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 Nov. 23 2010 at 8:07 am
Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? The jails would be overrun with murders if we gave them the choice of jail or death. What idiot in their right mind would choose death instead of life??? All your comment is helping is the murderers. People need to stop thinking about them and think about the families of the murdered and what they want and need.

TommyOoOoO said...
on Nov. 23 2010 at 8:03 am
The death penalty is in place for a reason. If you're writing this, you've obviously never had a family member murdered in cold blood. If you had then you would know the feeling of wanting justice. The only justice for taking away a life is taking away their life. If you think about it, yeah, they're behind bars and yeah, sometimes they'll never get out again, but what good is that? The muderer is still alive while their sister/brother/mother/father/son/daughter/best friend/grandmother/grandfather/teacher/aunt/uncle is still dead. How is that fair?

on Nov. 9 2010 at 5:55 pm
abey2012 BRONZE, Dearborn, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 9 comments
that is completely true after all James Madison once wrote that "if men were angels, we wouldn't need government" which is the whole purpose of capital punishment to make sure that we understand that all though we live in America, land of the free, we can not just go around killing people unpunished. At the same time we can not give the goverment that much power as James Maidson finshed "if government were run by angels, we wouldn't need to place controls and limitations on government."

on Nov. 7 2010 at 11:21 am
PuzzleLuver SILVER, Powell, Ohio
6 articles 0 photos 51 comments

Favorite Quote:
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16

I don't like the death penalty, but almost everyone who goes to jail gets on parole. If there was some way to make sure if you murdered someone you should be in jail for life, then I would be so happy to get rid of the death penalty, but you have to realize that probably won't happen unfortunatly. 

on Nov. 6 2010 at 7:24 pm
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

YES. this is true, we have to consider both sides. and when you get down to it. the other may seem right but this is really whats going to help our nation in the future

amybug said...
on Nov. 3 2010 at 6:31 pm
amybug, Penrose, Colorado
0 articles 0 photos 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Always remeber there was nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name." -The Avett Brothers

Thanks so much for the agreement! I know people think that a human life should be respected, and not just disposed with. I believe that as well, but we have to keep in mind how we would feel if our brother/sister/mother/husband/boyfriend was murdred. The lat thing on our mind would be mercy.

Himself12794 said...
on Nov. 3 2010 at 1:57 pm
Himself12794, Fayetteville, North Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"With all due respect, sir, I do, what I do, the way I do it." - McGyver

capital punishment is sometimes necessary; ending the life of one who might kill others is necessary; its ending one life to save several others

on Nov. 3 2010 at 9:25 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

also, yeah we make mistakes but are we going to pass murder as a simple mistake?

on Nov. 3 2010 at 9:20 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

YES! we have to consider this, people! There is mercy but there is also devine justice. and we have to bring these murderers to it.

on Nov. 3 2010 at 9:15 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

honestly, yes. now i will say someone wrongly accused does not deserve to die and yes it does seem wrong but think. if someone killed someone you loved.would you want them to walk the streets freely? yes there is jail but at least that murderer is alive still? well in health? a gang fight whatever. they deserve to die.

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:53 pm
qwertyqwerty123 PLATINUM, Concord, California
28 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
"prey on the old and your a coward
prey on the young and your pathetic
prey on the weak and your even weaker
prey on my friends and your history"
- fearless: payback (book 6) by francine pascal

look agnottheodd. i did read the whole thread but the point that keeps coming back to me is what you first said at the beginning. ethics should never (ooh you're right italics are fun!) come second to efficiency. i'm not trying to be an idealist; i am being realistic. i know that times are hard and "revamping" the appeal system would make death penalty cheaper than a life sentence, but nothing is worth killing someone over. i respect your quote of deciding when someone deserves to die, but the point is that we can't give life to those that die and don't deserve it, so we shouldn't give death to those that live and don't deserve it. in my own personal opinion, i don't think we, as humans, are ever justified in deciding who does deserve death, much less carrying it out. Additionally, as far as tax dollars, it would be mucho expensive to have to revamp the appeal system. And that's getting into politics. now i don't know how much you know about politicians, but the thing is that no taxpayers want to vote for a system revamp that will raise taxes so much - even if it does prove to be cheaper in the long run. if a politician tries to promote an idea that raises taxes, it usually pretty much guarantees they won't be elected. and that's just being realistic.

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:10 pm
BrookXoxo BRONZE, Andrews AFB, Maryland
4 articles 4 photos 22 comments

 

YEs, But what if someone who was sentenced to a capitial punishment. killed someone else themselfs? mabye more than one person killed by the person.....Then its okay? Yes. of course it is


on Nov. 1 2010 at 7:40 pm
qwertyqwerty123 PLATINUM, Concord, California
28 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
"prey on the old and your a coward
prey on the young and your pathetic
prey on the weak and your even weaker
prey on my friends and your history"
- fearless: payback (book 6) by francine pascal

have you ever seen/read "the lord of the rings"? gandalf says this awesome quote that went something along the lines of "yes some that live deserve death. some that die deserve life. can you give it to them?" i agree with the olivia h. all loss of life is wrong

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:58 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

sorry this coment was supposed to go to "mskullgirl"

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:56 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

yes and these people are the ones we are talking about! do you want to let a murderer run the streets! i understand sending them to jail but there is always the possibility of them escaping and killing more people! Murder is wrong. i know. but  capital punishment is a biblical truth.

on Nov. 1 2010 at 9:42 am
TheEdgar PLATINUM, Fayetteville, North Carolina
22 articles 1 photo 29 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you are in need of forgetting something, make a note to remember it."

in the bible it states that if one man takes the life a another. he has the right to die. yes, i do understand murder is wrong. but would you rather let a murderer run about the streets? or break out of jail and live next to you? capital punishment is biblically correct. and im not saying a theif should die because of his wrong doing. im saying if someone kills someone else he has the right to die.

on Oct. 10 2010 at 12:43 pm
WritingLoverForever PLATINUM, Bowling Green, Ohio
32 articles 2 photos 198 comments

Favorite Quote:
It's not about success; it's about significance.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

This is one of the best opinion articles I've ever read on teenink. You were very forward with your opinions on this issue--and I agree with them 100%. This was a very convincing and moving article. The death penalty is immoral just like you said and I think of it as a sin. It is not our government's decision to choose who and when somebody should be killed. Murder is wrong, but there is no difference between murder and death penalty except that the government supposedly has rights to carry out the penalty, which they use as an excuse to justify their wrongdoings. I think you should use your powerful and outreaching voice to fight the government to eliminate the death penalty. You certainly have the heart and passion for bringing this issue to an end and I think you could really make a difference.

on Sep. 19 2010 at 11:48 am
AgnotTheOdd GOLD, Aptos, California
17 articles 0 photos 315 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The reason for your unreasonable treatment of my reason so enfeebles my reason that I have reason to complain of your reason" ~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Because of appeals.  Therefore, if you had actually been reading this thread, you would have seen my proposition to revamp the system...

pro-life said...
on Sep. 19 2010 at 10:25 am
but still, it costs more to send someone to death then to keep them in jail for their entire life

on Sep. 18 2010 at 9:36 pm
AgnotTheOdd GOLD, Aptos, California
17 articles 0 photos 315 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The reason for your unreasonable treatment of my reason so enfeebles my reason that I have reason to complain of your reason" ~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

In and of itself, none of the execution methods cost too much.  All the money youre talking about comes from endless appeals.