The death penalty is an arbitrary atrocity and has no place in modern, civilized America. “1,300 men women and children have been executed since 1976” (Bedau). It is barbaric and ineffective and a system that America can no longer afford to support. It is a system that is outdated and has already been abandoned by most civilized countries.
Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty is in no way a cheaper or “simpler” option for convicted felons. “Death penalty inmates are more violent than those even with a life sentence” (Bedau).The thought of looming death only increases the violent symptoms of the inmate. “Between 2001 and 2007, states with the death penalty had considerably higher prison murder rates on average than those states without the death penalty” (Death Penalty Focus). “A California study shows that a death penalty case costs $1.25 Million more than a regular life sentence” (Eddlem). Because of this system, the death penalty is not an easier option, dissimilar to what some might think.
Even today, the death penalty still is racist. “Black offenders who kill white victims are at greater risk of a death sentence than others” (Bedau). The McCleskey case showed that, “The average odds of receiving a death sentence (was) 4.3 times higher in cases with white victims” (Bedau). This is unfair, the government is supposed to offer equal protection under the law, not kill only a certain race of people. The practice of racism in government was abandoned long ago, but still it survives in this form. The execution of a certain people of color. “Nearly 90% of persons executed were convicted of killing whites, although people of color make up half of all homicide victims” (Eddlem). There are clear problems with the juries, who chose to execute those who kill whites. In the case of North Carolina v. Jones, an African American man was wrongfully convicted of killing a white man. His case was riddled with errors and the obvious killer who was number one on the suspect list and fled the country was never charged. Instead Jones sat on death row for fourteen years in case where race was a clear factor, considering “juries in North Carolina were three times more likely to return death verdicts if the victim was white” (ACLU)
Many may argue that the death penalty deters crime, but that is clearly untrue. “We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing” (Eddlem). The idea is basic enough, yet still the death penalty is in use. “A survey among police chiefs nationwide found they rank the death penalty lowest among ways to stop crime” (Bedau). The police chiefs are the ones who know the most on the subject of crime, their advice is probably the best you can find. “Persons who commit murder do not often premeditate their crimes. Even when a crime is planned, the criminal ordinarily concentrates on escaping detection, arrest, and conviction” (Bedau). The idea of the death penalty most likely never enters the mind of the offender. How can it be expected to deter them? “The death penalty is a futile threat for political terrorists because they act in the name of an ideology that honors its martyrs” (Bedau). How can they threaten to kill someone who wants to be killed. That is no punishment, if anything, its encouragement. “I have never heard a murderer say they thought about the death penalty as consequence to their actions prior to commuting their crimes.” – Gregory Ruff, Police Lieutenant in Kansas (Anti-Death Penalty Quotes).What is being prevented by using the death penalty? Clearly it is not stopping crime. “A punishment can be an effective deterrent only if it is consistently and promptly employed. Capital punishment cannot be administered to meet these conditions” (Bedau). Capital punishment is in no way a deterrent, and the argument that it is such, is dull. “The FBI have found states with death penalty have higher murder rates” (Bedau). Not only is the death penalty bad at preventing crime, it creates more of it. One reason is because of fear of the death penalty. Police often use the threat of capital punishment during interrogations to force a false confession. For example, the case of Russell Weinberger and Felix Rodriguez, two innocent men who both admitted to a crime neither committed. Rodriguez described his interrogation, "First they showed me pictures of the dead guy. I started to cry. I said I didn't do that. That's when they slapped me on the back of my head, said 'They gonna put you in the electric chair.' So I signed the statement. I knew it might be bad, but I didn't know what to do. I'd never been in real trouble before. I signed the statement 'cause they said I could go home", it wasn’t until 21 years later, “a prison inmate named Anthony Sylvanus admitted to committing 5 similar murders, including the one Weinberger and Rodriguez had confessed to” (Bookman). It is an unfortunate fact that false confessions happen more often when the death penalty can be wielded by police like a bargaining chip.
