Is the Death Penalty Justifiable?
Image Courtesy of Inside Sources
By David Essig
This is an independently submitted op-ed for our Quill section. Views and statements made in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Tower.
If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you may remember hearing about the upcoming trial of Luigi Mangioni, the person who infamously murdered the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, in 2024. Mangioni was eventually found and arrested by police at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, not too long after the assassination. With a trial still being awaited, there has been some debate if the death penalty should be a possible punishment for this crime if found guilty.
In today’s society, there are many social and economic issues that are highly debated, including the death penalty. Is it illegal? Immoral? These are the questions that lie as the foundations for the arguments for and against the use of the death penalty. On moral grounds, this is incredibly split.
On one side, those who oppose the death penalty, including many Catholics, argue that nobody but God has the right to control who dies and when; on the other side, proponents argue that the death penalty is acceptable punishment for the most heinous and serious crimes like committing acts of terrorism or murdering public officials.
On the legal ground, the usage of the death penalty can be questioned as well. According to the eighth amendment of the United States Constitution, all citizens are to be protected from “cruel and unusual punishments.” However, “cruel and unusual punishments” can be interpreted in several different ways, depending on how one interprets it. This idea was challenged in court when a man named Tony Gregg, who was sentenced to death for two counts of murder, argued that a sentence of being put to death violated the eighth amendment.
The Supreme Court heard Gregg’s case (Gregg v Georgia, 1976), ultimately ruling that the death penalty did not violate the eighth amendment. The 7-2 majority argued that in extremely severe criminal cases, such as murder being premeditated and then carried out, death was an acceptable punishment as long as it was done with caution.
Overall, the death penalty still remains a hotly debated issue within society. Morally, one could argue either way for or against its usage, but legally, it is considered to be acceptable. Although, the legality of the death penalty can vary in different jurisdictions. Therefore, the death penalty as a form of criminal punishment is legally okay, but the morality of it is still on the table.
