Capital Punishment
There is an ongoing debate in America on whether the death penalty should be allowed or not. Some are for the death penalty, saying it deters future criminals, while others are against it, questioning the constitutionality and morality of it. This is a decision the government has to make even though it can’t please everyone either way. When deciding whether to use the death penalty or not, the government should take into account what the people want and use this as the basis of their decision. For this issue the resolution is clear. Capital punishment does not still reflect the needs, wants, and demands of American citizens because it is unconstitutional, the legal process is subject to error, and it is immoral.
The first reason that capital punishment shouldn’t be allowed in America is because it is unconstitutional. Capital punishment treats the person who is being executed as non- human. The Constitution states that every person has a right to life as well as a certain respect for their life. Capital punishment completely denies the person being executed of this right and respect. Capital punishment also violates the eighth and fourteenth amendments. The eighth amendment prevents people from receiving cruel and unusual punishment. No matter how bad a crime someone commits killing them for it is very cruel and unusual. The fourteenth amendment prevents the government from making any law that takes away the rights or privileges of the people. Capital punishment violates this amendment- it takes away people’s right to life. Amendment 1 in the Constitution gives people the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Capital punishment denies people of every single one these rights.
Another problem with using capital punishment is that the legal process is subject to error. Since the death penalty was reinstated 87 people have been freed from death row. This is an error rate of 1 innocent person for every 7 executed ( Feingold ). That is an extremely high error rate. I don’t understand why a justice system that would rather free many guilty persons than sentence a single free person would allow a punishment like this with such a high error rate. Capital punishment is also very biased against the poor. Poor people are often looked down on in society and also can’t afford good lawyers. This leads to poor people being more likely to be put on death row and is extremely unfair. People tried for offenses punishable by the death penalty are often give bad attorneys if they do not/ cannot hire one themselves. This can lead to some people being unfairly and unjustly executed. These lawyers are often just there for the money and do not care about freeing their client. Because the justice system is so subject to error and biased, the death penalty should not be allowed.
One last reason why the death penalty should not be allowed is because it is immoral. Nearly all (if not all) religions are against murder because they believe it is wrong. Most of these religions are also against getting revenge on others. The death penalty is against both of these religious views. Getting revenge on others is sinking to their level. Why would you drop to the level of a murderer? Killing others is inhumane no matter what the circumstances are. We cannot lose our humanity and allow the death penalty.
In conclusion capital punishment is wrong in many ways and should not be allowed. Not only is it unconstitutional, it is immoral, and has a legal process subject to error as well, America’s decision to allow capital punishment needs to be reviewed. Think about the needs, wants, and demands of the people.
