Death Penalty Should Be Abolished: The Reasons

Keywords: Capital punishment,Prison,Lethal injection,Crime,Murder,Death penalty

Should the death penalty be abolished? Essay on this question can be quite controversial, no matter what side of the argument is chosen. But it is important to understand the reasons why the death penalty should be abolished. Imagine you are accused of murder. You are poor so you know that you had a slim chance of winning without a good lawyer. There is very little evidence to support that you are innocent but still get put to death by lethal injection. Later on, after further research and investigation, people found out that you were actually innocent but it’s too late. You were killed for someone else’s murder. Some people don’t have to imagine, they experience, such as Cameron Todd Willingham. Cameron was accused of killing 2 people and was put to death. Later on, through further investigation, Willingham was found innocent. Procon.org stated that the lives of 1,436 people, from 1977 to 2016 were faced with the death penalty, 1/7 of those people being innocent. The death penalty is an inhumane and cruel act that has been proven to be inefficient. It has also occurred before that the death penalty has made false accusations killing innocent people. Although some say that the death penalty brings justice to the society and helps save the world from the people who damage it, using the same or worse methods does not make us better than them. So we must abolish death penalty. Essay against this inhumane practice will present the arguments.

The death penalty is an inhumane and cruel act that brings injustice to the states that still use this method of punishment. Some of the methods involved during execution include lethal injection, electric shock, gas chamber, firing squad and hanging. Procon.org stated that a man had been sentenced to the death penalty but had been given an incorrect amount of dosage. Sadly the victim was left there in horrific pain for 20 minutes until he died. Our former president, Barack Obama has said that the death penalty is “very disturbing” and questions why it even exists. Martial Thurgood, a high ranked supreme court judge would always show signs that he is against the death penalty. This shows how powerful people with strong understandings on how the death penalty works is against it too. Since 1977 to 2016, 1,436 people were put through the death penalty, some of this being innocent.

The second reason why the death penalty should be abolished is that the system is flawed. 1 out of 7 people who are sentenced to the death penalty is innocent. The defendants chance of winning the case might be decreased due to the chance of not having a good lawyer because he/she is poor. According to B.A. Robinson, this is the case of 90% of death penalty victims. Adding on to why the death penalty is flawed is because the system is biased. Opposing viewpoints states that “black people are 4.3 times more likely to be executed by the death penalty than white people.” This means black people have a higher chance of dying. Hunter Derek, a journalist from the Greenhaven press said, “from 1984 to 2006, the average number of months spent on death row has increased from 74 to 145.” Even though the court spends so much time you would think that their mistakes would be flawless, but they still make mistakes. Out of the 1,436 people killed through the death penalty, approximately 200 of those people were innocent. 200 innocent people who were falsely accused of whatever crime they did, could have avoided death.

Another reason why the death penalty should be abolished is due to the fact is too expansive and it could help the country to save a lot of money. The United States spends a lot of money from taxes in order to kill a prisoner sentenced to the death penalty which is 10 times more expensive than keeping it alive in prison. As reported by Philip J. Cook, “North Carolina could save $11 million per year by abolishing its death penalty”. This $11 million dollar can be used for school education, disability people, public hospital, public transportation, and more; instead of wasting this amount of money in a not reliable system.

On the other hand, some people believe that the death penalty will bring peace and justice to crimes that the people have convicted. Even though people might think that the only way to punish the convict is by killing them they are wrong. Killing the convict will only send a message saying that if you kill someone that has done something wrong then it’s okay to kill. The death penalty is still legal in 31 out of 50 states in America. More than half of the states still agree that the death penalty is ok. This is insane because there are alternatives to death, such as a lifelong prison sentence in a high-security prison. A prisoner will not be able to escape this prison and instead of dying a cruel and horrific death, they will die a less painful one.

As a result, many lives have been destroyed due to the death penalty. Friends, family, kids have known someone or worse, gone through the death sentence knowing that death was coming there way but had no way of stopping it. Instead, they are faced with the harsh reality that they are going to die and have no chance of surviving. Death penalty should be abolished. This essay shows many arguments against death penalty and concludes that abolishing the death penalty is the right choice because it will send a deeper meaning telling people that death is not a way to resolve the issue. There is always another way to save someone’s life. Terminating the death penalty is one of them.

References

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