Death Penalty Argumentative Essay
A lot can be written about the death penalty in a Death Penalty Argumentative Essay. First, it is worth noting that the death penalty is the harshest form of punishment that can be given to any capital offender. This is because it is a form of punishment that leads to the killing of a convicted killer. America happens to among the few countries still having this form of punishment in their criminal law. It is also worth understanding that the United States of America, like many other countries, have limitations on how to pass a death penalty. For instance, it cannot be used on the mentally disabled or minors. However, the death penalty is strictly passed onto any other person found to have committed first-degree murder. Fortunately, it depends on evidence, which at times, lacks in cases of mistaken identity. Regardless, there are moments when the judgment is made even in the absence of sufficient evidence. Innocent individuals are cheated into submitting false evidence that ends up tying them to a case for a long time. While these practices remain common, it has continued to receive criticism and support in equal measures. Those who support the death penalty do so with the belief that it is the only way of stopping capital offenders from continuing with their acts of causing death. However, my argument is that the death penalty should be abolished in the United States of America as it does not deter criminal offenders.
Background Information
The way to handle this issue is by first having an in-depth understanding of what death penalties entail. First of all, the Death penalty is a concept that originated from Britain after the country celebrated its independence. The then society widely accepted it as many considered the death penalty as part of life. So the death penalty was recognized in the judgment of various criminal offenses in the European states. A similar scenario was witnessed in the American states, as its first culprit, George Kendall, was executed for committing treason. The United States of America has since then executed more inmates. Regardless, the Death penalty in the pre-colonial times varied between states. However, the death penalty slowly became unpopular in the nineteenth century as it started receiving opposition. States like Pennsylvania stopped conducting such cases of execution publicly. Instead, they were done in low key. With time, the entire practice was abolished by many states. Today, fourteen states in the United States of America don’t execute death penalties on criminal offenders. These include North Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico, Michigan, West Virginia, Alaska, Vermont, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Wisconsin, Rhone Island, New Jersey, and Maine states. More states are expected to follow suit as the practice continues to receive a backlash from members of the public.
Cases against the death penalty have continuously been filed in America’s Supreme Court as many believe that it is a violation of the eighth amendment. Some believe that it is the cruelest way of punishing criminals. The 1972 Furman v. Georgia case is probably the most memorable case against the death penalty in the US. It is particularly memorable since it temporarily ended death penalties for ten years. However, death penalties were reintroduced into the justice system after these years of it not being practiced.
However, the court ruling was only in effect for ten years, after which the death penalty was reintroduced. Its first victim after the reinstatement was Gary Gillmore, who was executed in 1977.
America still imposes death penalty on its citizens. However, there are clear guidelines on who should be executed and who shouldn’t. For instance, the states in the US are forbidden from exercising death penalty on the mentally disabled and children. Any other category could be executed. Currently, six procedures could be used to execute offenders. These include lethal injection, hanging, poisonous gas, firing squad, or electrocution. The execution procedure adopted vary between states. For instance, one state might prefer death by lethal injection while another death by electrocution. Needless to say, the practice is still on the decline in many states in America.
An argument on the Death Penalty
Those that support death penalty support their stands with the belief that this is the only punishment against murder and will act as a deterrence against such acts. However, many arguments could be made for and against such claims on deterrence. Any type of punishment is indeed used as a way of preventing people from engaging in criminal practices. However, I believe that the death penalty should not be exercised on all criminals. Those in support of death penalty are misguided in many ways. For instance, there are many questions one is left with after reading the article titled “Death penalty is a deterrence.” The authors claim that violent criminals have been deterred from their criminal acts due to the continued execution of criminals. Statistically, the authors believe that there has been a reduction of over 20% of all death cases reported in the United States of America as criminals are afraid of receiving the death penalty. While these are records to think about, many other researchers have come up with conflicting statistics on this. As a result, it is almost impossible to know the actual impact the death penalty has had in various states.
One of the common goals for justice is retribution. It is done with the belief that murder cases would be reduced or stopped by the execution of those involved in such acts. It is some form of people receiving what they deserve. In other words, if they kill, then the only right thing that can be done is by also killing them – through a death penalty. It is only by taking the life of a murderer that justice is restored to its normal form as this acts as a deterrence of merciless killings. Anything other than that is assumed to cause an unwanted imbalance in the justice system. This argument is morally wrong and should never be supported. For instance, it becomes confusing why states should participate in acts of killing by punishing people for murder.
The two mentioned articles do not provide sufficient evidence on why death penalty is a deterrence. While both use statistical data to explain their support for the act, none fails to show how data was collected. Interestingly, the result from any research is always dependent on the method used to collect data. Based on that, these results from the articles could probably have been different if a different data collection method was used. So there could be errors in studies based on the procedure used. For instance, Dr. Jeffrey Fagan reveals various errors in studies conducted by those in support of the death penalty. These errors are attributed to poor analysis of statistics and insufficient data to support claims. As a result, Fagan believes that there is a gap in studies to prove whether or not capital punishment is the appropriate form of punishment for those charged with murder as it acts as a deterrence to other killers. As a result, it is unfair and immoral to use these unreliable sources of information as a justification of the imposition of capital or death penalty on murderers.
