Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong | Teen Ink

Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong MAG

July 27, 2008
By Anonymous

Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth. Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole.

Capital punishment is the most ­irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only ­human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment.

According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which ­there always is), the drastic measure of capital ­punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process of law.

District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ­argued against the death penalty: “In brief, the Court found that the best available evidence indicates that, on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other hand, convincing proof of their innocence ­often does not emerge until long after their convictions. It is therefore fully foreseeable that in enforcing the death penalty a meaningful number of innocent people will be executed who otherwise would eventually be able to prove their innocence.”

As humans, we are an inevitable force of error. However, when a life is at stake, error is not an option. The death penalty is murder by the government. As a nation, we have prided ourselves in our government, its justice and truth. However, can we continue to call our government fair if we do not hold it to the same rules we do its people? Murder by a citizen will have consequences, yet a government-approved ­murder is not only acceptable, but enforceable. What message do we send the American people, and other countries, for that matter, if we continue to be a ­nation that kills its citizens, a nation that enforces the most barbaric form of punishment?

The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states, “We don’t cut off the hands of thieves to ­protect property; we do not stone adulterers to stop adultery. We consider that barbaric. Yet we continue to take life as a means of protecting life.” No person, government-affiliated or not, has the right to decide if another human is worthy or unworthy of life. Our natural rights as humans, which cannot be taken away by the government, include the right to life. Humans are not cold metal coins that lose value; no act, no matter how heinous, can make a person less of a human being. However, for most it is easy to ­forget that each of the 1,099 executed since 1977 are fellow humans, not just numbers.

According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty violates the right to life.” Capital punishment contradicts our moral beliefs and claims of a fair and just government. The U.S. must join its political ­allies – including Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, South Africa, and most of Latin America – that have abolished the death penalty.

The death penalty is favored by some as an effective deterrent of crime; however, it is proven that states with the death penalty actually have higher murder rates than those without. It is proven that our nation does not need this extreme threat of punishment to prevent crime. In 2006, the FBI Uniform Crime Report revealed that the area of the U.S. that was responsible for the most executions (the South with 80 percent) also had the highest murder rate, whereas the Northern areas that had the fewest ­executions (less than one percent), had the lowest murder rates.

It can be said that the death penalty is the most overlooked form of government hypocrisy; we murder people who murder people to show that murder is wrong. It is this contradiction in policy that confuses criminals and undermines any crime deterrence capital punishment was intended to have.

Many people favor the death penalty as reparation for the wrong done to a victim’s family; however, in most cases, closure is not the result. Losing a loved one, no matter how that person is lost, is unbearable, irrevocable, and shattering. Pain like this is shocking and the victim’s family holds onto the hope that the execution of the murderer will bring relief and closure. Nevertheless, when execution day arrives, the pain is not eased. No relief can be gained, for their pain is an unavoidable, natural process of life. Victims’ families have founded such groups as the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and The Journey of Hope, which oppose the death penalty. They ­believe that they are different from those who have taken their loved ones and they demonstrate their ­difference by refusing to sink to a murderer’s level.

Capital punishment is immoral and a violation of natural rights. It is wrong for everyone involved: the prosecuted innocent, criminals, victims’ families, and our nation. We need to replace the death penalty and capital punishment with life without parole, a safer and more inexpensive option. The death penalty does not guarantee safety for innocent victims, it does not follow the goals and promises of our nation, it does not effectively deter crime, and it does not give closure to victims’ families. Nothing good comes of hate, and nothing good can ever come from capital punishment. It cannot continue to be accepted by a nation that claims to have liberty and justice for all. The death penalty is murder on the sly and it’s dead wrong.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 473 comments.


on Jan. 28 2011 at 8:31 pm
PurpleFeather BRONZE, Canton, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 124 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The pen is mightier than the sword." - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

ASpiring Author,

I find it interesting that you have previously harassed me about being negative and mean, yet when TxDragon states his opinion, you tell him that he needs to see a pyschiatrist because of it. This is rather hypocritical.

Just because someone thinks something different from you doesn't mean that they are sociopathic.


on Jan. 28 2011 at 2:42 pm
RoundRobinGirl GOLD, Craigmont, Idaho
16 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Cowboy up, puss."

I get your point, but I don't agree with it. Government has to serve the public as a whole. So if there's a serial killer going around and doing what serial killers do best, by not killing him or her, many, many more lives would be lost.

