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Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong MAG
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.
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JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 473 comments.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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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.