Cessation of Life: Who are we to choose?- A look into the Death Penalty

The debate on whether or not the death penalty should be abolished has been ongoing for quite a long period of time. While there are those who believe that the death penalty does not serve its intended purpose, proponents of the same are convinced that the relevance of the same cannot be overstated and hence it should not be abolished. In this text, I examine the arguments for and against the death penalty.

¨The taking of even one life is a momentous event.¨ (Bernardin, The Consistent Ethic of Life). The consistent ethic of life is founded on the belief that all life is sacred and worth protecting, while the reasons for capital punishment may seem similar-- retaliation for a life lost-- the death penalty directly goes against everything the consistent ethic of life teaches. As proven through these presentations, capital punishment cases are often inaccurate and biased, while the act of the Death Penalty has proven to be painful with many examples of botched executions. Not only is killing immoral, but how can we go through with these executions when evidence has shown the death penalty can be inefficient and some

In the last several years, too many people in the United States have been wrongfully sentenced with the death penalty. Several accused have their sentence overturned or they have been totally exonerated. There are at least 8 people who were executed by United States and later proven innocent (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org). Over a 20 year period, 68% of all death sentences were reversed (http://karisable.com). A noteworthy example is of Jerry Banks who was convicted and sentenced with the death penalty for two counts of murder in 1975. Five years later, in 1980, Banks' conviction was overturned on the basis of newly discovered evidence which was allegedly known to the state at the time of trial. Another example was the case of Lawyer Johnson who was sentenced to death in 1971 by an all white jury for the murder of a white victim. Later in 1982, Johnson’s conviction was overturned and Johnson exonerated when a previously silent eyewitness identified the state’s chief witness as the real murderer. (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org) Human error is inevitable, particularly

“Since 1973, more than 155 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence” (the death penalty information center). The lives of many innocent people are being put at risk when prosecutors would “think” that a person have committed a certain crime and he/she is guilty for it, without even having enough evidence that points out they did it. This shows that our justice system is not as strong as we think it is. The death penalty is irreversible. Once a

The death penalty can lead to the death of innocent people. For example, “…According to a new study, serious errors occur in almost 70% of all trials leading to the death penalty…”(Leibman). This shows that if 100 people were put on death row, 70 would have serious mistakes in their

There are many injustices that plague the United States Justice System. The death penalty is a prime example of this. A major problem associated with the death penalty is the unavoidable fact that potentially innocent people are being executed. Researchers estimate that over 340 executed inmates, could have been exonerated; which means that over 340 people were wrongfully killed! With the arrival of DNA testing in the mid 80’s, by 1992, 17 death row inmates in the US where acquitted and released. The sad fact remains that all capital punishment cases don’t have DNA evidence, in fact many do not. It is terrifying to contemplate that whether a person lives or dies can be determined based on eyewitness testimony. The innocence Project researchers report that 73% of 239 convictions reversed because of DNA, were based on eyewitness testimony. The only effective way of using the death penalty is to ensure the certainty of guilt amongst the inmates on death row; which is inherently unrealistic or impossible. The injustice does not stop there. Approximately 3% of all executions are botched, meaning that the inmate was conscious, in excruciating pain, or the death was prolonged beyond the intended speed. In cases like Allen Lee Davis’ or Romell Broom, the death penalty is proven to be an inhumane way to punish inmates. The American Civil Liberties Union believes “the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the

Thousands of people will attack the death penalty. They will give emotional speeches about the one innocent man or woman who might accidentally get an execution sentence. However, all of these people are forgetting one crucial element. They are forgetting the thousands of victims who die every year by the hands of heartless murderers. There are more murderers out there than people who are wrongly convicted, and that is what we must remember.

"Since 1973, over eighty people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence" (Innocence and the Death Penalty 1). Statistics say that of the three-thousand six hundred people on death row right now, at least one hundred of them are innocent (Capital Punishment 1). When an innocent person is executed, the real killer is still on the streets ready to victimize someone else (Pragmatic Arguments 1). The most important problem is that when an innocent person is executed, they represent another human being who did not deserve to die.

Most often the death penalty is used in the United States to punish people that kill children, women or the elderly. The system has been in place for many years, and has evolved from the use of the electric chair and firing squads to the current method, the use of lethal injection. The most common reason innocent people are put to death is because of poor representation; in many cases, inmates get a court appointed lawyer and receive the ultimate sentence, the death penalty. Most court appointed lawyers have poor experience handling these types of cases. Additionally, they often do not believe their client’s innocence. Why should we believe a person’s innocence when the people that are supposed to be on their side don’t even believe them? While the death penalty is a good choice for the worst criminals in the system, the appeals process is so flawed that innocent people often face the ultimate punishment, the death penalty, for a crime they didn’t commit.

In my opinion, Dobie Gillis Williams' case, described in Sister Helen's book, was similar to Walter McMillian's, in Just Mercy, because they both are probably innocent of the charges but still was sentenced to death. It is not right that innocent men are being executed The supervisor of death row during the time that Williams was there, Major Kendall Coody, told his wife that after the five executions, he could no longer hold that job. When the people who are now involved with state executions are questioning whether or not they can continue in their positions, I believe it is time to think about banishing the death

Philosophy branch which streamlines, protects and guides the concepts of being correct or incorrect is referred as Ethics. People learn this concept from their parents who got it from their parents and it is a chain. However philosophers claim that it is people’s belief which decide ethics along with human intuition. An individual at singular level conscientiously decides what is right and wrong and define a limit of pushing ethical behaviour and morality in being. Moral acceptability of any action can be judged from the points if action is understood by an individual well, the consequences of that action on public, fair treatment of action with all people respectfully and the way action is being performed, the motivation of people for it.

Capital Punishment was adopted by America when the state of Virginia carried out the colonies’ first execution in 1608 (“History of the Death Penalty”). Since then, usage of the death penalty has been instituted by 36 states, making execution the ultimate form of punishment. Although in theory the death penalty seems like a viable method of punishment, in practice, it has serious flaws that damage the integrity of the state. Capital Punishment has been falsely idolized as a deterrent, applied unfairly for generations, used as a vehicle for revenge, and made people blind to the fact that life in prison without parole is an equally acceptable form of punishment. The death penalty is an

Bright, Stephen B.: "The death penalty as the answer to crime: costly, counterproductive and corrupting"; 35 Santa Clara Law Review 1211 (1995)

We, as a society, are not perfect. Many innocent people are falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. Many people make mistakes. In a capital punishment, case there is and should never be any room for mistakes because someone¡¯s life is at risk. A twenty-three year long study released on June 12, 2000 states that two- thirds of all capital punishment cases did contain flaws. Flaws so serious as to warrant a retrial. The study also renewed calls for review, or total abolition of the death penalty, which is on a state-by-state basis. The study also stated that cases returned for mew trials that only seven percent were found not guilty, while ninety three percent of those tried were convicted again, with many receiving lighter sentences. Less than twenty percent received the death penalty the second time. Even though ninety three percent where still re-convicted there was still that seven percent who was found not guilty. If these seven percent had had a second chance by retrial, they would have been innocent people put to death. Can our society bear to know they would have put innocent people to death on its conscience?