The death penalty is traced back to as far as eighteenth-century B.C. When presented with alternatives to capital punishment, those in favor of death penalty quickly become the minority. In the United States, the death penalty is almost exclusively used as a punishment for murder but has also been used in instances of raping a minor. The death penalty is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as, ‘death as a punishment given by a court of law for very serious crimes.’ No matter the crime, capital punishment leads to unethical methods of ending a person’s life and should no longer be permitted in the United States. Out of all 50 states, the death penalty is still legal in 31 of them. More than 50 percent of the states that make up this country still allow the death penalty. These methods put people into tricky situations of having to end another person’s life when the criminal could simply be sent to jail for eternity.
The methods used to kill people that receive capital punishment are difficult to be administered. To find humans that will willingly put someone in an electric chair or administer lethal injection seems unmoral. Certain states will only administer certain methods of capital punishment, but the person that is administering the method should be held responsible for taking that person’s life. the American Medical Association and other professional groups consider it highly unethical for doctors to assist with executions. The people that end up administering things like lethal injection tend to be inexperienced, bottom of the chain workers. Not only is one person suffering through the death penalty, but another human is suffering after having been chosen as the executioner. (Needs more research to further argument)
Not only does lethal injection impose moral obligations amongst those administering it, but sometimes it does not go as planned. Lethal injection is the main execution used amongst the 31 states that still allow the death penalty. In quite a few instances, there is a failure in the execution and the lethal injection procedure does not work. This then puts the prisoner through excruciating pain and they survive the execution. An example of this occurring is in the case of Alabama prisoner Doyle Lee Hamm. After about two and a half hours into his execution, it was called off. It was reported that the IV personnel almost certainly punctured his bladder as he urinated blood the entirety of the next day. The administers may have also punctured his femoral artery because there was suddenly a fair amount of blood rushing out. Doyle has about 10 puncture wounds from the execution attempt and is in terrible pain afterwards. (CITE)
Doctors are denying administration of this procedure for a good reason. Morally and ethically this procedure is emotionally demanding. There is a chance that it does not go as planned and then are left with a case like Hamm’s. There should be no risk at all of the procedure failing. Prisoners are going through enough by waiting for their execution on death row and for the execution to fail is absolutely miserable.
Not only would a life sentence be just as punishing as the death penalty, but it also costs less to out through court. Prices tend to vary by state, but generally a case that does not involve the death penalty costs about $740,000 dollars. A case that results in the death penalty typically costs about $1.26 million in comparison. (CITE)
A life sentence in prison is just as much of a punishment as receiving the death penalty. The person receiving the life sentence loses their basic human rights and any access to living a normal life ever again. The starting sentence for murder with a weapon such as a knife is 25 years. If the degree of murder is bad enough, there is a possibility that the prisoner may not even get considered for parole. Minimum terms can vary by case depending on what the judge rules. The only exception to this is when a life sentence is passed with a ‘whole life order’ meaning that such an offender will spend the rest of their life in prison.
There are certain criteria that must be met in order to present a criminal with a life sentence. Once this life sentence is received, the criminal will spend the rest of their days there in the prison cell. They will have access to bad food and water, aggressive people, and occasional prison gangs. Prisoners have access to very few things, but they do occasionally receive outdoor time and get to use a phone. Once the person arrives in prison, they no longer have basic human rights. They cannot just simply do whatever they please. They have to follow harsh rules and if they choose not to, there are severe consequences they will face. Not only is life in prison harsh for the criminal, it costs taxpayers more to put a person through death penalty trials than to give them life in prison. The chances of the criminal dying while in prison are quite likely and they will die just as much of a miserable death there as they would through the death penalty. (continue research on why a life sentence is just as harsh)
If the circumstances were turned onto the administer, and it could be said that the person administering the capital punishment is a murderer. They are taking a person’s life unlawfully and it is premeditated. The capital punishment is not being administered out of rage while they weren’t thinking correctly. It is a process that is planned and thought of in advance so that when the time comes to administer the capital punishment, hopefully nothing will go wrong. Especially in the case of when something does go wrong, the criminal is not having a quick painless death, but instead a slow painful one. When using lethal injection, there is not always enough of the lethal substance administered to the criminal and their death becomes long and drawn out. One of the worst methods of capital punishment is a firing squad as it is very long and drawn out. There are a line of gunman standing there and only one of the guns is loaded and they each take a turn to shoot. Why is the person that receives the loaded gun not considered a murderer? They have now premeditated a murder but will not be charged with anything like that. Why is it alright to sentence one murderer to life in prison while another person that has killed someone is considered to just be doing their job?
The crime that has been committed cannot be undone by taking the life of the criminal. What they committed has still occurred and the effects will still be felt by the victims. Once the criminal is dead, the family is not just going to forget everything that happened. The family of the victim will still need to take time to grieve and what has been done is done, there is no bringing back their loved one. Why should we take another person’s life to help us grieve another’s? Life in prison is a pretty severe punishment and a lot of people will end up dying due to old age or because of the horrible conditions in prison. (need to develop argument more to help argument)
The death penalty is a consequence for very serious crimes within our nation. While the death penalty rates have decreased by about 75%, there were still 7 executions to occur in 2014. It is something that gets called into question quite often and there is a great divide on the topic. Whether it is or isn’t something that should be allowed to happen, there are ways that it can be avoided. By punishing the criminal with life in prison, we are able to keep a close watch on them while limiting their resources and access to the enjoyable parts of life. It should also be taken into account that the person administering the capital punishment cannot be enjoying their job. Why is this person not also considered a murder? It must be acknowledged what is happening in these situations before we can find an alternative solution to them. The methods being used to kill these people are quite unethical and it doesn’t make sense that the workers would enjoy administering them. Capital punishment should no longer be administered in the United States as an option of punishment for severe crimes.