Abolishment of Capital Punishment

Many people have made large and bold statements regarding the benefits and consequences of having the death penalty as a law. Some people see great benefits on having someone killed for what they may have done to someone else, while others may wonder how cold hearted you need to be if you wanted to kill another person over revenge. In Canada, the majority of people do not condone the death penalty as a means of punishment in the legal court system. Canada should not have the death penalty. Capital punishment should not exist for a variety of reasons. In 1976, Canada decided to completely abolish death row from the Canadian legal system. This decision was made by the Canadian citizens along side with the government. It was a country wide vote to ensure everyone got their say in the matter.

People from around the world have their own ideas of “acceptable punishment”, as do each country. Every year, far too many innocent people die from the death penalty, while those who are guilty of committing a crime get to live their life. On July 14, 1976 Canadian citizens followed through on their votes to cancel the death penalty for good. The majority of the people did not see how killing someone was a real and true humane way to punish someone else. Specifically, “If the same rate of people on death row as those put to death are innocent, then 4 percent of the people who have died in the last 35 years were innocent. That's about 50 people.” Having death row is, or at least should be considered inhumane 1because killing someone, even in the name of the law is morally wrong as an act.

There are many different reasons that capital punishment can be considered inhumane. For example, when it comes down to it, you don’t really know if the person who you are putting to death is really guilty or not. According to deathpenaltyinfo.org, from 1971 to 1993 there have been at least one-hundred and sixty three innocent people killed. This goes to show how wrong and inconsiderate some people can be for wanting this execution line to continue. Every time the government decides to give someone the death penalty it costs them around 1.26 million dollars per person. I’m sure some people would be able to justify the government spending 1.26 million dollars on sentencing someone who may have done harm to their loved ones, but if you think about it, they have also wasted millions on killing good inocente people.

As stated above in the last 35 years, we have killed around fifty innocent people who got blamed for crimes they did not commit. With that being said, we have lost and spent around 60 million dollars on people who should not have been put to death for another persons crime. Consequently, we have killed far too many innocent people who had families and loved ones. If some countries did not have this law, then at least they could still see their families while in prison, and the innocent can keep trying to justify themselves. The death penalty is an inhumane and unconstitutional form of punishment towards criminals, and possibly to good, decent, and innocent people. Unlike a life sentence, death row is irreversible. According to many religions, killing someone is not a proper form of.

In addition, you really can’t punish someone if they are dead. Even the Pope believes that capital punishment is not a viable consequence. Specifically, “Pope John Paul II has been a clear voice of mercy and forgiveness--toward his own would--be assassin, as well as on behalf of persons condemned to death. In 1995, just a few months after the catechism's publication, he acknowledged in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) a "growing tendency" in the church and civil society to demand that the death penalty be restricted or abolished.” That was one person speaking on behalf of 22% of the people who 2 3live in the United States. Many other religions, and people who don’t believe in anything also do not necessarily agree with death row. When you are sentenced to be executed by the government, they are also breaking many human rights. One major one that is put on you is in most cases torture. If you don’t think being killed is rightfully called tortue, then you have another thing to think about.

Many countries are starting to open their eyes and realize that the death penalty is not the only way to punish people for awful, horrific, life changing events in criminal activities. However, this does not change the fact that many people still believe in the death penalty and that it’s still used far too much. No matter how unconstitutional and inhumane capital punishment is, the fact is that once you get it, there is no turning back. Once your dead, your dead for life. Although the U.S. largely believes in death row, the supreme court clearly expressed and identified that the death penalty is unconstitutional, as reported by CNN. To many, that could be a wake up call, but it's true. California actually recognized that it was not correct and that life in prison was more acceptable, and constitutional. Did you know that some places even sentence juveniles to death? How would like it if your child was killed, especially if they were innocent? The worst part is that you help fund it. They use funds from that taxes that you pay to kill people, including innocent people that you may know. Many states are stating to admit that capital punishment is wrong. For instance, “August 2, 2016 - The Delaware Supreme Court rules the state's death penalty law unconstitutional.”

Many 4citizens of different places in the world may have their own opinions but in the end murder is murder. The question is how would you feel if you were the one running the electric chair, shooting the bullet into someones head, or gassing/injecting someone? In conclusion, Canada should not have capital punishment. The death penalty is wrong in many ways including being inhuman, unconstitutional, and a waste of our money. At the end of the day, everyone is going to have their own two sentence about capital punishment, but it doesn't mean that one party is right over the other. It's a fact that lots of people agree on the abolishment of death row in a general manner, and want to keep it far and free from Canada.

References:

1. Lopatto, E. (2014). How Many Innocent People Are Sentenced To Death?. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethlopatto/2014/04/29/how-many-innocent-people-are-sentenced-to-death/#2df09c733b9e
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethlopatto/2014/04/29/how-many-innocent-people-are-sentenced-to-death/#2df09c733b9e
3. https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethlopatto/2014/04/29/how-many-innocent-people-are-sentenced-to-death/#2df09c733b9epunishment because the odds are that if they have truly killed someone, then have already accepted being killed themselves.
4. Dinn, J. (2018). What does the church say about the death penalty? [online] USCatholic.org. Available at: https://www.uscatholic.org/culture/ethic-life/2011/10/what-does-church-say-about-death-penalty [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].
5. En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Catholic Church in the United States. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_the_United_States [Accessed 27 Sep. 2018].
6. Library, C. (2018). Death Penalty Fast Facts. [online] CNN. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/us/death-penalty-fast-facts/index.html [Accessed 27 Sep. 2018].