Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished?

The Eighth Amendment is the part of the Bill of Rights that states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. Prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments is a concept rooted in the English common-law tradition. Today, the United States is the only western nation to put people to death for committing crimes. The debate over the death penalty raises issues raises issues about the fundamental fairness of the U.S system of justice. Some people may worry that innocent people might be put to death, despite all the procedural safeguards in the court system to prevent mistakes. People who support the death penalty believe the consequence for taking someone else’s life should be the loss of the criminal’s life, and that doing so will deter other people from committing murder.

                Many believe the capital punishment is cruel and unusual because it is what remained of an old society where slavery and corporal punishment were commonplace. Executions may be considered barbaric and should have no place in a civilized society. Arguing against capital punishment, Amnesty International believes that "The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. It is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice. Capital punishment also denies due process of law. The imposition of the death penalty is irreversible, forever depriving the accused of the opportunity to benefit from the discovery of new evidence or new laws that could reverse a conviction, or the change in their sentence. The death penalty violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The question of how much more likely minorities are sentenced to death as opposed to whites for committing the same crimes arises. Does uneven application of the death penalty constitute a violation of the equal protection clause? Gender and racial disparities in executions may suggest the death penalty is unfair. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “the death penalty system in the US is applied in an unfair and unjust manner against people, largely dependent on how much money they have, the skill of their attorneys, race of the victim and where the crime took place. People of color are far more likely to be executed than white people, especially if the victim is white.” Our system is undoubtedly imperfect, so how can an imperfect system ensure that only guilty people are executed? The answer is they can’t. The question now arises of what the consequences should be for executing an innocent person.  The American Civil Liberties Union has concluded innocent people are too often sentenced to death. Since 1973, over 138 people have been released from death rows in 26 states because of innocence. Nationally, at least one person is exonerated for every 10 that are executed. We as a society should move away from Hammurabi’s “eye for an eye” belief. There are also those who believe the death penalty is essential. Some argue that the death penalty may give peace of mind can be brought to those families devastated by these criminals, with the safety of knowing that these people have no possibility of hurting again.. I believe a life sentence could still give those families their peace of mind. Others believe the enforcement of the death penalty can prevent future crimes because it may instill fear in criminals. In my opinion, it can send the wrong message: why kill people to show killing is wrong.