Cammesha Moody,The Death Penalty,Edison

In 2007 the  top executers of the death penalty were China, Iran, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan and the U.S.

However, even where the death penalty is used (33% of the world’s countries) it’s not used very often.

In 2008, the U.S. executed only 37 prisoners. Most death-row inmates in America will never be executed; they will die of natural causes.

-The Right Thing To do Basic Readings in Moral Philosophy by James Rachels

I believe,due to the following reasons, that the United States should end capital punishment.

1. Infrequent Usage
2. Discrimination
3. Incompetency of Prosecuters
4. Condemning Innocent People to Death

Infrequent Usage  -Although death seems to be the most fair punishment for someone who commits murder or any other heinous crime, it is likely to be sentenced to a criminal,who then may wait many years until their time comes or it may not be sentenced to them at all depending on the location of the crime. The death penalty is a reflection of America’s past of when punishments such as lynching and whipping were used. Those forms of punishments are no longer used and neither should the dealth penalty.

Capital punishment in inflicted in less than 1% of all murder cases

Of more than 20,000 murders in the U.S. annually, an average of fewer than 300 people are sentenced to death and only 55 are executed each year.

Discrimination - The death penalty exist in 38 states of the U.S. and in 18 of those states all of the chief prosecuters are white. Other prosecuters who may be conscientious but have had little experience with other races may still make decisions by using racial stereotypes they have developed over time. People of color rarely hold the titles of judges,jurors, prosecutors, and lawyers in the court sytem.

African Americans are considered to be be victims of half the murders in the U.S. Yet 80% that are on deathrow are there becase of crimes against white people.

Studies haven proven that people of color are treated more  harshly than white people.

Incompetency of Prosecutors - Due to the fact that there are some prosecutors who do not represent their clients to the fullest extent,there may be a chance of a person being wrongly convicted of a murder crime and sentenced to death. All states do not provide adequate resources and sometimes even representation in certain cases.According to Stephen Bright, lawyers,like many people, are attracted to work that pays well and few are willing to take on the most difficult cases,such as the cases that may involve someone being sentenced to death. If a lawyer feels he is not being paid enough he doesn’t have to take the case leaving it to someone who may less incompetent.

Condemning Innocent People to Death  Over  100 people condemned to death in the last 30 years have been exonerated and released after new evidence,which established their innocence.

Example: Ray Krone was convicted and sentenced to death in Arizona based on the testimony of an expert witness that his teeth matched bite marks on the victim. During the 10 years Ray spent on death row, scientists developed the ability to compare biological evidence that had been recovered. DNA testing proved Krone’s innocence.

Overall-  There are many Americans who feel that the death penalty is a good thing and there are others who believe the exact opposite. It’s up to you how you feel about the issue, but if it were up to me I would abolish the death penalty because of the reasons stated above,unless there was a way to improve the leagal process.

This entry was posted on 20. November 2009 at 20:12 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.