Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong | Teen Ink

Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong MAG

July 27, 2008
By Anonymous

Murder is wrong. Since childhood we have been taught this indisputable truth. Ask yourself, then, what is capital punishment? In its simplest form, capital punishment is defined as one person taking the life of another. Coincidentally, that is the definition of murder. There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change. These states need to abolish it on the grounds that it carries a dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole.

Capital punishment is the most ­irreparable crime governments perpetrate without consequence, and it must be abolished. “We’re only ­human, we all make mistakes,” is a commonly used phrase, but it is tried and true. Humans, as a species, are famous for their mistakes. However, in the case of the death penalty, error becomes too dangerous a risk. The innocent lives that have been taken with the approval of our own government should be enough to abolish capital punishment.

According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty legitimizes an irreversible act of violence by the state and will inevitably claim innocent victims.” If there is any chance that error is possible (which ­there always is), the drastic measure of capital ­punishment should not be taken. Also, it is too final, meaning it does not allow opportunity for th accused to be proven innocent, a violation of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees due process of law.

District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ­argued against the death penalty: “In brief, the Court found that the best available evidence indicates that, on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other hand, convincing proof of their innocence ­often does not emerge until long after their convictions. It is therefore fully foreseeable that in enforcing the death penalty a meaningful number of innocent people will be executed who otherwise would eventually be able to prove their innocence.”

As humans, we are an inevitable force of error. However, when a life is at stake, error is not an option. The death penalty is murder by the government. As a nation, we have prided ourselves in our government, its justice and truth. However, can we continue to call our government fair if we do not hold it to the same rules we do its people? Murder by a citizen will have consequences, yet a government-approved ­murder is not only acceptable, but enforceable. What message do we send the American people, and other countries, for that matter, if we continue to be a ­nation that kills its citizens, a nation that enforces the most barbaric form of punishment?

The Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty states, “We don’t cut off the hands of thieves to ­protect property; we do not stone adulterers to stop adultery. We consider that barbaric. Yet we continue to take life as a means of protecting life.” No person, government-affiliated or not, has the right to decide if another human is worthy or unworthy of life. Our natural rights as humans, which cannot be taken away by the government, include the right to life. Humans are not cold metal coins that lose value; no act, no matter how heinous, can make a person less of a human being. However, for most it is easy to ­forget that each of the 1,099 executed since 1977 are fellow humans, not just numbers.

According to Amnesty International, “The death penalty violates the right to life.” Capital punishment contradicts our moral beliefs and claims of a fair and just government. The U.S. must join its political ­allies – including Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, South Africa, and most of Latin America – that have abolished the death penalty.

The death penalty is favored by some as an effective deterrent of crime; however, it is proven that states with the death penalty actually have higher murder rates than those without. It is proven that our nation does not need this extreme threat of punishment to prevent crime. In 2006, the FBI Uniform Crime Report revealed that the area of the U.S. that was responsible for the most executions (the South with 80 percent) also had the highest murder rate, whereas the Northern areas that had the fewest ­executions (less than one percent), had the lowest murder rates.

It can be said that the death penalty is the most overlooked form of government hypocrisy; we murder people who murder people to show that murder is wrong. It is this contradiction in policy that confuses criminals and undermines any crime deterrence capital punishment was intended to have.

Many people favor the death penalty as reparation for the wrong done to a victim’s family; however, in most cases, closure is not the result. Losing a loved one, no matter how that person is lost, is unbearable, irrevocable, and shattering. Pain like this is shocking and the victim’s family holds onto the hope that the execution of the murderer will bring relief and closure. Nevertheless, when execution day arrives, the pain is not eased. No relief can be gained, for their pain is an unavoidable, natural process of life. Victims’ families have founded such groups as the Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation and The Journey of Hope, which oppose the death penalty. They ­believe that they are different from those who have taken their loved ones and they demonstrate their ­difference by refusing to sink to a murderer’s level.

Capital punishment is immoral and a violation of natural rights. It is wrong for everyone involved: the prosecuted innocent, criminals, victims’ families, and our nation. We need to replace the death penalty and capital punishment with life without parole, a safer and more inexpensive option. The death penalty does not guarantee safety for innocent victims, it does not follow the goals and promises of our nation, it does not effectively deter crime, and it does not give closure to victims’ families. Nothing good comes of hate, and nothing good can ever come from capital punishment. It cannot continue to be accepted by a nation that claims to have liberty and justice for all. The death penalty is murder on the sly and it’s dead wrong.



