Research Papers /
Abolishment of the death penalty - 8th amendment from the Bill of Rights does not mention it [5]
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The death penalty has existed as a punishment for centuries in many countries across the world. In the United States, the death penalty has been practiced since the founding of the country. Although, the 8th amendment from the Bill of Rights is meant to protect human rights, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." It does not mention the death penalty (Merino 14). Unfortunately, The United States and other countries continue to apply it. According to David A. Love, not only does the United States continue to apply but, we ranked 5th world leader in executions. The first four were: China, Saudi, Arabia, Iran and Iraq (37). "Although the Supreme Court has allowed that the states have discretion in allowing capital punishment, not all states permit the death penalty (Merino 16). As of July 2015, 31 States apply the death penalty, including Florida and, only 19 states do not apply it (Death Penalty Information Center). Amnesty International argues some factors for the Death Penalty to abolished such as: an innocent person being sentenced to death due to lack of supporting evidence. Amnesty International also argues that this kind of punishment does not deter crime (146). Many people believe the death penalty is cheaper than life in prison. However, according to Meg Penrose, a professor of law at the Texas A&M Law School, the death penalty is three to five times more expensive than life in prison. The fact that the death penalty is overly expensive and, many other controversies with the topic is why the death penalty has to come to and end. The death penalty must be abolished because it is incompatible with human rights and dignity, innocent people can be executed, it is very expensive and, it is used disproportionately against minorities.
The death penalty goes against many rights that we as humans must have. "Everyone should be aware of what the death penalty is, how it is used, how it affects them, how it violates fundamental rights" (Amnesty International 147). The death penalty is used cruelty and applied unfairly in many cases. Unfortunately a big piece of our population has a small knowledge about how big the problem is. "The death penalty is the premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by state." (Amnesty International 147). Salil Shetty, a human rights activist who currently serves as secretary of the human rights organization Amnesty International argues that not only does the death penalty violates the human rights of the person being executed but also of third parties such as family members. How is it different from an individual killing a person from the government doing the same for revenge? As Amnesty International argues
If a pistol held to the head or a chemical substance injected to cause protracted suffering are clearly instruments of torture, how should they be identified when used to kill by shooting or lethal injection? Does the use of legal process in these cruelties make their inhumanity justifiable? (Amnesty International 149).
Until what point is it justified the way the government is applying the death penalty? According to Amnesty International, the pain caused by the long process and thinking about what is going to occur in a couple of months is an uniquely cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. The defendant goes through physical as well as psychological pain. Whichever way the death penalty is carried out, it will no matter what, violate the rights of human beings. "It brutalizes those involved in the process and conveys to the public as a sense that killing a defenseless prisoner is somehow acceptable." (Amnesty International 156).
As of today in the year of 2015, there has been no evidence to show that the death penalty deters crime. Instead, applying the death penalty shows citizens that such actions are acceptable as long as the government is the one doing the killing. "The death penalty models the behavior it seeks to prevent" (Brad Bushman 60). The capital punishment goes against many of its beliefs. Trying to deter murder with murdering others would be the same as feeding the violence we are trying to end. Statistics from FBI Unified Crime reports show that states with the death penalty have homicide rates 48-101% higher than those states that are abolitionist (Brad Bushman 62). The death penalty is not a deterrent of crime because at the moment to commit murder or to sexually abuse an individual, the offender rarely stops and thinks of the consequences of their actions. The crime happens in such fast amount of time and in such adrenaline that the offender will not be thinking of the possibility of getting the death penalty. (Brad Bushman 62). Amnesty International states that they have failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty has any unique capacity to deter others from committing particular crimes (152). Amnesty International also argues something very important, "The state can exercise no greater power over a person than that of deliberately depriving him or her of life" (147). That is one of the many reasons the death penalty must be abolished, because the penalty is giving governments the power to deprive someone from their live. Fortunately, this year, the United States imposed the fewest death sentences in four decades. As of 2014, 140 countries, which are more than two-thirds of the countries in the world, are abolitionist and, only 58 countries are retentionist (Salil Shetty 44). According to Amnesty International, an average of 3 countries abolish the death penalty a year (147). In the United States in 2014, 35 people were put to death, in 2013, 39 and in 1999, 98 people had the death penalty applied to them. As we can see, the death penalty has gone down over the years in the U.S with a decrease of 63 people from the years 1999 to 2014. According to The Death Penalty Information center, only 2 people in the state of Florida were executed in the year of 2015.
