The rights to life, freedom, and wealth served as the cornerstones of the American nation. The death penalty, commonly known as capital retribution, is a type of punishment when a criminal is executed for their role in a murder. What the United States was built on is in contrast with the death penalty’s denial of life. Presently, 30 states still allow the death sentence, while 20 states have either abolished it or made it illegal (Baumgartner). The national murder rate has not decreased throughout the years that the death sentence has been in effect. This essay will provide arguments in support that capital punishment should be eliminated as it is ethically wrong and results in unjust deaths.
The sentence of death may be viewed as ethically wrong since acts like murder are deserving of the death penalty. Lethal injection, crucifixion, and beheading are just a few of the gruesome methods used in death punishment that have come to light throughout the years (Durkheim). Lethal injection has been employed in the majority of states recently. Due to the existing justice system’s apparent racial and socioeconomic prejudice, less privileged inmates are more likely to get the death penalty than those with well-off backgrounds or successful occupations.
The death sentence is ethically wrong and can even result in the incorrect person dying. Many times, the wrong person has been killed using the death sentence. Retaliation for the victims’ loved ones and friends has been a common theme in arguments opposing the death penalty. It is reasonable to want to exact retribution, yet this urge also arises just after the tragedy. Passion-driven choices have no place in the justice system. Based on verifiable facts, conclusions from trials should be drawn. Getting vengeance will not help people recover, even though losing a family member to a crime is a highly unpleasant experience.
Even today, there is debate about whether the death sentence should be reduced or maintained in the US. On whether it ought to be employed, many people have different views. For instance, the criminal justice system thinks it should be used, while the general population disagrees and thinks it should not. Instead of choosing the less expensive option of incarceration, the taxpayers in some of the sponsoring states pay thousands of tax dollars to have someone put to death. This encourages the prisoners to reflect on the crimes they have committed rather than commit suicide.
Most persons facing the death sentence are from low-income communities and low-class households. These individuals are more likely to conduct crimes to finance ongoing personal and familial hardships. Due to the impact the perpetrators’ acts had on the wealthier families, it has been stated that members of the upper class and more affluent families paid judges to punish members of the underprivileged minority more harshly. The fact that Native Americans, Black people, and immigrants are disproportionately subject to the death sentence in modern society demonstrates the unfairness and bigotry perpetrated against these categories.
The purposeful destruction of life by the administration in its capacity as the voice of the people constitutes the death sentence. This deliberate killing of people is against the moral prohibition on killing people upheld by the government. Before the establishment of the criminal justice system by the administration, vengeance killings were sometimes the sole means of addressing homicides. Capital punishment is unjust and ineffectual because there are better and more morally righteous ways to punish morally repugnant actions. Since there are no basic judgments, it has little impact on tariffs, it fosters racial prejudice, and it prolongs inhumane behavior, the prosecution should be eliminated in America (Garrett). The injustices of this approach ought to cause society to change its perspective on life in jail. Natural justice is the knowledge that the offender is behind bars for the wrongdoings they committed. The death penalty merely fuels dissenting opinions in this nation and intensifies the economic crisis.
To summarize, the employment of the death penalty consistently splits up families and generally results in criminals being executed rather than suffering the consequences of the crimes they committed. Even offenders do not merit the death sentence or other severe penalties for the crimes they have done. When capital punishment is used to punish criminal offenses, entitled to protection under the law is breached. To avoid wasting scarce resources and violating the right to equal protection from the law, the death sentence should be reduced. Because nobody should have their life snatched from them because of another person’s decision, the death sentence and the usage of the death penalty should be eliminated. Several problems in the system affect many people’s lives, as seen in cases like wrongful execution and judicial prejudice. The death penalty is still used in several states of the United States, even though it may never be justified. Because the death penalty is permanent and cruel, citizens can only hope that the court’s verdicts will stand up in appeal.
Works Cited
Baumgartner, Frank, et al. Deadly justice: A statistical portrait of the death penalty. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Durkheim, Emile. “The evolution of punishment.” The Sociology of Law. Routledge, 2017. 275-286.
Garrett, Brandon L., Alexander Jakubow, and Ankur Desai. “The American death penalty decline.” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-) 107.4 (2017): 561-642.