Viewpoints on capital punishment
“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.” (J.R.R. Tolkien,). J.R.R Tolken is stating how no one has the right to take another person’s life. We all make mistakes but can we decide their fate? Capital punishment is also known as the death penalty, and I believe it is wrong. The gift of life is so precious and we do not have enough rights to take that away from someone.
The definition of capital punishment “is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime”. My personal views on capital punishment are that it is against basic human rights. We all are born with original sin and in time we choose how we want to live our lives. No one should be sentenced to death, no matter the case. I am a practicing Catholic and I believe that everyone has the right to life. When I was younger my parents would tell me just because someone did something to you doesn’t mean you do it back to them. This goes to my beliefs today when someone is found guilty for murder, we do not go and sentence them to death as well. We should have a better way of treating felons and criminals then injecting them with poisons to make their blood explode. Our justice system can still function if we do not force death upon the guilty. We are all born and we will die but we should not take someone’s life because of their past occurrences. Capital punishment is still used today in thirty states by the United States government and military. Capital Punishment is given when the crime is very life threatening or harmful to others. In the United States of America, the following states still use the capital punishment system today: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. The most common way of death is lethal injection, but alternative ways are electrocution, lethal gas, hanging, and firing squad. In the state of Nebraska, it cost $14.6 million dollars for them to maintain their capital punishment system. This decision cost taxpayers of Nebraska $1.5 million dollars more than sentencing a life without parole. In the state of Texas, it cost approximately $83 to put someone to death by lethal injection. The price has risen to $1,300 and is still rising. The money spent on the death penalty puts a burden on the government’s spending. The money used for the injections, bullets, and ropes used to kill people who are found guilty all adds up in the end. It cost more to keep someone on death row then to keep them locked up in a jail cell. The money that goes to keeping the capital punishment system can be used for more things to better our economy. When someone is sent to death row the process takes years until the defendant is put to death. They must go for trail and retrial until the court decides what they want to do with the guilty. If you think about it the accused is almost pushed around until we find it necessary to put them to death, we hold the power of their life in our hands. People are trained to kill someone, who wakes up one morning and says “I want to hold the left leg of someone who should be put to death?”. The fact that our society lets this happen is morally wrong and unjust. We are wasting thousands and even billions of dollars killing people who do not deserve death, when we could be building more schools for children. We could educate them by keeping them updated on society and the rights and wrongs of the world.
The state of Texas is known as most likely state to execute someone on death row. In the state of Texas, a black man was sentenced to death for the killing of his ex- girlfriend and the man she was with. In Texas the death penalty is only allowed if prosecutors think the person is a future threat to society. This man was seen by a psychologist who testified that race is a factor for his future dangerousness. In many cases race plays a big part in someone’s verdict, as seen in this 1995 Supreme Court case. It has been brought up the question on to appeal the case under the question of why this man ended up on death row. In the state of Texas, it is three times more likely that a man of color is sentenced to death rather than a white man. Race should play no such part on whether someone is guilty or not. There should be no way of judging someone dangerous because of their skin color. I think the defendant should appeal this case because it was wrongly judged by the courts. No one has the right to look at someone’s skin color and say you don’t look safe or you look guilty. If everyone did this our world would be corrupt and we would not live in a democracy. The issue of race within the death penalty is wrong and truly unjust. We can’t judge someone because of their color or the way they look. We are all equal in the eyes of our creator.
Demographics plays a key role in capital punishment, it is where someone lives. It is also a view point on the death penalty in certain places in the United States of America. Studies show that down south there is more cases of the death penalty issued. According to a recent study done by Cornell University, Southern States have the lowest percentage of black murder defendants on death row. This is in comparison to African Americans that are in general prisons opposed to federal prison. In this study by Cornell University they found that statistics show racial hierarchy has tried to seek out the death penalty in African American murder cases. This alternative is supposed to be in favor of African Americans who are accused of the death penalty in places where there are high crime rates in that race. The study by Cornell University spoke about how Texas is the most prone state to give out the death penalty with its immense number of murders committed in the state. In 1976 to 1998 murders committed were around 38,000, which lead to 776 death sentences and 319 executions in the state of Texas. Texas is found to be significantly high compared to other states where the death penalty is still in action, like California. I found this extremely interesting that Texas has a law that says. In 1982, Texas became the first state to execute by lethal injection. Charles brooks, Jr was put to death by lethal injection in 1964. The state of Texas has continued lethal injection to this day. Where someone lives should not play a role in if they are guilty or not guilty. It is not ethical in our society.
Ultimately, and in conclusion, it is evident that the utilization of capital punishment, the death penalty, is wrong and immoral for various valid reasons. The concept of the death penalty violates laws in all areas of life: political, social, moral, spiritual, and many others. An individual does not need to have any sense of religion to understand that the death penalty is cruel and unjust. The common phrase, “fighting fire with fire,” is extremely evident here and the result of this sort of dispute is simply a bigger fire. If an individual commits an act of murder, and then his or her life is then murdered as well, where is the justice? It is evident that the same crime that this criminal committed is simply being done again. As human beings it is not our right to decide the length to which someone lives. We do not possess the ability or the right to judge another human being to the degree where his or her life is taken. The only being who has the power to cast such judgement is God, which is why capital punishment is not just or moral. In no way is justice served by the murder of another individual. A life in prison is a far more effective form of punishment and does not violate any morals or laws. Overall, the death penalty is a cruel and unjust form of punishment and should not be legal anywhere.