The death penalty is a last act of punishment, one that cannot be reversed. “Capital Jury Project shows that jurors do not generally understand the judge’s instructions about the laws that govern the choice between imposing the death penalty and a life sentence. Even when they do, jurors often refuse to be guided by the law. Juror comprehension of the law… is mediocre” (Bedau). Already mistakes are being made in the case to choose whether a man lives or dies. “(The death penalty) prevents an individual the opportunity to benefit from new evidence or new laws that might warrant a reversal of a conviction” (Bedau).Capital punishment is the last straw, and if it can prevent an innocent man’s death, then there is no reason for its warrant. After witnessing the French Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette said, “I shall ask for the abolition of the punishment of death until I have the infallibility of human judgment demonstrated to me” (Bedau). “Over 35% of death sentences are overturned in appeal” (Dieter). “A review of death penalty judgments over 23 year period found a national error rate of 68%” (Eddlem). “Eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions nationwide, playing a role in nearly 75% of convictions overturned through DNA testing (The Innocence Project). Human judgment is littered with fallacies, and many of those appear in capital trials. “(I am) haunted by the demon of error- error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die.” – George Ryan, Former Illinois Governer (Anti- Death Penalty Quotes). “I think that this country would be much better off if we did not have capital punishment… We cannot ignore the fact that in recent years a disturbing number of inmates on death row have been exonerated” –John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (Anti-Death Penalty Quotes). “About one in ten is exonerated” (Bedau). There is a clear error of human decision. It is clear that too many have been sentenced to death and too many more have gone through with that death for capital punishment to be fair. “Capital punishment is society’s final assertion that it will not forgive” –Martin Luther King (Eddlem).
There is a saying 'Capital punishment means them without the capital get the punishment’. Statistics support this, the idea that low income level and wrongful convictions are directly related. “In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated in Roper v. Simmons that the death penalty must be reserved for "the worst of the worst," i.e. offenders who commit "the most serious crimes and whose extreme culpability makes them the most deserving of execution." Quality of counsel, however, is a far better predictor of who gets sentenced to death and ultimately executed. The death penalty is arbitrary and capricious, in part, because the "worst of the worst" sometimes describes the quality of representation of those subject to it” (ACLU). “[A] large part of the death row population is made up of people who are distinguished by neither their records nor the circumstances of their crimes, but by their abject poverty… and the poor legal representation they received” (Bright). “Nearly all of the 3,500 Americans awaiting execution on death row today have low-income backgrounds” (NAACP). It’s clear that the poorer you are, the more likely you are to go with the public defender and of course more likely to be wrongfully convicted.
Capital punishment in itself is an atrocity. But many other atrocities have also been carried out by the U.S. Government. “Since 1976, 33 people with mental retardation have been executed” (Dieter). “People with mental retardation only have the mental capacity of a 12 year old and cannot distinguish right from wrong. Some states allow mental patients their choice of execution, even as inhumane ones as gas chamber, hanging, or firing squad” (Dieter). “Mental retardation must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt” (Abramsky). The murder of mentally retarded inmates is disgusting and appalling. It is inexcusable in this day and age to even have a death penalty, but then to also execute mentally retarded patients is unforgivable. “Since 1976 there has been 12 executions of people who were under 18 at the time of their crime. In many states the minimum age is 16 or 17” (Dieter). Before his execution, Napoleon Beazley, 17, wrote, “Understand though that I am not only upset, but saddened by what’s happening here tonight. I’m not only saddened but disappointed that a system that is supposed to protect and uphold what is just and right can be so much like me when I made the same shameful mistake” (Abramsky). To kill those who are barely old enough to distinguish right from wrong or those who do not have the mental capacity to do is wrong. The killing of juveniles and the mental mentally retarded is an atrocity and has no place in a civilized western society.
