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Why Is Capital Punishment Wrong

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Capital punishment is a complex issue with many different opinions and viewpoints. Deciding whether a person should be punished by death is not a trivial ordeal nor should it be treated as such. How do you know when a crime is punishable by death or not? “A popular bumper sticker says, ‘We kill people to show people that killing people is wrong’” (Carmical). This slogan misses the idea that the death penalty does not chastise people for killing, but for murder. Murder is the purposeful action of killing another human being for whatever reason. Killing someone in self-defense does not qualify as murder as long as there is sufficient evidence proving self-defense. There are many people that view the death penalty as cruel and morally …show more content…

One man named Paul R. Zimmerman conducted two studies beginning in the 1970’s and lasted until 1997. “Using data from 1978 to 1997, he found that each execution

results in 14 fewer murders” (Liptak). Even thirty years ago people were arguing that capital punishment was not an inhumane problem if it resulted in saving innocent lives.
We have all heard the saying “eye for an eye,” and many people think it should be equivocated with capital punishment too. If a person murders someone else, or commits a gross injustice, why not execute the murderer as well? “Simply putting someone in jail does not compare to taking someone’s life” (Carmical). If a murderer goes to jail the then prisoner gets 3 free meals a day, recreational time, A/C, television, housing, etc. The punishment does not fit the crime. They may not have a lot of freedom, but they have their lives. “In fact, it is morally wrong not to execute a murderer because [all] punishment [should] fit the crime” (Carmical). However, some people think differently about the death penalty.
The most commonly used methods of execution today are lethal injections or the electric chair. Neither of these cause any real pain to the person receiving the punishment. “The point of the death penalty is not to see how much pain can be unleashed on the murderer, but to bring him to justice” (Carmical). The electric chair lasts for about 38 seconds. The first eight seconds are a high voltage shock of 2,300 volts of

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