Benetton in Perspective: Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment is the execution of a criminal convicted of a crime. Capital punishment was once meted out for a large number of crimes. In http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/idxref/0/0,5716,133662,00.html

England during the 18th century, a system on which the United States based their program, death was decreed for several hundred specific offenses, particularly for those against property. During that century, however, limitations began to be placed on the number and type of offenses for which criminals were put to death. The writings of 18th-century Enlightenment thinkers--such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Cesare Beccaria--proved a powerful stimulus to reform, as did the rise of the industrial working class and the humanitarian movements. (please see www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article). Despite this opposition the death penalty was found to be effective and has since become a part of our criminal justice system.

In the United States the states currently have the right to use or not to use the death penalty (please see www.essential.org/dpic/dpicreg.html). While not all states currently use the death penalty there are many that still do. The purpose still being that it helps to deter crime. It is believed that there are many, more successful, ways to prevent crimes from occurring. One might compare the statistics of states that have the death penalty and states that do not. The murder rate is much greater in the states that do have the death penalty (please see www.essential.org/dpic/deter.html).

Victim’s rights (please seewww.pomc.com/index.html) also play an important role in the execution of these criminals. Those who support the death penalty (please see www.prodeathpenalty.com) do so through the concept of "An eye for an eye". They seek to destroy these individuals as compensation of losing their loved one. On the other side of the spectrum are those who believe that we should live in a completely ethical and moral society in which the government should not take an active role in the execution of individuals. This group that is in strict opposition advocates also the idea that these individuals could perhaps be innocent and that it does not necessarily act as a crime deterrent (please see www.nodeathpenalty.com).

What does capital punishment have to do with the clothing company Benetton? Basically Benetton (please see www.benetton.com) came out with a catalog against the death penalty and has distributed it worldwide. Victim’s groups and pro-death penalty groups are in an upheaval because Benetton is exploiting the victim’s rights and glamorizing the convicts. Then there are others that see Benetton using their freedom of speech rights to attack the death penalty. The choice is yours: Is Capital Punishment just and is Benetton wrong in demonizing it in such a manner?