By sanctioning the death penalty, the United States is directly defying international law and is not abiding by many of the treaties they themselves signed. “The U.N. Convention on Rights of the Child says you cannot imprison someone under 18 for life without possibility of parole” (Dieter). “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires the death penalty is never imposed on those under 18. Nearly all countries have signed it” (Dieter). The United States violates these conventions constantly. “Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations says that when foreign nationals are placed under arrest they must be informed of their rights to consult with the embassy of their home country. Most are not informed of these rights. There are 72 current foreign nationals on death row and since 1993, 8 have been executed without being given their rights” (Dieter). Once again, the United States violates international law simply in the name of Capital Punishment and its best attempt at justice. “The U.N. Convention against torture which has been ratified by 176 nations forbids the infliction of pain and suffering based on discrimination of any kind” (Bedau). Capital punishment does cause pain and suffering and as it has already been stated, it is discriminatory. “The U.N. Convention on torture also outlaws psychological abuse on people in detention. The average inmate waits 12 years between sentencing and execution. The anxiety awaiting death causes a severe physiological illness. Sometimes the inmate will even participate in his own proceedings” (Bedau). The U.S. also defies International Law by breaking down inmates psychologically as well. It begs the question, how can they look respectable as a nation, when it’s policies on justice are so cruel. “More than 105 nations worldwide have abandoned the death penalty” (Eddlem). “Only 4 countries between 2000 and 2004 executed juveniles – Congo, Iran, Pakastan, and the U.S” (Abramsky). “Leading countries in the death penalty are China, Iraq, Iran, and the United States” (Eddlem). America should be very careful about the company it keeps. They are one of the last civilized nations in the western world to keep the death penalty; that should be a clear warning sign to the U.S.
Capital punishment is incredibly barbaric and violates the eighth amendment on cruel and unusual torture. “There are five ways in the U.S. are hanging, firing squad, electrocution, gas chamber, or lethal injection” (Bedau).Each of these is incredibly brutal and torturous in its nature. “Since 1976 over 20 executions have involved mistakes” (Dieter) “In hanging if the drop is too short, you strangle. If it’s too long, the head falls off. Hanging is still used in 3 states”(Bedau). “2 states still use firing squad and 11 states still use electrocution (Bedau). In the 1983 case of John Evans, the convict survived three attempts, despite even his head catching fire. A witness said, “The stench of burning flesh was nauseating” (Bedau). In 1992 in the case chamber, Don Harding convulsed violently until he died, 10 minutes and 31 seconds later (Bedau). Lethal Injection is still used in 30 states (Bedau). Rommel Broom was poked with needles for two hours trying to find a vein before the governor granted him a reprieve (Bedau).In truth, the humaneness of the death penalty is easy to overstate. Capital punishment is indeed cruel and unusual torture. “I'm of the opinion that we should eliminate capital punishment. Having been involved with justice agencies around the world, it’s been somewhat embarrassing quite frankly, that nations just as so-called civilized as ours think we’re barbaric because we still have capital punishment” –Reginald Wilkinson, Former Prison Director in Ohio” (Anti-Death Penalty Quotes).
But barbarism among the other things isn’t enough for some death penalty proponents to change their views. Many will admit that the execution of minors, mentally retarded, and of course the innocent is wrong, but they still have no issue with killing the guilty. They believe that although, immoral, internationally illegal, expensive, and primitive, if a person wants to die they should be allowed to. They believe that the system is perfect enough, it can kill those who are true killers and would potentially kill again if imprisoned. The logic on this may sound well, but the facts are another issue. For one thing, it has already been stated that often confessions are forced “In about 25% of DNA exoneration cases, innocent defendants made incriminating statements, delivered outright confessions or pled guilty” (Innocence Project). Innocent people often confess because of coercion from police, intoxication, ignorance of the law, or mental impairment. Even beyond this, some propose that the appellant process should be removed so that death can be fast tracked for potentially dangerous individuals. This of course is stupidly unconstitutional and I would suggest anyone for this option read the sixth amendment and the supreme court cases following it. It should also be noted that also the justice system is never perfect, and it could not be administered to meet the conditions of such a specific criteria. It could also be pointed out that perhaps if these people faced life in prison instead of the death penalty, they might not be as dangerous.
The death penalty has no place in a modern, civilized society. It is put best when it’s said, “Capital punishment, the ultimate denial of civil liberties, is a costly, irreversible practice, the epitome of cruel and unusual punishment” (Eddlem) It in no way deters crime and is at its core, racist, and irreversible. It directly defies our constitution and international law. But not only is that enough, the American Justice System also executes minors and the mentally retarded. A justice system that systematically and ceremoniously kills has no place in our nation.