In my opinion, the death penalty should not exist. I disagree with it on moral grounds, on its implications about the role of justice in society, and because no justice system exists that can guarantee the rights of the wrongly accused.
The first of these reasons is, of course, entirely personal. I just don't believe it's right to end a person's life against their will, regardless of their past wrongdoings. As the old saying goes, "two wrongs don't make a right," and while that is an oversimplification of the topic at hand, I do think it applies here to some degree. The families of victims should not be expected to forgive someone if they are responsible for the death, but I don't think the answer is to get revenge.
Secondly, I think the existence of the death penalty says a lot about our nation's view of justice, and I don't think the implications are positive ones. The idea that our government can end a person's life if they don't abide by the law seems wrong to me. Cruelty is not an appropriate response to crime, and studies have shown that the death penalty is not a deterrent to the committing of crimes. Crime rates tend to be higher in areas of the country where the death penalty exists, while the areas that have outlawed capital punishment have lower crime rates overall.
Third, if a person were wrongly accused and convicted, the death penalty could unfairly end their life. In several cases, new evidence has been discovered that casts doubt on the guilty ruling given to some people who were later sentenced to death. It simply isn't possible to always be 100% sure a person is guilty, and I don't it's worth possibly ending the lives of the innocent in order to punish the guilty.
I hope to do more research and learn more about the death penalty in order to further prove my point. My next blog posts will cover more ground and explore different aspects of the death penalty.
I agree that ending someone's life isn't the best way to achieve justice and also who are we to judge who is worthy of death. But, what do you do when so much money is spent on paying for prisoners and prisons are becoming over crowded? Also is it okay to take away someone's right if they can't always guarantee that they are guilty? It seems that there is no real just way to deal with the situation and make everyone happy.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, if you take a look at one of my other posts, you'll see that it costs much more money to pay for capital punishment trials than life incarceration. Second, I'm pretty sure the best way to deal with overcrowded prisons isn't "just kill 'em" - if you want more specific solutions, check out this article:
Deletehttp://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/1229/Four-ways-to-relieve-overcrowded-prisons
The death penalty is a very controversial topic among many people. Personally, I agree that it is unfair and unjust to decide who the death penalty applies to. First of all, in simplest terms, the death penalty does not make sense. Why does the government have the power to act with violence regarding a previous act of violence or crime by an individual. It is interesting to me your point on how "crime rates tend to be higher in areas of the country where the death penalty exists." I was unaware of this data and it seems to support our opinions very well as a prime reason why the death penalty should be outlawed. Although people make very awful decisions in their life, it does not take away their right to live, in my opinion. I love your blog and your views on this topic!
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