Can You Spot the Issue?
By: Marcos B
The Death Penalty Summary
Right now, more than 3,500 inmates sit on Death Row in America. Almost all are poor, and a wildly disproportionate number are people of color. In addition, most had legal representation that ranged from inadequate to grossly incompetent.
The death penalty, outlawed in most of Europe, Canada, Australia, and most other countries in the world, is still practiced in almost forty states, and currently enjoys broad public support. This was not always the case. In the 60's and 70's, a bare majority of Americans favored capital punishment. But mounting fear of crime, and the cynical manipulation of the death penalty issue by many politicians for their own political gain, led to a shift upwards.
The ACLU and other death penalty opponents, including many religious groups and individuals, and a growing number of prison wardens, maintain that capital punishment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Killing, whether carried out by an individual or the state, is immoral and ought not to be condoned. Furthermore, the death penalty as practiced in the U.S. is arbitrary and racially biased. It has no proven deterrent value. And many miscarriages of justice have been documented over the years in which people have been put to death for crimes they did not commit.
Today, there are more than 3,000 people on death row. Executions -- by hanging, electrocution, lethal injection, and even by firing squad -- have become almost commonplace. Regardless of which method is used, the death penalty is a barbaric anachronism and should be abolished.
Moral, Ethical, Legal
Moral: The death penalty is morally wrong because all humans should have the right to live until they die. Keeping that in mind, some people in our world have caused too much danger to society. Besides putting people in jail, there is no other way to keep them from the rest of the world. The only way to make sure that they cannot cause anymore damage it to execute them. The good thing is that the process is very fast and pain free.
Ethical: It is not ethical to kill someone no matter what they do but at times it it necessary. According to the government, some people are too dangerous to be living and cause too much danger to society in general. There are many ways to kill someone through the death penalty, but some ways are better than others.
Legal: The government of the United States is not in charge of each state and how they handle the death penalty. According to law, a first degree murder will put you in jail for the rest of your life but a second degree murder will cause you to be put onto death row. Once on death row, you are on a case and will have to wait until the court gives you an execution date. Some states will let you choose the method of execution which is good but every state has different methods.