The Cons of the Death Penalty Essay

First in foremost, the use of capital punishment harms the innocent. Ignoring the obvious for a second on this topic, executing the innocent, the death penalty affects everyone involved. Take for example the case Semon Thompson,

An innocent man is wrongly executed whilst a man who raped and murdered a mother and her thirteen year old daughter spends the rest of his life with three meals a day and cable television. Which of these is the bigger injustice? The use of the death penalty to punish serious crimes is a very controversial topic and there is much debate surrounding the issue. This paper will briefly discuss arguments supporting and against the use of the death penalty.

Innocent people could also easily be blamed for a crime they didn’t commit. Anyone can plant evidence to make it seem like someone else is in the wrong, and it could cause the innocent to be punished by execution. Although it doesn’t happen often, the wrongly accused on the death row proves that capital punishment may be more inhumane than you think.

As revealed in the article, “One in 25 Sentenced to Death in the U.S. Is Innocent, Study Claims,” by Pema Levy, “But if the innocence rate is 4.1 percent, more than twice the rate of exoneration, the study suggests what most people assumed but dreaded: An untold number of innocent people have been executed. (4)” It is alarming to know that there were multiple people who have been executed, yet proven to be innocent afterwards. Not only is this unfair to the person himself/herself, but also to his/her family and friends for allowing people to believe their loved one was a murderer. For example, a man named Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas. As stated in the article, “Texas Executed an Innocent Man,” “Eight years after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for setting a fire that killed his three children, in a case now widely faulted for its use of flawed arson science, his relatives are seeking a posthumous pardon from state officials. (5)” Although evidence proved his innocence eight years later, it will not bring back a guiltless man. Similar to Willingham’s case, people have been accused of crimes they did not commit and received punishments they did not deserve. Additionally, statistics show the murder rate in states without a death penalty decreased throughout the years compared to states with the death penalty. For instance, studies show

“Since 1973, at least 121 people have been released from death row after evidence of their innocence emerged. During the same period of time, over 982 people have been executed. Thus, for every eight people executed, we have found one person on death row who never should have been convicted. These statistics represent an intolerable risk of executing the innocent” (“Innocence”).

The death penalty, formally reflected as capital punishment, is one of the most controversial issues in America. The debate about capital punishment has been going on for decades with both sides arguing for their claim. Death sentences are usually handed out to those who have committed a capital crime; however, the death penalty shouldn’t be so easily considered based on the margin of possible error that can be made in the process. It has been proven, and not everything is one hundred percent. There are flaws in the criminal justice system, and the fact that we use the Adversarial system in which the prosecution and defense pick and choose what will be presented should be taken into account. Even though some people may believe capital

George Ryan once said “I support the death penalty. But I also think there has to be no margin for error.” In 1973 alone 144 death row inmates were exonerated or simply put: in 1973 144 people on death row were innocent. Now that may not seem like a lot but when thinking of that number as more like 1 in 25 people then it starts to get worrisome. The idea and precedent of the death penalty is good and can be used for good but when even one innocent person is sentenced and put to death for a crime they did not commit then there is a problem with the system. In order to reform the death penalty the criminal justice system needs to be revamped and reformed. Not only does the amount of innocent people killed need to be fixed but also the amount of time someone spends on death row must change. Many death row inmates sit there anywhere from 10-20 plus years

Today’s justice system is a complex system that has many problems and isn’t perfect. The hardest part of the justice system today is to determine if an individual is guilty or innocent. The death penalty is thought to sway or scare individuals into following the law and to avoid the chance of being put to death. The death penalty is an invalid act set towards

The use of the death penalty fails to protect the innocent. The possibility of executing an innocent person exists in any justice system. Executing innocent defendants are made because of reasons, including eyewitness errors and false confessions that are made under pressure. Capital cases can sometimes take several years before the case goes to trial. Therefore, an eyewitness might have a difficult time remembering certain important accounts of a past event that occurred. David Von Drehle, author of More Innocent People on Death Row Than Estimated: Study Time Magazine, “points out that at least four percent of all death row inmates in the United States have been wrongfully convicted of

“Why do we kill people who kill people to show that killing people is wrong”, what makes us different from those individuals who we execute? Where do we get the right to take someone's life anymore than they? Many individuals have been executed without physical evidence, how are we to know that the individual is actually guilty? Till this day, there are thirty-one states with the death penalty and nineteen without.

First of all, capital punishment has often taken the lives of the innocent. According to Gross et al, an estimate of one in 25 people of the approximately 3,000 inmates who are sentenced to capital punishment are innocent (7230-7235). This number is disturbing, considering only 1,412 people were executed since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. “The

The biggest issue against the death penalty deals with the high probability of the wrongful conviction of innocent people. As stated before, 140 people have been removed from death row after additional evidence was found and proved their wrongful conviction (“U.S. Death Penalty Facts”,

In Missouri, Texas and Virginia investigations have been opened to determine if those states executed innocent men. To execute an innocent person is morally reprehensible; this is a risk we cannot take. The reason why some people are with the death penalty is because The death penalty gives closure to the victim's families who have suffered so much.It creates another form of crime deterrent.Justice is better served.Our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does victims.It provides a deterrent for prisoners already serving a life sentence.DNA testing and other methods of modern crime scene science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence.Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance to kill.It contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prison system.It gives prosecutors another bargaining chip in the plea bargain process, which is essential in cutting costs in an overcrowded court

In the world we as people live in violence. Violence has gotten so out of control that it has affected everyone. The one thing about violence is that it also leads to crimes. And crimes leads to some people being imprisoned, while others are put on death row. But if crimes are crimes, what makes them minor or major? Who decides if they are minor or major? Nowadays minor and major crimes are being pushed together. For example, someone gets shot and the shooter gets 5 years in prison. But if someone is raped it cannot be proven and the victim is left suicidal while the rapist goes about their day. Both are major crimes but one has a sentence and the other one does not. With this happening in the world it makes me wonder if we as the people

Since the mid 1900’s, capital punishment has brought many individuals into many diverse view points throughout the years. Capital punishment is a way of punishing a convict by killing him or her because of the crime he or she committed. Capital punishment will always have its pros and cons. There are opponents who absolutely disagree with capital punishment. And then there are advocates who support the idea. In the advocates view point, capital punishment is a way to minimize the threat in the world today. In the opponent’s point of view, opponents disagree with capital punishment, because of the high expenses it brings to the states. Also, opponents argue that capital punishment