violent behavior against officers and police and augmented anti-social behaviors in general.

Secondly, retaining the death penalty may be costly when compared to the cost of executing life sentencing. There are higher costs associated with retaining the capital punishment law or executing a criminal than life-time sentencing in the prison. A research was carried in the Bahamas to investigate death penalty costs over the past years (Brunello, 2015). Majority of the criminals who are put to death are those by the time their case is up for appeal they do not have money. Killers who had money were more likely to escape death penalties compared to those without a penny. The poor people pay the final death penalty for their criminal acts. In the Bahamas, it is the poor who are chosen to die due to the type of defense they get.

There is no doubt that money serves a good defense in law courts. Every human being has an inalienable and sacred right to live in this universe, hence sentencing individuals to death as well as clearly murdering them violates their right to life. According Tongue, (2015), the government and policymakers need to consider the fact that trends in anti-social behavior and criminality cannot be profoundly overturned except the fundamental causes of crimes are tackled. As the government does all that it takes to protect its citizens, it should also look to prevent child neglect, poverty, drug addiction, and domestic violence since such social ills have been proven repeatedly to drive individuals to murder. Additionally, God the creator knows how to punish, discipline correct and destroy human beings and from the Bible, no one has ever condemned state killing acts.

Another argument why it is logical to cut out capital punishment is that it does not appear to be doing its job. According to Hood, & Hoyle, (2015), appeal for revenge is not really a rational reaction to a dire situation and it is one of the lowermost human emotions. Similarly killing someone who has killed another person is just a continuation of the series of violence. Eventually, this may destroy the offender and the avenger. Therefore capital punishment pollutes the otherwise goodwill needed by the society to progress in understanding. Another argument as to why capital punishment should be abandoned in the Bahamas is that some people put to death might not have been able to be deterred due to defect or mental illnesses.

Nonetheless, it is clear that putting someone to death is a terrifying ordeal (Young, 2018). Furthermore, the American Medical Association is clear-cut and explicit that doctors should protect life at all circumstances. Therefore, requiring practitioners to partake in execution infringes their oath to safeguard life. The AMA policy also prohibits the use of the practitioner’s skills for a purpose other than promoting patient health. The code of ethics addresses practitioners involvement in executions concerning lethal injections. Retaliation is one of the main goals of criminal punishment. Majority of the supporters believe that the death penalty is the only just penalty in exchange for any willful homicide (Tongue, 2015). Generally, capital punishment is designed to fit the seriousness of the crime. In other words, criminals must pay price equal to the harm they cause in society.

Therefore that is the main reason why we have large penalties for serious crimes such as kidnapping, murder and small penalties for crimes such as property offenses in the Bahamas. The third argument is that criminals are in a position to atone for their evil acts and escape punishment in the future. Individuals who are sentenced to death can express remorse, repent, and experience spiritual rehabilitation. This argument in favor of capital punishment suggests that the death penalty leads to the rehabilitation of the offenders. The fourth argument is that capital punishment removes permanently the worst people from society. Therefore it is irrefutable that those who are convicted cannot commit further crimes (Tongue, (2015). Therefore putting such persons to death is a moral war.