LIBERTARIAN said...
on Jan. 28 2011 at 9:52 am
ok cool lets spend a ton of tax money on keeping sick serial killers alive... these people need to be removed from the earth, as there is no good purpose for them. our prisons are crowded enough.

on Jan. 27 2011 at 6:13 pm
TxDragon BRONZE, Saratoga, California
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Come and Take it!" -citizens of Gonzales, Texas, when the Mexicans tried to take away the cannon used to defend their town.

easy now, let's keep this civilized. Also, I'm sorry I offended you with my errors in capitalization.  To your comment on the "innocents" being proved guilty: because it takes so long for the death sentence to be carried out, death row inmates have years and years for appeals.  Even the guilty ones can sometimes weasel out of their punishment with the help of their lawyers.  Furthermore, these books you've read, are they fact-based, from a credible author? If not I suggest you review your position on this issue. 

Another thing, say no innocent people were accidentally put to death, then would you support the death penalty? Don't you think that a shot that makes a person fall asleep and never wake up is fit punishment for people who tortured, murdered, and desicrated the bodies of innocent people?


on Jan. 27 2011 at 2:27 pm
aspiringauthor_ BRONZE, Fairfield, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 324 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." - MLK Jr.

Actually, not all murderers are child murderers, as you should be aware of. But if you aren't, then now you know. I know that murder has to be premeditated. But what if it was manslaughter, by accident, and not premeditated? If the only eyewitnesses were either killed or put in prison, where nothing they say is believed? Answer me that.

on Jan. 27 2011 at 2:24 pm
aspiringauthor_ BRONZE, Fairfield, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 324 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." - MLK Jr.

Okay, I do not have concrete evidence, but I have read books about it. I'm sure you do have your own psychiatrists. And in response to your comment about innocence being proven somehow... Why would they do that, when the trial has already taken place. The convicted person's lawyer would need to get another hearing, and that alone can take a very long time. Oh, and I almost forgot my last point. Please use the proper capitalization and mechanics in your responses, I might be able to reason with you if you had that. 

P.S. I know that people on death row do not face lethal injection for years. That is one of my points. Why make someone wait for so long to die? What is the point? Are we really going back to the times when we made the prisoners wait for their execution - only in those days they were executed by guillotine.  I personally think that if our government is going back to that, we have some major problems.


on Jan. 27 2011 at 2:17 pm
TxDragon BRONZE, Saratoga, California
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Come and Take it!" -citizens of Gonzales, Texas, when the Mexicans tried to take away the cannon used to defend their town.

actually, the definition of murder is not one person taking the life of another.  Killing someone in self defense, or in defense of another person is not murder.  Accidentally hitting someone with a car when they jumped in front of you is not murder, though it can be defined as one person taking another person's life.  Murder is one person killing another person for no reason, in cold blood.  First degree murder is defined as premeditated, and often horrific crimes.  Usually one can only get the death penalty for first degree murder.  Why should taxpayers pay for a serial killer's life in prison, give money so that a child murderer can be fed every day for the rest of their lives?

on Jan. 27 2011 at 2:11 pm
TxDragon BRONZE, Saratoga, California
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Come and Take it!" -citizens of Gonzales, Texas, when the Mexicans tried to take away the cannon used to defend their town.

sorry, I already got a bunch of my own psychiatrists. 

But seriously, the answer to the fact that innocent people are killed accidentally with the death penalty is not to ban the deat penalty.  Update the justice system, get more advanced technology.  You can't get rid of the death penalty because of what MIGHT happen. Besides, those on death row don't actually face lethal injection for years.  In the time between a conviction and the sentence being carried out, don't you think the person's innocence can be proven somehow? Also, can you give me a concrete example of an innocent person being affected by the death penalty? better yet, can you give me two? or three? I doubt it, but I'd be willing to look at your side more if you could prove that this is actually a problem.


on Jan. 27 2011 at 12:37 pm
aspiringauthor_ BRONZE, Fairfield, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 324 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." - MLK Jr.

Before I say anything, let me just say this. This article was wonderfully written, and don't let anyone misguide you from that. If anyone says that there are problems with it, they obviously didn't read the same article I did. And another thing - I completely agree with you about the death penalty. State governments could be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on preparation for someone on death row, only to find out that they are innocent. A counterargument to the people who say that the death penalty costs less than life in prison, they are misinformed. The death penalty can cost millions of dollars, depending on what the prison is preparing for. Life in prison may indeed use taxpayer money, but that same taxpayer money goes to schools and oil companies. Why should it matter to us where the money is going, as long as we know it may well be keeping someone alive (in a prison). Also, I just want to point out that because of advances in modern science, we are now able to do something called DNA testing. This involves getting DNA from the crime scene, be it hair or blood, and testing it to see who's DNA it is. Thousands of people have been wrongly accused, and put to death, only for everyone to find out later (with the DNA testing) that they were innocent. Lastly (and I promise this is last), most people put on death row end up waiting a decade - sometimes more - for their sentence to be carried out. Do we really have the right to put someone through that kind of torture, to make them wait that long to die. More importantly, who are we to make the decision of someone's death? Do we have that right? I think not.

on Jan. 27 2011 at 12:25 pm
aspiringauthor_ BRONZE, Fairfield, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 324 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." - MLK Jr.

