Flawed Death Penalty
Capital Punishment The Death Penalty has no place in the modern United States Criminal Justice System. The moral correctness of the government sentencing prisoners to death is a long debated argument. Death penalty supporters may believe that death is a rightful punishment to those who are found guilty of murder, or that the punishment will deter future criminals from committing homicide. Capital punishment is a serious problem facing many innocent Americans, as well as slowing the progression of our nation. Many states have voted to ban the execution of convicted felons. To advance our civilization, the death penalty must be entirely eliminated from our society and way of life, because it is both primitive as well as socially retarding. Capital Punishment is both ethically as well as practically flawed. The United States is the only “nation among western
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democracies”(Green), that continues to put convicted criminals to death. Although many states abolished the death penalty, death sentences are still being carried out across America. As complex beings, humans value the sanctity of life. Many believe that, “executing people is never justifiable”(Green). No matter the crime, nor what the convict was found guilty of, death is never a justified punishment. If someone is put to death it eradicates all of the potential good a rehabilitated criminal is able to produce for society. “Carrying out the death penalty destroys any good such persons might have done”(Santa). Although life outside of bars may not be possible for some, there are many community service programs available in rehabilitation programs. Finally, “due to the number of legal appeals, and the cost of keeping prisoners on death row for years,”(Green) the death penalty is ineffective in teaching a criminal any lesson, as well as being financially wasteful. In addition, the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects its citizens, by prohibiting the enforcement of cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a penalty must be, “proportional to the crime”(Cornell). This Amendment is referenced most commonly when referring to botched executions, expressing that the way the convict was executed was inhumane. In some cases, prisoners must endure agonizing torture and suffer for an unspecified amount of time before finally dying. About, “3% of U.S. executions, from 1890 to 2010, were botched”(Mott). The rate at which executions fail to kill the intended convict is increasing due to the continued exploration of effective murder methods. Even with the overwhelming evidence in favor of inhumane executions, the Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty, “is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment”(Cornell). However, executions do not go unchecked, courts look for, “objective factors to show a change in community standards” and also make “independent evaluations”(Cornell), about whether the execution is reasonable. In closing, the Eighth Amendment does shape some, “procedural aspects”(Mott) about when a jury can use the death penalty and how it must be carried out, but has never fully combated the immoral execution processes. Furthermore, capital punishment does not serve as an effective deterrent for homicide.
Although there are studies claiming the their is a correlation of decreased crime rates and the exercise of capital punishment, they are “fundamentally flawed”(Nagin). These studies to not filter out the effects of noncapital punishment, and produce a corrupt result. Also, many studies are based off of unreliable data, which includes, “statistical models that make assumptions that are not credible”(Nagin). In states that have eliminated the death penalty there has been no drastic changes in crime rates. Justice Marshall, of the U.S. Supreme Court, has stated, “In light of the massive amount of evidence before us, I see no alternative but to conclude that capital punishment cannot be justified on the basis of its deterrent effect”(Lamperti). The claim that performing executions will impact the future choices of citizens is continually rejected by, “eighty-eight percent of the country’s top criminologists”(Nagin). The death penalty cannot be validated on the assumption that it serves as an adequate deterrent for
murder. Consequently, wrongful executions are not uncommon, many prisoners on death row are set free when new evidence or information arises. Freeing the wrongly accused is not an uncommon practice, and is called an exoneration. A conservative estimate about the number of wrongfully convicted death row inmates is, “more than double the percentage of capital defendants who were exonerated”(McLaughlin). Innocent people can spend years of their lives behind bars, or even be executed if they are found guilty of a crime they did not commit. “For every 10 people”(NCADP), on death row who have been executed, one person has been set free. Wrongful convictions and executions occur for a number of complicated variables, including: “mistaken eyewitness testimony, flawed forensic science, incompetent lawyers, false confessions, police or prosecutorial misconduct, and racial bias”(NCADP). However, not all cases are given the same careful critique. A major reason that all wrongly convicted defendants are not released is that many, “win appeals reducing their sentence”(McLaughlin) from death, to life in prison, and are not revisited. Many factors contribute to wrongful sentencings, and as a result, expose flaws in our country’s judicial system. To conclude, the United States implication of capital punishment is impractical, an ineffective crime deterrent, and although not recognized, it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment as well as human rights. The government, nor any person, should have the power to take life from another. By using murder to establish that murder is wrong is self-defeating. The penalty serves no constructive role in society, nor correctional rehabilitation. As citizens, it is important to recognize need for advancement and eliminate this ancient scare tactic, and to search for a more humane solution. The entire judicial system is outdated and is in dire need of reform, but this change has had revolutionary impacts on populations where it has been eradicated.