Policymakers should understand that this is a life and death decision, meaning that it would be inhuman to gamble with people’s lives based on insufficient evidence. It would be better if a comprehensive study were conducted to cover these gaps in research and reveal the real truth regarding this issue. For now, all claims that the death penalty is a deterrence to continued murder cases should be dismissed as baseless unless and until sufficient, indisputable evidence is made available.
It is interesting to know of the many studies that dismiss the effectiveness of the death penalty. Most have facts to show that this form of punishment or penalty is actually not a deterrence to criminal acts as people might think. This is supported by the Death Penalty Information Center in its claims that low murder rates are witnessed in regions with no such capital punishment. This is a study carried for over seventeen years and which could be said to have sufficient evidence against claims that the death penalty is the only way criminal acts could be a deterrence. New York, for instance, has enjoyed reduced cases of death since it abolished the death penalty. This state witnessed a four percent drop in these cases after taking such death penalty measures. It is yet another real-life scenario to prove wrong all those in support of death penalty as it is evidently not a deterrence. They are so wrong as they are only united in their fight for evil judicial practices.
There is a good reason why death penalty never acts as a deterrence. This is because most people who engage in such criminal acts never think that they will be discovered. This means that they never see themselves being arrested and charged for these offenses. As a result, there is no fear created even if they see the punishment being executed on other killers. So, to them, this is always only a form of punishment meant for others rather than it being intended for them. In other words, they fail to get themselves in a situation where, psychologically, they feel scared and unable to continue with their killing spree.
There is no sense made by those who consider death penalty as a form of retribution. In fact, they are not united in their reasoning. No wonder sub-national governments in the United States of America end up contradicting themselves instead. It becomes a bit confusing and impossible to understand why the government opposes all acts of killing when, through its courts, it passes a penalty that leads to the killing of convicted criminals based on the evidence provided. Criminal acts indeed are some of the most undesired acts in society. Families that lose their loved ones to such acts could attest to this. However, it still does not make sense why these criminals have to be killed when, by doing this, the lost lives will not be returned to life. Citizens also get the impression that it is okay to revenge the murder of a friend or loved one. This is because they can see the state do it.
Death penalty has lost its meaning in current times. While many are still receiving the death penalty, very few end up being executed while in prison. Statistics reveal that there is an increase in the probability that many death row inmates will die of natural death in prison due to the long duration it takes before their execution. Interestingly, only thirteen inmates have successfully been executed since 1976. The number of inmates currently awaiting execution is on the increase, with California alone presently having a total of seven hundred inmates waiting in line for their killing. Unless this trend changes, it is highly likely that most of these inmates will end up dying a natural cause in their prison cells before facing justice. Based on this, it seems to make no sense to have a law that is only good on paper. The delays could be taken to mean that the justice system is also confused about whether or not this law on execution is the most ideal for any capital offender. Should the murder of one be attributed to the killing of another? It is almost impossible to see execution as the best penalty.
It would be better to understand how the justice system to understand how inefficient the death penalty is. First, inmates have the freedom to appeal any death penalty if they think that they were wrongfully convicted. Sadly, the courts of appeal are always understaffed and take long to look at any new evidence provided before them. Some evidence might take longer to collect. This means that death penalty cases filed with them could take up to 10 years before being heard. Such a long wait increases the chances of someone dying of a natural cause before the final judgment is presented, and execution dates are set.
Based on the argument, it seems like the death penalty is not as could have been intended. As a result, it would only be wise if it was abolished in the United States of America. Many more people have tried abolishing this penalty. A good example is the Baze v. Rees death penalty case, where claims were made regarding the inhumane nature of the death procedures. In the case, lethal injection was specifically cited as a cruel way of ending a person’s life. However, this case never succeeded as a ruling was still made in favor of capital punishment – the death penalty. Based on the judgement, there was no better way of causing the death of a convicted person. Those fighting against lethal injection could as well be disgusted by the other methods used in the execution of convicts. It was therefore considered irrelevant to think that one procedure was crueler than the other. Regardless, the continued fight against death penalty shows the lack of support it has among citizens. People are disgusted by it, meaning it fails to offer an assurance that the desired justice will be served.
It is not unusual for some people to be afraid of a possible resurgence of criminal acts if the death penalty is ever revoked. However, they would probably change their minds if they learn of the statistics that reveal that the death penalty does not in any way deter criminal practices. While there is no concrete evidence against death penalty, it is evident that the US doesn’t need it to reduce criminal acts. In fact, some researchers believe that death penalty could probably be increasing the very death rates it purports to reduce. Such arguments should be used to defend claims against the implementation of death penalty by the courts regardless of the evidence provided. Perhaps this is the best time for people to be united for a judicial revolution.
In conclusion, the death penalty needs to be abolished. People need to be united against this practice. This is because those who support it have, for years, failed to defend its effectiveness. Instead, more evidence continues to arise that shows how capital punishment or penalty continues to lose support. Truth is that it is becoming harder to execute any criminal convicted of murder. This is because of the long waite in the judicial process that seeing inmates die in prison before they can even be executed. Sadly, the victims of such inmates might have to wait for years before justice is served. This means having to go through the hectic court proceedings that last up to 10 years. It is for such reasons that the United States of America should consider a fairer way of executing justice. It doesn’t have to be through the murder of the accused using such a harsh penalty. In fact, this is never a deterrence to criminal acts as a reduction in killings is attributed to other factors other than the murder of a murderer.