The use of capital punishment, frequently known as the death penalty, is highly controversial. There are many organizations worldwide, such as Amnesty International, and country-specific, such as the ACLU, that have abolition of the death penalty as a fundamental purpose. In the classic doctrine of natural rights as expounded by for instance Locke and Blackstone, on the other hand, it is an important idea that the right to life can be forfeited.
Famous quotes containing the words capital punishment, capital, punishment and/or debate:
“Capital punishment kills immediately, whereas lifetime imprisonment does so slowly. Which executioner is more humane? The one who kills you in a few minutes, or the one who wrests your life from you in the course of many years?”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Sleep is a reward for some, a punishment for others. For all, it is a sanction.”
—Isidore Ducasse, Comte de Lautréamont (1846–70)
“My first debate in high school—”Resolved: Girls are no good”—and I won!”
—Donald Freed, U.S. screenwriter, and Arnold M. Stone. Robert Altman. Richard Nixon (Philip Baker Hall)