democracies”(Green), that continues to put convicted criminals to death. Although many states abolished the death penalty, death sentences are still being carried out across America. As complex beings, humans value the sanctity of life. Many believe that, “executing people is never justifiable”(Green). No matter the crime, nor what the convict was found guilty of, death is never a justified punishment. If someone is put to death it eradicates all of the potential good a rehabilitated criminal is able to produce for society. “Carrying out the death penalty destroys any good such persons might have done”(Santa). Although life outside of bars may not be possible for some, there are many community service programs available in rehabilitation programs. Finally, “due to the number of legal appeals, and the cost of keeping prisoners on death row for years,”(Green) the death penalty is ineffective in teaching a criminal any lesson, as well as being financially wasteful. In addition, the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects its citizens, by prohibiting the enforcement of cruel and unusual punishments. The U.S. Supreme Court has determined that a penalty must be, “proportional to the crime”(Cornell). This Amendment is referenced most commonly when referring to botched executions, expressing that the way the convict was executed was inhumane. In some cases, prisoners must endure agonizing torture and suffer for an unspecified amount of time before finally dying. About, “3% of U.S. executions, from 1890 to 2010, were botched”(Mott). The rate at which executions fail to kill the intended convict is increasing due to the continued exploration of effective murder methods. Even with the overwhelming evidence in favor of inhumane executions, the Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty, “is not a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment”(Cornell). However, executions do not go unchecked, courts look for, “objective factors to show a change in community standards” and also make “independent evaluations”(Cornell), about whether the execution is reasonable. In closing, the Eighth Amendment does shape some, “procedural aspects”(Mott) about when a jury can use the death penalty and how it must be carried out, but has never fully combated the immoral execution processes. Furthermore, capital punishment does not serve as an effective deterrent for homicide.
Although there are studies claiming the their is a correlation of decreased crime rates and the exercise of capital punishment, they are “fundamentally flawed”(Nagin). These studies to not filter out the effects of noncapital punishment, and produce a corrupt result. Also, many studies are based off of unreliable data, which includes, “statistical models that make assumptions that are not credible”(Nagin). In states that have eliminated the death penalty there has been no drastic changes in crime rates. Justice Marshall, of the U.S. Supreme Court, has stated, “In light of the massive amount of evidence before us, I see no alternative but to conclude that capital punishment cannot be justified on the basis of its deterrent effect”(Lamperti). The claim that performing executions will impact the future choices of citizens is continually rejected by, “eighty-eight percent of the country’s top criminologists”(Nagin). The death penalty cannot be validated on the assumption that it serves as an adequate deterrent for
murder. Consequently, wrongful executions are not uncommon, many prisoners on death row are set free when new evidence or information arises. Freeing the wrongly accused is not an uncommon practice, and is called an exoneration. A conservative estimate about the number of wrongfully convicted death row inmates is, “more than double the percentage of capital defendants who were exonerated”(McLaughlin). Innocent people can spend years of their lives behind bars, or even be executed if they are found guilty of a crime they did not commit. “For every 10 people”(NCADP), on death row who have been executed, one person has been set free. Wrongful convictions and executions occur for a number of complicated variables, including: “mistaken eyewitness testimony, flawed forensic science, incompetent lawyers, false confessions, police or prosecutorial misconduct, and racial bias”(NCADP). However, not all cases are given the same careful critique. A major reason that all wrongly convicted defendants are not released is that many, “win appeals reducing their sentence”(McLaughlin) from death, to life in prison, and are not revisited. Many factors contribute to wrongful sentencings, and as a result, expose flaws in our country’s judicial system. To conclude, the United States implication of capital punishment is impractical, an ineffective crime deterrent, and although not recognized, it is a violation of the Eighth Amendment as well as human rights. The government, nor any person, should have the power to take life from another. By using murder to establish that murder is wrong is self-defeating. The penalty serves no constructive role in society, nor correctional rehabilitation. As citizens, it is important to recognize need for advancement and eliminate this ancient scare tactic, and to search for a more humane solution. The entire judicial system is outdated and is in dire need of reform, but this change has had revolutionary impacts on populations where it has been eradicated.