Why the Death Penalty is not Right (Essay Sample)

Why the death penalty is not right
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Institution
The capital punishment of death penalty is not ethical. It should not be supported whatsoever as it does not deter crime. The utilitarianism theory states that morality of an action is determined by its observance to the greatest happiness principle. Generally, it disapproves punishment to make a criminal pay for his crime. It argues that punishment is administered to prevent a criminal from committing crimes in future. Death, it argues does not deter future crimes as the criminal will not even have that future. (Waller, 2008)
According to the standards of the society, if a person commits a certain crime, that person should be made to pay for it. If the person is subject to death, they will not have experienced any lessons at all. According to the Utilitarian theory, an 'eye' should not be paid for an 'eye'. This is true because one needs to learn their lesson before their life is just ended. Death penalty treats members of the human race as non-humans, objects that can be discarded at will. Waller (2008) stated that death is a cruel and unusual punishment and unconstitutional.
There is no conclusive evidence that death penalty discourages crime than lengthy imprisonment. In the United States, states that have death penalty laws do not have low crime rates. Simply, it does not prevent crimes. Social science research has proved that death penalty does not help reduce crime. Another argument against death penalty is that killing a person who has killed another just continues the cycle of violence. This destroys both the offender and the avenger, which goes against the norms and ethics. According to Waller (2008), expressing anger makes one angrier. It does not go away. He argues that this destroys the goodwill that human beings need to progress in understanding and love.
Death penalty is not ethical because there are instances where a person is wrongly accused. If such a person is killed wrongly, then it will be a huge mistake, which is not right. Research shows that since the reintroduction of death penalty, eighty seven people have been freed from death row after they were later proven innocent. This demonstrates an error rate that for every seven people executed, one was innocent. In the criminal justice system, the central pillar states that it is better to let as many guilty persons get free than letting one innocent person suffer.It's not really too much to ask from a civilized societyto hold that no innocent person is killed.(Banner, 2002). 
Death penalty tends to be biased.Walker(2008) argues that when the sentence is made, the people always feel that one side is being treated unfairly. There are reports that in America, there is bias against the non-white people. Such concerns bring lack of faith of the jury to the people. Research also says that the rich always have luck, because they can pay their way out of their cases, while the poor, even if innocent, will find themselves in trouble. This shows that death penalty is something that should be eliminated. Ethics is something that is agreeable by the society, but if the people have qualms about it, then it should be eliminated because it goes against the beliefs of the people and the society at large.
It is unethical to sentence one to death, especially if poor investigations were made on a person. It would be very wrong not to give someone due consideration.According to Walker(2008), US congressman John Conyers during the hearing for the innocence protection act of 2000 before the House of Representatives, revealed that two out of three capital punishment convictions had been overturned during appeal due to police and prosecutorial shoddy work. He argued that incompetent defense lawyers led to case rulings going the wrong way. He argued that with these misgivings, death penalty cannot be relied on as it would be given to innocent people just because of a weak prosecution system and shallow investigations.It is true; it is not according to the societal standards to make a quick ruling on a person. Due consideration is required.
According to the deontological ethics theory, what matters most in ethics are the intentions of your actions, and not the consequences. It argues that morality is about good intentions. This makes it even worse because when administering death penalty, a physician is required to participate. This is contrary to the American Medical Association policy. Walker(2008) says that this violates the oath of them to protect lives and reduces public confidence in the profession. A physician duty is to preserve life. Using the same physicians to end life contradicts the basic ethical foundation of medicine and the American Medical Association code of ethics. This therefore contradicts everything. It makes it very wrong. The physician ate known to b...