dongcan
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- Nov 17, 2015
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- United States
Part one
In the article “Death Penalty: It’s not Even the Beginning of a Solution” by Pierre De Vos, who is a law professor at the University of Cape Town Law Faculty, discussed that death penalty should not be reintroduced in the South Africa.
His article is a part of the opinion in the South Africa. His primary audiences who read his article are South Africans because most his articles are about the inequitable laws in South Africa.
Vos claimed that reintroduction death penalty will become a huge social problem in South Africa and will magnify inherent inequalities between race and class. Though many South Africans campaign for reintroduction death penalty for two reasons, deter criminals from murder and revenge, Voc argued that death penalty is a cruel and violent act for the citizen of South Africans. A prison sentence can be a way to replace the death penalty in South Africa. Voc pointed out that “in South Africa, only a small minority of violent criminals are actually caught” (Voc). Many offenders get away with murder. Race and class play a significant role in the death penalty.
Poor black people are always at the bottom of the social scale so there is a high percentage of them to be sentenced to death. Also poor black people don’t have enough money to hire experienced counsels. The defending counsels of those black people are inexperienced. Most experienced counsels do not want to help poor black people. Rich people, on the other hand, have money to hire experienced counsels, so most of them are less likely to be sentenced to death. Race and class also play a potential role in determining murderer’s live and dies.
Part Two
I believe that the argument Voc made about South Africa’s new law is effective. Voc clearly understands the background and social issue in the South Africa. He compared two groups of people, race, and class, who will receive a different sentence. A high percentage of poor black people sentence to death, however, less of while people sentenced to death if they have some crime. Here is a support from his writing “Because race and class play a role in the quality of the legal representation that an accused person receives, it is likely that a disproportionate number of poor black people will be sentenced to death”(Voc). People are divided by race and class in South Africa.
The purpose of the South African government to reintroduce death penalty is to reduce the number of criminals. Nevertheless, it does not have much effect because most criminals run away. I agree with Voc that improving criminal justice system is better than reintroducing the death penalty. In order to decrease the number of criminals, the government should have a good system to follow up with the case. When more criminals are caught, it is the best way to awe other criminals. As Voc wrote: “the greatest deterrent to crime is the likelihood that offenders will apprehend, convicted and punished” (Voc).
Here is one of the weakness parts of the article. Voc mentions that there is inequality between race and class in the social scale, but he only compares in the class and offers some example about wealthy people and poor people. There is not any information to compare with poor black and poor white people. Also, he claims that executing a prisoner is brutal, but he does not give any reason. However, although there are some weaknesses in the article, it still convinces me to agree with him.
I agree with him because the reason he provided clearly shows the inequality in the South Africa. Most of the black people may sentence to dead if the death penalty is reintroduced. In order to treat South African more equality, the death penalty should be prohibited. It should be replaced by a prison sentence. It is important to treat people with more equality, otherwise, revolt may happen in the south Africa.
In the article “Death Penalty: It’s not Even the Beginning of a Solution” by Pierre De Vos, who is a law professor at the University of Cape Town Law Faculty, discussed that death penalty should not be reintroduced in the South Africa.
His article is a part of the opinion in the South Africa. His primary audiences who read his article are South Africans because most his articles are about the inequitable laws in South Africa.
Vos claimed that reintroduction death penalty will become a huge social problem in South Africa and will magnify inherent inequalities between race and class. Though many South Africans campaign for reintroduction death penalty for two reasons, deter criminals from murder and revenge, Voc argued that death penalty is a cruel and violent act for the citizen of South Africans. A prison sentence can be a way to replace the death penalty in South Africa. Voc pointed out that “in South Africa, only a small minority of violent criminals are actually caught” (Voc). Many offenders get away with murder. Race and class play a significant role in the death penalty.
Poor black people are always at the bottom of the social scale so there is a high percentage of them to be sentenced to death. Also poor black people don’t have enough money to hire experienced counsels. The defending counsels of those black people are inexperienced. Most experienced counsels do not want to help poor black people. Rich people, on the other hand, have money to hire experienced counsels, so most of them are less likely to be sentenced to death. Race and class also play a potential role in determining murderer’s live and dies.
Part Two
I believe that the argument Voc made about South Africa’s new law is effective. Voc clearly understands the background and social issue in the South Africa. He compared two groups of people, race, and class, who will receive a different sentence. A high percentage of poor black people sentence to death, however, less of while people sentenced to death if they have some crime. Here is a support from his writing “Because race and class play a role in the quality of the legal representation that an accused person receives, it is likely that a disproportionate number of poor black people will be sentenced to death”(Voc). People are divided by race and class in South Africa.
The purpose of the South African government to reintroduce death penalty is to reduce the number of criminals. Nevertheless, it does not have much effect because most criminals run away. I agree with Voc that improving criminal justice system is better than reintroducing the death penalty. In order to decrease the number of criminals, the government should have a good system to follow up with the case. When more criminals are caught, it is the best way to awe other criminals. As Voc wrote: “the greatest deterrent to crime is the likelihood that offenders will apprehend, convicted and punished” (Voc).
Here is one of the weakness parts of the article. Voc mentions that there is inequality between race and class in the social scale, but he only compares in the class and offers some example about wealthy people and poor people. There is not any information to compare with poor black and poor white people. Also, he claims that executing a prisoner is brutal, but he does not give any reason. However, although there are some weaknesses in the article, it still convinces me to agree with him.
I agree with him because the reason he provided clearly shows the inequality in the South Africa. Most of the black people may sentence to dead if the death penalty is reintroduced. In order to treat South African more equality, the death penalty should be prohibited. It should be replaced by a prison sentence. It is important to treat people with more equality, otherwise, revolt may happen in the south Africa.