The biggest reason why many people are against the death penalty is because there is always a chance of accusing innocent people. As Amnesty International says, all criminal systems are vulnerable to discrimination and to making errors (155). Many factors could influence the outcome of a decision, especially such important decision that it is to take someone's life. Only one decision, which cannot be reversible, will completely change a person's life and the ones close to them. According to Amnesty International, states continue to execute people who are later found to be innocent. According to Samuel R. Gross, 4.1% is the estimated number of erroneous convictions of defendants sentenced to death from the year 1973 through 2004 (115). Finding out how many people have been executed innocently is extremely difficult. As a result of this, the majority of innocent defendants remain undetected. The high number of defendants being exonerated from the death penalty suggests that a great proportion of defendants are innocent (Samuel R. Gross 114). In other words, the exoneration rate is a close estimation of the rate of false convictions. The sad reality about the death penalty is that what determines who is going to be executed is often based on ethnic background, financial means, or political opinions (Amnesty international 155). "The death penalty is often used disproportionately against the poor, minorities, and members of racial, ethnic, and religious communities" (Salil Shetty 42). Racial bias has been an issue for many centuries. During the civil war, black soldiers were more likely to be executed than those soldiers who were white (Ta-Nehisi Coates 103). This kind of issue continued to happen in World Was II, and unfortunately it continues to happen today. The youngest American to be subjected to the death penalty was a black boy, of course, if he were to be a white boy the execution would not had happened.
Besides the death penalty violating human rights, executing innocent people, having racial bias, and many other problems. The death penalty is extremely expensive. Even Meg Penrose a supporter of the death penalty states that economics is not a reason to support it. "If money is the question, the death penalty is not the answer" (Meg Penrose). A study done in 2008 concluded that a death-eligible prosecution costs $1.8 million per individual, this is only if the individual is eligible. If the prosecution is carried out "successfully", the costs vary from $3 million or more. Where does all this money come from? From the taxes we pay every year. This money could be going directly to education to help prevent future crimes. Fox News once said, "A killer is sentenced to die, a school closes" (Meg Penrose). Many states in the United States do not see the big picture and think they can solve urgent problems by applying the death penalty. Imagine how great of an education we would have in the United States if more funds were placed on schools rather than on the death's penalty long process. According to Meg Penrose, The money being spent on the death penalty would be equivalent to hiring five teachers for a year. In other words, if there is more money placed in education there would be less crime and, we would have to less worry on the death penalty.
Abolition is the only answer to prevent the abuse of the death penalty. Only abolition can ensure that innocent people are not being executed or that human rights are being violated. If we keep modeling the behavior we are trying to prevent, then we would not succeed in trying to end crimes. In whichever way the death penalty is carried out, it will brutalize the defendant, the family and, even the prosecutor. So, Why carry out a long and expensive process when the defendant can always have the option of life without parole. All the money that is being spent on legal processes and trying to apply the death penalty must go to education so that the future generation has lower rates of crimes and more educated citizens. The death penalty has to be abolished for the many reasons explained, especially if it does not bring any good to society; the death penalty does not have any evidence of deterrence. The irrevocable punishment of the death penalty could be replaced by life without parole and the states would prevent executing and violating human rights. Many governments have recognized that the death penalty goes against the human rights we must have. Each society and its citizens have the choice to make a decision that will benefit all, we are the ones that choose between a world where we permit the state to kill as legal punishment or a world based on respect for human rights, a world without executions.