Should capital punishment be legal in the United States? Over 140 countries in the world have outlawed capital punishment, but the United States remains standing. This nation considers itself the moral capital of the world, and tries to establish democratic ideals and proper morality in lesser-developed countries. How can the United States expect to set an example for other countries, if the law states that it is just to put an end to peoples’ lives? It is entirely hypocritical, and should not be tolerated. Capital punishment should be outlawed in the United States because it is a morally unacceptable, unenlightened practice that negatively portrays this nation.

The state should not have the power to kill its own citizens. (Badinter 250). Criminal Defense Attorney Norm Pattis supported this notion on a specific rape-murder case by stating “these men are our threat to society. They deserve to be locked up, but the state should not have the right to put them to death” (“Decline in Death Penalty”). What Norm Pattis said is so relevant for the anti-capital punishment argument because he is valuing human life, while at the same time questioning the Constitutional side of things. He stabs into the idea that the government should not be able to end the lives of its own (“Ten Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”).
The majority of executions have been done by lethal injection, thus requiring the need for a medical doctor (Death Penalty is Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—Completely.”) A civilian’s job description should not include ending another person’s life. In fact, according to the American Medical Association, it is against the duties of a medical doctor to carry out the death penalty. Plainly put, it is just simply inhumane and immoral that a doctor, a man or woman dedicated to saving lives, should participate in the act of execution (“Death Penalty Information”).

Capital punishment is not cost effective. Millions of dollars are spent on capital cases, when in fact it is much cheaper to keep someone in prison for life without parole. In the state of New Jersey, studies have shown that capital cases have cost taxpayers over $253 million. There have been no executions in New Jersey since 1982. If they aren't even giving death penalty sentences, why waste all of the taxpayers' money for capital cases (“Cruel Means and Ends”)?
The 'prison for life without parole' sentence is a better alternative. It does not make sense that when a person kills someone, then they should be killed. Then, there are more people left dead. It proves more effective from a moral standpoint that we use this healthier alternative. In the state of California, the prison for life without parole sentence was given to 3500 defendants. Not a single one of these defendants were let out of prison early. Ultimately, it can be deciphered that the prison for life without parole sentence is a better substitute for the death sentence (Cuomo 2).

The United States is one of the only countries left in the world to still practice the death penalty. As mentioned above, 140 countries have outlawed capital punishment. Among those who have not are the United States, Iraq, Iran, and China. As one can conclude, the United States is the only country in this miniature list that considers itself a democratic form of government. Only twenty one countries carried out the death penalty in 2008, and the US made it on that list. The fact that this nation is in the minority of countries carrying out capital punishment is appalling and something should be done about it (Alasti 62).

One reason supporting the abolition of capital punishment is that it is it can be racially biased. For instance, 77% of death row defendants in the US have been executed for killing Caucasian victims. What’s even more astonishing is that the top five occupations of Americans executed in its history (1602-2002) were primarily African-American held jobs. Another way that it is unfair is that innocent people have been executed. The Scottsboro trial in 1931 single-handedly proves this point. The final verdict for several of the defendants to be executed heavily relied on their race. That being said, it can be concluded that capital punishment can sometimes be unfair (“Ten Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”).

The fact that mentally-ill people are sometimes executed is mind-boggling. John Ferguson, an inmate from Florida, was executed in 2013. He was a diagnosed schizophrenic who believed that he was “the prince of God” and thought that he was executed so he could save the world.” –www.deathpenaltyinfo.org. In 2009, Jack Trawick, another diagnosed schizophrenic with psychotic episodes since the age of eleven, was executed in the state of Alabama. These cases are prime examples of an unlawful system. Someone with an irrational mind should not be executed, and it is the civil duty of human beings to make sure that this does not happen (“Ten Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty).

