Capital Punishment Should Be Abolished

Elliot Spitzer states, “Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don 't like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.” Although the Death Penalty is meant to kill the ones that have murdered, many innocent people have been executed due to the ignorance of facts during trial. Since this has come to me and my partner’s attention, we are resolved that The United States should change its penal code to abolish the death penalty. The Death Penalty is execution following someone’s conviction of murder or any other serious crime. Abolish is to end the observance or effect of. The Penal Code is a set of criminal laws of a particular country, society, etc. Our courts are not steady, which is why we need to abolish the death penalty.

I would like about whether or not the United States should abolish the death penalty. The United States should not abolish this because those who commit a capital felony which is punishable by imprisonment or death, should serve a capital punishment which is the death penalty. Many believe that certain crimes such as rape and murder should punishable by the death penalty. Although many also see it as inhumane, many also view murder and rape as inhumane. One can view this as part of Hammburi’s Code law that states “An eye for an eye.” Capital punishment has ben around for thousands of years; beginning even before the ancient Greeks and Romans. At that time, there were many different ways to carry out capital punishment such as, beheading, stoning and electrocution (PBS).

Capital punishment has existed for thousands of years, from ancient Rome to ancient China and even in the United States. The idea was simple and straight forward: death was to be a punishment for any crime committed and people were executed simply because the ruler of the time of the land said so. With obvious progression in the United States, through increased education and ethical understanding, this idea that someone could be sentenced to death for just about anything no longer seemed right. According to PEW’s Research Center; “Since 1996, the margin between those who favor the death penalty and those who oppose it has narrowed from a 60-point gap (78% favor vs. 18% oppose) to an

Should capital punishment be abolished in America or is it a reasonable form of punishment for certain criminals? That’s the question that has been asked for the past 40 years and it is a sensitive topic on the count of people’s lives being at stake. It is a reasonable debate though, because there are many people that think it is morally wrong and should not be practiced, but then there are others that believe in capital punishment and think it should stay in place. Is America going to totally abolish the death penalty?

The death penalty has been around for thousands of years, from the codification of twenty-five laws by King Hammurabi of Babylon to today with many of our political nominees for president in support of continued use of the death penalty. Those in favor of the death penalty cite deterrence and punishment as their main reasons. However, in reality the death penalty is a drain on state and local finances, there is no evidence that is serves as a deterrent to crime, and has been shown to put the lives of innocent people in jeopardy. The death should be abolished, it has caused loss of finances, loss of life, and has un-proportionately affected the poor and the impoverished people of the United States.

The death penalty has been around legally in the United States since the early 1970s. It has been used to execute those who have committed terrible crimes like murder or terrorism. Many people feel that this is a good way of bringing the families of the victims closure and making our streets safer to live on. While this may be true, it is hard to ignore the fact that many innocent people have been killed because of wrongful convictions. Through DNA testing and other evidence, the courts are finding people who have been convicted for a crime are actually innocent. The death penalty has killed over thousands of people who have committed terrible heinous crimes. It has gotten these people out of our streets and into prisons or even out of this world for good. Many people in America find this to be very pleasing and beneficial to the states and country because it is one less criminal we will have to worry about. Even though the death penalty takes many dangerous people out of our streets, it should be abolished because of the number of innocent people that have been on Death Row or are still on it.

Have you ever been punished for something that you ­did not do? What would you feel if someone sentenced you to death because of a crime that you absolutely had nothing to do with?

Albert Einstein, a physicist and philosopher of science, “once said, no problem can be solved with the same level of thinking that created it” (Einstein). The intelligent man expressed his ideas clearly that if a killer kills someone and we also kill the killer then what would be the difference between us and the killer because we both are killers. The Death penalty was influenced by Britain. The practice was brought by European settlers for practice in U.S. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain (“Part I”). According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 31 States in the United States allow the death penalty and 19 states do not allow the death penalty (“Deterrence”). The death penalty should be abolished in our society because it is not an effective crime deterrent, it puts a strain on our economy, it may result in the loss of innocent lives, and it promotes racial discrimination.

