Imani Penny

The Death Penalty

On October 15, 2015 I was a 15 year old sophomore in high school. That day I started a ongoing research project about the United States justice system. That day I read a book called Shawshank Redemption. Shawshank Redemption opened my eyes into the world of injustice and it taught me that our government does not go the extra mile to provide diligence towards people convicted of crime. The death penalty doesn’t deter people from committing crimes and should be abolished from our criminal justice system instead people are getting killed and not having the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.

The United States government started the death penalty in 1608 because they believed that the death penalty was influential to society, they saw the death penalty as capital punishment and believed it affects society in a good way. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “The vast majority of law enforcement professors surveyed that capital punishment does not deter violent crime, a survey of police chiefs nationwide found they rank the lowest among ways to reduce violent crime” (ACLU). The death penalty is a waste of time. Out of all the punishments we have: life in jail, solitary confinement, parol, the death penalty is the worst and uneffective result.

The death penalty seems to be affecting society in a bad way. This is one of the very reasons I believe capital punishment should be a federal issue. It is unfair to citizens of the United States that some states have them and other ones dont. It is affecting our country as a whole when we allow certain states  to have a law that kills people, the federal government does recognize the death penalty as murder. According to Northwestern University, ¨The death penalty has no demonstrable deterrent effect but has in fact caused murders. This contributes to a cycle of violence¨ (Rob Warden Northwestern.edu). This shows that this law is only creating more problems, than solving them. How is the government setting examples for people if they are murdering themselves? The government is violating moral issues set as two wrongs don’t make a right by trying to make people convicted of crime pay for what they did.

The death penalty is putting innocent lives risk. Sometimes when people get locked up or go to jail, they are not the ones who committed the crime, but because there’s evidence against them, they are getting punished for it. No one deserves to die for something they did not do. Too many innocent lives are getting taken away from them because of the death penalty and it needs to stop. According to procon.org,“Over 150 people in the last few years have been taken off death row because they were innocent” (Procon). This explains how the death penalty is putting innocent lives at risk. The system doesn’t care enough to look further into these cases to make SURE that they have the right people to punish. What they do is really unfair and unacceptable.

Also, the death penalty consist of racial punishment. They pick randomly for the cases that they feel should receive the death penalty. The cases they seem to pick are African American cases. The cases that receive the death penalty are people who do not have money to hire an expensive lawyer. According to Procon.org, “The flaw in our justice system: other candidates appear to lack the commitment address our failed reliance on the death penalty. This is a tragedy because both it is racially biased punishment, also ineffective in deterring crime” (Procon). This shows how the death penalty is unfair and has racial punishment. With this being said, the death penalty also goes against the the fourteenth amendment and should be abolished from all states.

Retribution is a big topic when considering the death penalty. Money is an amazing aspect when consulting lives of the American people. The poison they use to kill people for the death penalty is highly expensive, however the price to keep them alive is even more. So how is our justice system run, by money? Or by true justice? According to Procon.org, “ the death penalty is a just and moral punishment for most series of crime victims and families, that are entitled to revenge, however social economics are too expensive” (Procon).  With this being said the death penalty is too expensive to consume when purchasing poison, and even though to keep these prisoners is more expensive, the only reason it exists is to seek revenge for the victims parents.

In conclusion, the death penalty is something that needs to be discussed. The issue is a major topic that reveals many corrupt things that happens within the system. How would you feel if your son or daughter committed a crime on accident and was given capital punishment? You would feel as if they were done wrong or it was unfair, so give these victims the same remorse by helping to abolish the death penalty.

Works Cited

Donohue , John J. “Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues.” ProConorg Headlines, 8 Aug. 2015, www.procon.org

 

Anderson , Melissa. “American Civil Liberties Union.” American Civil Liberties Union, 1 Aug. 2012,

www.aclu.org/.

 

Warden, Rob. “Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy .” Reflections on Capital Punishment , 5 Sept. 2009, pp. 1–32.