Almost all death row inmates could not afford their own attorney at trial. In other words, they had to have a public defender. How is this justifiable? If a defendant does not even have proper representation in a court of law, then a death sentence should be out of the question. It is just heartbreaking to see that the overwhelming majority of those executed in this country are the lower class citizens, who cannot afford their own attorney (Crawford 320).
The death penalty ultimately goes against the unalienable right of life as Thomas Jefferson put in the Declaration of Independence. A former prison warden in the state of Florida by the name of Ron McAndrew witnessed several executions during his time of work. He once was a supporter for the death penalty, but he claimed that after he got close to the inmates for the thirty days before their execution, he could not bear to watch another execution take place. He claimed that all of the defendants were regretful of what they had done, and he saw the sorrow in their eyes. This man’s testimony reiterates the fact that these people being executed are people, and have the right to life (“Decline in Death Penalty”).

Almost every religion has direct doctrine against capital punishment (“Death Penalty Information.”) Of course there is the Separation of Church and State in the United States, but this just serves as a reference point (“Death Penalty is Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—Completely.”) The Catholic Church’s open pro-life stance qualifies it for being anti-death penalty. Pope John Paul II even made the statement that the death penalty is both “cruel and unnecessary.” The First Precept in the Buddhist religion is to abstain from the destruction of life. Islamic law even states that everyone has the right to life. Because of this information presented, one can obviously conclude that most religions are against the death penalty. (“Death Penalty Information”).

The death penalty is overall an unnecessary practice. An anonymous quote hits the nail on the head by stating in regards to capital punishment, “killing people that kill people to show that killing people is wrong” (deathpenaltyinfo.org). Society should be held at a higher standard than the criminals. Ending the life of another, in order to show that it is wrong is quite barbaric to say the least. Putting people in prison for life should be enough to demonstrate that the death penalty is wrong (Cuomo 13).

There are no studies that say that the death penalty has a deterrent effect on crime. In fact, murder rates declined in the state of North Carolina after executions stopped. This proves that there is not a significant pattern that shows that capital punishment prevents crimes from happening (“Death Penalty is Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—Completely”). Most people commit capital offenses in the heat of the moment, anyways. Whether it be a mental illness or under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the criminal usually is not in a rational state of mind at the time of the crime being committed. That being said, the death penalty would not make a difference at all in a criminal’s mind at the time they are committing a capital offense. (“Decline in Death Penalty”).

Sometimes the death penalty can be an unfair process that is arbitrarily given out (“Ten Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty”). A serial killer named Gary Rigsby admitted to killing forty-eight prostitutes, and received the sentence of prison for life. On the other hand, people with mental disabilities or who cannot afford their own attorneys are sometimes executed. “The death penalty is being applied in the United States as a fatal lottery (“Death Penalty is Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—Completely”).” The United States Court System states that everyone is equal under the eyes of a jury. This is unimaginably hard to believe; however, due to the fact that less-harsh sentencing has been given out for people who do horrible crimes, and the death penalty has been issued to people without fair circumstances (Crawford 45).

An ample amount of attention is given for those who commit heinous crimes and are put to death for it. It is almost as if they become celebrities, and basically achieve their goal. There are not as many news headlines about people being sentenced to prison for life without parole, than there are about people being sentenced for life. It is time that the unnecessary attention is drawn away from the criminals that are guilty of awful crimes, and justice can be restored without all of the extraneous publicity (Sanaz 350).

In conclusion, capital punishment should be abolished all together in the United States. It
is ridiculous that this country has not done so already. Quite frankly, the US is tagging behind on the world’s major social issues. It is time that we return to leading the world in these issues, and it begins with capital punishment. Congress should take this issue up again, and ultimately put an end to this unenlightened institution.
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Works Cited

Badinter, Robert. Abolition: One Man’s Battle against the Death Penalty. Boston: Northeastern

University Press, 2008. Print.


Crawford, Bill. Texas Death Row: Executions in the Modern Era. New York: Plume, 2008. Print.


“Cruel Means and Ends.” America 10 Feb. 2014: 4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Cuomo, Mario. “Death Penalty is Wrong: It’s Time to Outlaw Capital Punishment in America—
Completely.” New York Daily News 2 Oct 2011. 1. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

“Decline in Death Penalty.” America 6 Jan. 2014: 10. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 26
Feb. 2014.

Death Penalty Information. Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Meehan, Mary. “Ten Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty.” America 20 November 1982: 1.
Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Sanaz, Alasti. Cruel and Unjust Punishment: Comparative Perspective in International

Conventions. New York: Vandleplas Publsihing, 2009. Print.