The death penalty is a punishment of execution for a criminal that has convicted a serious crime. Crime rates go up throughout the years, but still the death penalty is not a way to find a solution to the world’s problems. Due that the death penalty costs more than sending a criminal to prison for 40 years, does not stop any form of crime, but it just increases it, and it is not a satisfying form of punishment. Therefore, the death penalty should be removed!

There are thirty-one states within the United States that has the death penalty (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2017). Although thirty-one states have a death penalty, executions are rare or non-existing in most states (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2015). In 2015, only six states carried out executions (Jurisdictions with no recent executions, 2015). The death penalty has been a topic people argued over since it was first established. Many arguments have been made stating the positive impact from the death penalty, but there has also been arguments made against it. One of the arguments that has been made against the death penalty is the fear that an innocent person may be executed. This argument is one of the reasons

In the year 1623, Daniel Frank had the unfortunate opportunity of being the first person in America to be executed. The charge was for theft of a calf, which took place in the developing state of Virginia. Before stealing the baby cow, Frank had two choices: steal or starve. As he walked to the gallows, people cheered for the conquering of a criminal. In the 17th century, ending someone’s life was a fit punishment for crime. Many things in the justice system have changed since the 17th century, so why not the age old penalty of death? Capital punishment in the United States is a highly debated topic. Arguments that want to get rid of this method of punishment usually mention the many problems that capital punishment is plagued with. The death penalty has many issues that cannot be resolved, and since these issues can’t be solved, the death penalty should be abolished. “The irrevocable nature of the death penalty renders it an unsustainable and indefensible remedy in an imperfect justice system” (Evans 3). Even though the death penalty has been around since the 17th century, capital punishment has many issues such as wrongful convictions and high costs, proving it should be eliminated.

It’s been said that looks could be deceiving. For Ronald Cotton, this was definitely the case when he was accused of a crime that he did not commit but really it was Bobby Poole who was an exact image of him; he had to spend 11 years of his life in prison before getting his life back. (Weinberg 358-359). Flaws such as this in our justice system are a reason why abolishing the death penalty is still a controversial debate. The legal system is there to defend the cries of the innocent, yet it cannot seem to determine who the innocents are. Until the voice of its people can be defended, the death penalty should be abolished. It is administering its punishments hoping they have the right perpetrator. It’s basically a guessing game and that should not be the case when it comes to who will end up getting deprived of their life. The death penalty is a racially biased system that is sometimes unfairly administered to innocent people not guilty of a crime and also leaving the family of defendants with a burden of a shameful and isolating image.

Capital crime is something that is meant for people that are found guilty of committing a serious crime, such as murder, rape, or theft. These are offences that should not be taken lightly but by killing the offender, the government is carrying about the action that they are trying to prevent. Also, the wrong person may be sentenced to death. After this person is executed, there is obviously nothing that can be done for the terrible mistake to be reversed. The death penalty should be abolished because it is more expensive than life imprisonment, numerous innocent people are condemned to death row, and it is cruel and inhumane.

We often say, “We are only human, we make mistakes,” as a common phrase. We, as humans, are known to make mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, making an error can prove to be lethal. The death penalty imposes an irreversible deed on a human being. Once a person’s life is taken away, there is no way to give it back. The main reason people have different views is because of cultural, political, social, and ethical reasons. Murder is wrong. Since childhood, we have been taught this truth. It has been implanted in our brains that taking the life of another is wrong. Is that not the definition of murder? It is inhumane for us to tolerate the killing of another person. Violence cannot be the solution to crime. The death penalty should be abolished on the grounds that it does not prove to be an effective deterrent, it carries the risk of taking the life of an innocent soul, and there are flaws in the judicial system that lead to trials being unfair.

Century after century the death penalty has been used as a form of punishment around the world. Although many places have abolished the death penalty, it needs to go into global effect because the death penalty is poorly administered because it shouldn’t be the government who controls if a person lives or dies. Although the death penalty has come a long way from burning a woman alive at the stake, it still isn’t as humane as most would think some complications can occur on top of the cost that the whole execution comes out to. Even though the United States uses the death penalty and is always looking for a more humane way to execute a prisoner it still isn’t like this in other parts of the world. The death penalty needs to be completely abolished, for it has been known to be unfair, biased, and inaccurate in administering, as well as the government shouldn’t be executing prisoners, when it has been known to be more expensive, and it doesn’t deter crime.