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This article has 473 comments.


on Jan. 17 2020 at 4:46 pm
SolInvictus76, Leavenworth, Indiana
0 articles 0 photos 70 comments
I vote "present"...

on Aug. 27 2017 at 7:12 pm
Tinyperson BRONZE, Farmington, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There is nothing impossible to him(her) who will try." - Alexander the Great

Oh, so if they're so reasonable as to say "I'm so sorry, I'll never do that again", why did they do it in the first place? When a murderer is released, you have endangered the lives of all those innocent people around it. And yes, even if it's prison for life, it's possible for them to be released be executives. It's possible for escape even if it's very unlikely. And that risk of harming truly innocent people is enough. Don't call others ignorant when you have contradicting statements first wanting to torture the murderer(they're not tortured in jail they get tennis courts) and then saying they can teach others lessons by playing tennis in jail and atone for their crimes.

on Aug. 27 2017 at 6:58 pm
Tinyperson BRONZE, Farmington, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 9 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There is nothing impossible to him(her) who will try." - Alexander the Great

I agree! Why should we have to pay taxes for their comfort? They get tennis courts and swimming pools too. It was their choice to commit the crime, knowing full well the punishment.

kausha16 said...
on Mar. 9 2017 at 10:14 am
kausha16,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
"We murder people who murder people to show that murder is wrong" This line was ♥

on Oct. 24 2016 at 9:01 pm
Why do those actually guilty people deserve to live a okay life in prison where they can live a life of never worrying about a place to live, food, or clothes. Prisoners get a relatively cozy life. Cozy as in never have to worry about money, food, or clothes. (sure there are bad people there but thats the point) when there are plenty of people not in prison that do have to worry and struggle daily worrying whats going to happen next, can't get help because all the money goes to the prisons to make sure they have supplies. Why do these "bad" people get to be taken care of never to worry for the rest of their life when most people today are struggling.

on Oct. 19 2016 at 2:28 pm
dabaroniandcheese,
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
same boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

on Oct. 3 2016 at 9:32 am
so cool dude

not jeff said...
on Aug. 27 2016 at 11:33 pm
This was very helpful

not jeff said...
on Aug. 27 2016 at 11:33 pm
This was very helpful

Biteme said...
on Jul. 14 2016 at 10:25 pm
"Letting them rot in jail" is a whole lot better than ending their misery. They get to decide that they fucked up and teach other to not do the same. Killing a murderer doesn't make a solution. You're an ignorant cunt.

bella rose said...
on Jul. 3 2016 at 11:51 am
people aren't on death row because they donated to charity. they're on death row because they murdered and raped people.

Zane said...
on Apr. 4 2016 at 8:09 pm
Well I think the Capital Punishment should be banned. I mean, the whole reason the punishment is made is to make sure no one gets hurt right? And if you are executing someone that is murdering someone. It defeats the whole purpose of the punishment.

john said...
on Feb. 9 2016 at 3:14 pm
This is so funny, i am died in tears

JUST_SAYING said...
on Dec. 2 2015 at 3:25 am
hey in a way you are right but don't you think when the government is allowing people to take other people's life, they are pretty much saying vengeance is okay. i just think the if the government allow it they will not be leading us by example because they are saying since they murderer killed someone now they have to kill the murderer to show everyone that killing people is humane.

on Nov. 20 2015 at 10:38 pm
ScarletCity PLATINUM, High Ridge, Missouri
40 articles 4 photos 68 comments

Favorite Quote:
Anything that can be done, can be undone. ~Scarlet City
http://eepurl.com/dcyZMn

Capitol Punishment is the whole, "An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth." And, if we don't subject them to the death penalty, what do you suggest? Letting them rot in jail? Besides, these are not innocent lives. Their murderers

on Nov. 6 2015 at 11:39 am
hunterrjordan10 BRONZE, Louisiana, Louisiana
4 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I disagree with Olivia H. on her piece, “Capital Punishment Is Dead Wrong”. She says,” There are 36 states with death penalty, and that needs to change.” I don’t agree with her because if someone actually deserves it, and they have killed many people, they should be put to death for what they have done.

on Nov. 4 2015 at 2:40 pm
alissagraves BRONZE, Plaquemine, Louisiana
3 articles 0 photos 3 comments
The article says, “There are 36 states with the death penalty, and they must change,” and I completely agree. You also talk about how it risks the punishment of the innocent, and I agree with that as well. Death penalty is dangerous and easier than spending life in prison without parole.

CalebRJ BRONZE said...
on Nov. 4 2015 at 1:08 pm
CalebRJ BRONZE, Plaquemine, Louisiana
2 articles 0 photos 4 comments
Your piece on capital punishment reflects views similar to mine as it explains how the specific policy is morally unsound in society today. One particular part in the piece explains exactly as I see why capital punishment need be abolished, it writes, “It can be said that the death penalty is the most overlooked form of government hypocrisy; we murder people who murder people to show that murder is wrong.” This logic of government hypocrisy, a government acting in ways denounced by itself is clearly odd as it is the just for the policy’s purposefulness; as you explained that states unopposed to capital punishment have not proven better than those opposed in the efforts of reducing crime in that state rather than a punishment such as life without parol, which is less costly.

on Nov. 4 2015 at 1:07 pm
Sheebell101 BRONZE, Plaquemine, Louisiana
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I agree, especially when saying Capital punishment “is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole.” Spending the majority of a lifespan full of guilt and in prison makes them suffer their consequences more than capital punishment.

on Nov. 4 2015 at 1:03 pm
trinriley BRONZE, Plaquemine, Louisiana
4 articles 0 photos 3 comments
I agree with all that was said. Capital Punishment is “dangerous risk of punishing the innocent, is unethical and barbaric, and is an ineffective deterrent of crime versus the alternative of life in prison without parole” and should be abolished before anymore innocent people get murdered for a crime they didn’t commit.