Arguments Against Death Penalty (Essay Sample)

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Death penalty
Death penalty, also known as capital punishment is a legal procedure in which a state executes a person for crimes he/she has committed. This punishment has been implemented by many states, and is normally used for atrocious crimes, especially murder. It is also used on crimes against the state such as treason, crimes against humanity, espionage, and violent crimes while other states use it as part of military justice. There are mixed reactions on capital punishment depending on one’s faith, and the state they come from. In my view, I am not in favor of death penalty, as I strongly believe that, death penalty is unacceptable and an inhumane practice that does not deter crime, and denies one the right to live.
Death penalty is an unacceptable, immoral, and inhumane act that should not be supported. Capital punishment violates an individual’s right to life by denying him/her the right to live. In addition, it disrespects and lowers the value of human life. Death penalty is a cruel punishment and people suffer both physically and emotionally before their execution (Shah 3). Opponents argue that, anyone who kills deserves to die too so as to have a test of their own cruelty. According to them, "an eye for an eye" honors the victims, and makes sure that the perpetrators will never commit the same crime again (Garland 102). There is no justification whatsoever as to why a crime should be paid with another crime. Also, this will be like an act of revenge, and vengeance has no place in the justice system, and a wrong cannot be paid by another wrong. It should be known that, killing a criminal does not reverse the situation nor does it bring back the life of the victims. Moreover, instead of making a difference, nothing is achieved because; more sorrow is caused as an additional life is lost. Even though supporters argue that death penalty is a relief to the family of a person who was murdered by the convicted criminal; it is not true, their pain cannot be healed through the retribution or vengeance by death penalty. Therefore, killing a criminal cannot overcome a crime nor bring back the life of the person who was killed by the person convicted of murder.
Death penalty sends a bad message to the society. The people in the society are made to believe that human life has no value, and when one commits a heinous crime like murder, they deserve to die. This is a bad message to the society because, the society should be taught to respect each others life and that every individual has a right to life. A humane society does not kill or support the killing of their fellow human beings, therefore, capital punishment is a violent homicide that teaches the society the permissibility of killing in order to solve social issues, and this is a bad sign. Hence, death penalty should not be allowed because it is the worst example to the society.
Death penalty should be scrapped because it can lead to the execution of innocent people. The justice system is bound to make mistakes and so, the accused people should be given a chance to appeal, and prove their innocence other than being murdered because of mistakes made by judges. There are many cases whereby individuals are imprisoned and later on proved to be innocent and released. Likewise, this can be evidenced by the rising number of cases whereby individuals are released from death row after more investigations has been done on their cases, and found innocent. In such cases, if death penalty is applied, it will cause more harm than good because two or more innocent lives will have been lost. According to Klein (7), since 1973, at least 140 people have been released from death through after being proven innocent, therefore, if more than 140 have been released, how many people have been executed innocently? Sadly, the number is very high and that is why we should not support death penalty in order to stop the death of these innocent people. Additionally, some people are executed innocently just because they are poor, and they are not in a position to hire competent defense lawyers to defend them in their cases thus their cases are always closed with capital punishment. The poor are the ones who suffer thus the saying "Capital punishment means them without the capital get the punishment" (Parks 79). For that reason, capital punishment favors the rich over the poor.
In addition, some states also give death penalties depending on ones race, and this means innocent people will be murdered just because of their color and race. According to Hilary and Scott (2), in spite of the fact that, African-Americans are the minority group in America’s population, about 50 percent of the people on death row are African Americans. Also, among the three people who have been executed under the federal death penalty in the modern era, two are racial minorities. Furthermore, the next who are scheduled to be executed are African Americans, this proves death penalty is bias as it is applied mainly on the racial minority. Also, a state can use death penalty to eliminate their enemies as an act of revenge or retribution. Therefore, death penalty should be reconsidered so as to avoid the killing of innocent persons.
Opponents argue that, if this penalty is scrapped, there will be no deterrence, and murderers will continue to kill unabated. I disagree with this because, many studies have been done on capital punishment, and none has come up with a proof that executing murderers or any other criminal deters other criminals from committing the same crimes. Moreover, states in which death penalty has been legalized continue to record higher rates of murder, and this proves that it does not deter criminals from committing crimes. According to Hartnett, in 2012, the United States recorded a murder rate of 4.8 victims per 10000; this means about 15,000 were victims of homicide (Hartnett 89). This is a clear sign that capital punishment is not doing its job of dissuading criminals. Instead, many criminals are emerging and killing innocent people without caring of the punishment that is ahead of them. Therefore, this is a clear sign that capital punishment cannot deter crimes because there could be less crime in the Unites States, but still, the crime rate s are increasing. Hence, capital punishment may not be the best way for deterrence, and to fight offences because if it does not deter, then it has no purpose. States that have adopted death penalty have not shown any significant changes in deterring crimes.
Another reason against death penalty is that it is costly. Death penalty cases are very expensive compared to other criminal cases, even more than life imprisonment. Death penalty cases involve complex pre-trial motions, lengthy jury selections, and many other expenses of witnesses, and other people affiliated to the case. If capital punishment is abolished, it will save the state from spending unnecessarily on these cases. The money saved could be used on other important programs that can help improve the life of the people in the community by helping in educating them against crimes, drugs, and alcohol and in establishing crime prevention, and rehabilitation programs. The resources being spent can be used to prevent similar crimes by potential offender by training people to educate the public, and to be able to detect any threats of crimes. Therefore, death penalty wastes resources, time and energy that can be applied on other important things (Haines 103). Also, some individuals may commit crimes like murder in reaction to strong feelings of passion or ire, or maybe some maybe under the influence of drugs or strong substances, and act impulsively. Therefore, they do not act rationally, and do not think of the cost of their action, therefore, it will be best for an alternative be used to punish them other than ending their lives. The same individuals can be a lesson to the community by creating awareness of substance abuse, and advising people not to act on impulse because of its consequences. But if their lives are ended through capital punishment, a repeat of the same will be recorded.
The purpose of punishment is to change the perpetrators but death punishment teaches them...