To TxDragon: It shouldn't matter to you how many innocent people (that are African-American) are being killed by the death penalty. All that should matter is that it is happening. If it really does matter how many people are being killed, I know of a good psychiatrist you can use.

on Jan. 27 2011 at 12:23 pm
aspiringauthor_ BRONZE, Fairfield, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 324 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." - MLK Jr.

I respectfully disagree. My father was murdered by someone, and that someone is now behind bars for life, which I am grateful for. Now they cannot kill anyone else. However, I wouldn't want their family to have to grieve as I do for my father. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth may indeed be Hamurabi's Code, but it is most certainly not the way we as humans should be living.

on Jan. 25 2011 at 5:03 pm
heaven_sent_666 BRONZE, Youngstown, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Being in the dark means you are one step closer to seeing the light"

So its not really the death penalty that is the problem, but our country's crooked way of ensuring us that they're doing their job....at least that is what I get out of what you just said.

on Jan. 25 2011 at 8:30 am
wordsoflife SILVER, Starke, Florida
7 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
Truth is the absence of Lies. -me

Yes, it costs money to keep people alive. If you don't want our taxes to be spent on keeping people alive, lets give it to the observance of algae administration! The problem with the death penalty is that hundreds of people in death row are proven innocent by dna testing every decade.

on Jan. 7 2011 at 4:25 am
Jakethesnake BRONZE, Hernando, Mississippi
1 article 0 photos 96 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Read, Read... Read everything, then write."-William Faulkner

It's not about money- it's about keeping incent people safe. Even if they are in jail, it does not stop them from killing. What about the inocent guy that just stole a cd or something? He would just be a target in jail.

 


on Jan. 6 2011 at 2:21 pm
heaven_sent_666 BRONZE, Youngstown, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Being in the dark means you are one step closer to seeing the light"

but there are always prison breaks and some jails are becoming so overcrowded that they just let criminals go. Not to mention tax payers have to keep paying to feed them and everything. and according to my cousin, jail isn't all that bad (and he should know that more than anyone since he's been there 12 times.)

on Jan. 6 2011 at 2:17 pm
heaven_sent_666 BRONZE, Youngstown, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Being in the dark means you are one step closer to seeing the light"

Hey, I just found this article today and I think it is very well written, but I respectfully disagree.

Though forgivness is important and killing is wrong, the death penalty is necessary. Without it, the jails would become overcrowded (like they are in some states already) and it would cost more to feed the prisoners. It costs money to keep these guys in jail - taxpayers money - our money. And why should we have to waste our money on killers and rapists.

I also feel that the death penalty is reasonable since it is not nearly as painful as what the criminas put their victims through. Actually, it's virtually painless...in my opinion they're getting off easy. I have many friends who think that killers should be executed in the same way that they killed their victims, but I think the death penalty is a lot more humane and effective.

But that's just my opinion. Good job on the article!!


mememelo said...
on Jan. 6 2011 at 1:19 pm
mememelo, Lamar, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 46 comments

Favorite Quote:
"

totally true. there were times i wish my uncle was dead but hes in prison. i just want him to feel sorry for what he did to me. i do want him to suffer tho but if hes dead he cant feel sorry

reneej said...
on Jan. 6 2011 at 8:26 am
I totally agree with you! I think life in prison is way worse than the death penalty

on Jan. 6 2011 at 5:05 am
Sri Palanisamy SILVER, Sewickely, Pennsylvania
6 articles 0 photos 14 comments
Our judicial system is not based on the revenge of a single person. It should be impartial and keep emotions of of it so we as a group of people can make LOGICAL decisions. Endorsing a system which kills innocent people is not logical.

on Jan. 6 2011 at 5:03 am
Sri Palanisamy SILVER, Sewickely, Pennsylvania
6 articles 0 photos 14 comments
We kill innocent people with the death penalty. Why do it if we can lock them up and save money doing it? (the death penalty is almost three times more expensive)