Modern Day Public Opinion

In our current times many people still believe that Capital Punishment is the correct thing to put upon a person as it serves them for the actions they have committed. Many people also believe that the death penalty is unjust and morally wrong. When someone murders someone else, the correct punishment is not to murder him or her, but to try and help them. These are just some of the reasons the death penalty should be removed. Capital punishment is often defended on the grounds that society has a moral obligation to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens. Murderers threaten this safety and welfare. Only by putting murderers to death can society ensure that convicted killers do not kill again. Once again society can be heavily influenced in a bad way since the death penalty does not contribute to the deterrence of crime. In fact, the death penalty may actually raise crime rates. Capital punishment is not a solution; it is a burden on society and does more harm than good. Many other countries have eradicated the death penalty for this exact reason as it only increases the rate of crime. In 1967, a moratorium was placed on the death penalty. But it was not until 1976 that Canada formally abolished the death penalty from the Criminal Code, when the House of Commons narrowly passed Bill C-84. By then, Canada had hanged 710 people since capital punishment was enacted in 1859.