The modern society has to deal with so many issues that are affecting the way people live and interact with each other. Over the years, as society progress, so many things are changing that were traditionally viewed as either ethically right or wrong. All the same, there is an urgent need in making conclusive decisions that will reduce polarization among society members. Slowly the society has been divided on various issues which has resulted heated debates. The issue of death penalty has created sharp divisions among the members of the population. A significant number of people are supporting the abolishment of the death penalty as way of punishing serious crimes such as murder, terrorism, rape and other inhuman acts. Contrary, there are also a large number of people who supports the death penalty as the best method of crime deterrence.
Notably, no matter which sides win the argument, it is important to set benchmarks for fighting and punishing crimes. The crime rate has been increasing over the years despite the existence of various punishment methods such as life imprisonment and death sentence. Death penalty is a government-sanctioned practice, whereby individuals are put to death for crimes committed under the laws of that particular country. Life imprisonment on the other hand, the individual is convicted to remain in jail for the rest of his life. This paper will be seeking to justify the abolishment of the death penalty based on the discussions that will be provided by the paper in the next chapter. Risks of executing innocent people. There will always be cases of execution of innocent people regardless of the judicial system. In most cases, the sentences are made based on the available evidence and presented to the courts.
Incidences of incriminated evidences have become normal phenomena because evidence is all that is needed to set an individual free or convict, Normally, the suspects that have no financial capability of hiring the best lawyers have fallen victims of wrongful executions. According to a study released by Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, one out 25 people convicted to death sentence are innocent. This translates to 4.1% of people killed through death row are innocent (Pema 1) Since 1976, more than 1000 people have been executed and many more are still waiting for their date to be set. There is vivid way to tell how many innocent people have been killed because the courts claims do not assume the liability; instead they say they have to focus in preventing killing of innocent people, Notably, there are few known incidences of innocent people killed through death penalty, Larry Griffin of Missouri was convicted in 1981 and executed in 1995, later on; there were strong indications that the convict was innocent.
127 our experts are availableright now
Leo Jones in Florida was convicted in 1981 and executed in 1998 and still, the evidence later emerged to show that he was innocent, Troy Davis, Brian Terrell and Richard Masterson are some of the other innocent people that were put to death through the death penalty system (DPIC, 1). The new DNA technology has exonerated more than 20 inmates sentenced to death row since 1992. All the 20 inmates could have been killed innocently if not for the DNA technology Previously before the new technology, many, a number of convicts died innocently due to lack of conclusive ways of substantiating evidence presented in courts. According to the figures and numbers presented above, it is very evident that a number of people have died innocently and many more will die if the death penalty is not abolished.
Death penalty is not best way to punish crimes because it takes away innocent lives and hence very justified to call for it abolishment from the system. Death penalty promotes moral decay in the society Killing is against the society beliefs and morals, since the traditional days, killing have been a first degree crime that the members of society have always tried to avoid. When the government takes the lead in killing people as a way of punishment, not all the people will take it as a good gesture of punishing crime. There is that group that will assume that killing is right because even the government does it (n, a, 1), When wronged, these kinds of people are more likely to take action on their own by killing because they think it is justified. Therefore, the death penalty promotes moral decay in the society by acting as a lead example which other people follow as way of serving justice.
Ethically, killing no matter the circumstances is wrong, there is no way two wrongs can make something righti Mostly, the people sentenced to death row are murderers. They are punished by being killed. In this essence, there is no ethical foundation in repaying death by death, instead it promotes killing of people and hence overall increasing the crime rates. We have seen cases whereby people have assumed and taken the legal system on their own. Some of people will go to the extent of committing crimes in the name of serving justice. Extrajudicial killing by governments of developing countries have became a normal and all because they justify the killings as a way of serving justice. There is no moral background in taking away the life of another person regardless of the crime committed. There are alternative methods that can be used to punish the convict other than death sentence. Life imprisonment is a much better and efficient method because it promotes the moral values of society.
Death penalty should be abolished on the basis that, death cannot be repaid by death because it sends the wrong message to society, Death penalty violates the rights of human beings to live and free from torture. Capital punishment cases are usually associated with racial disparities and ethnic discrimination in the society. In the US, whooping population members are from the same side of the racial divide. In this case, the African-American members of the population have fallen victims of death penalty. According to NAACP, 50 % of the people scheduled to be executed between 2001 and 2006 were African Americans despite the fact that they represent 13% of the country’s total population (n.a, 1). There are large disparities in terms of social stratification when it comes to death penalty Evidently, it does not mean that only the people of color that commit crimes, even the other members of the population commit murders but from the figures above, the African American individuals are more targeted by the death penalty.
This case reflects the flaws that are within the judicial system and immediate solutions have to be provided to put an end to these social disparities. The only and sure way is to abolish the death penalty system that has continued to cause racial division in society. Revenge and justice to the families of the victims Many of the arguments that support death penalty are based on the retribution for the victims and their family members. There is that general notion that, by killing the person who committed the crime, the families and the victims will get the justice they desire and want to have.
This is totally wrong because, the decisions made to kill the individual is based on emotions contrary to the working of the justice system that is mandated to uphold the rule of law without involving passion or emotions. The decisions are supposed to be made based on the factual evidence and not on the plea of the majority of the people who are calling for the execution of the person. Furthermore, killing a person is not the best logical way of getting revenge, The death of the convicted fellow will not bring back the life of the loved one but it will promote a sequence of many killings which will ultimately affect how society functions.
Death penalty should be abolished because it does not serve any justice or revenge to the family of the victims by taking a way another life. The debate about death penalty will continue to create mixed reactions. The people supporting death penalty have argued that, death penalty is the best cause of action in fighting capital crimes because many people are afraid to die. Also, they have said that, death penalty helps in setting benchmarks for controlling crimes and it is the best way to issue justice to the families of the victims. Evidently, from the discussions above, we have noted that death penalty have caused serious moral problems within the society, racial disparities and most importantly, it has led to the killing of innocent people, Based on those factors, death penalty should be abolished and alternative methods adopted.
