Should the Death Penalty be Abolished?

 Should the Death Penalty be Abolished? By Ruby Mitchell

The death penalty is a type of legal punishment that has been around since the colonial ages, though lately, there has been a lot of discourse around whether it’s fair or not. I love debating about this subject because you never really know what someone's stance is. With a lot of other worldly issues, you can usually predict what someone’s viewpoint is based on their political views, but people tend to have mixed views on the death penalty because of its moral ambiguity. This debate poses a difficult moral question that makes you wonder about what rights to comfort and choice we should give to someone who has committed a crime as terrible as murder.

A majority of Americans favor the death penalty. The “Survey of U.S. adults”, conducted in 2021, concluded that 60% of U.S. adults were in favor of the death penalty. The most commonly used argument in favor of the death penalty is something along the lines of “The murderer deserves it”. Lots of people argue that the families of the victims deserve closure, and one of the best ways to do that is to kill the murderer, an eye for an eye. Others use the argument that the death penalty is cheaper and more efficient than feeding a murderer for life, but the consensus around all of these arguments is that the murderer does not deserve to live. 

Even though the people who want to abolish the death penalty are the minority, they have many arguments for their cause. The most common argument is that the death penalty is inhumane and violates the law against cruel and unusual punishment. They argue that the death penalty violates the right to life, which is the most basic human right. Another popular argument is that there is a chance of killing an innocent person via the death penalty. The American justice system is notorious for putting innocent people in jail (predominantly affecting people of color), so there is a likelihood that someone killed via the death penalty could be innocent. This might not seem very likely, but since 1973, 184 people have been released from death row on grounds of innocence. That’s 184 people who would’ve been killed if it wasn't proven that they were innocent. Statistics like these make you wonder how many people currently on death row are innocent, and how many innocent people have already been executed. Unlike a jail sentence, where you can let someone out if you wrongly judged them, the death penalty is irreversable, and an innocent person could be killed. 

I believe that the death penalty should be abolished. Killing more people doesn’t lead to a better and more just world, it just leads to more grief. A point that I don't see many people bring up is the family of the person on death row. Even though the family of a murderer does not agree with what their relative has done and probably finds it disgusting, that doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t grieve for the death of a person they love. Not to mention the families of innocent people on death row who have to watch their beloved family member get killed because of an unjust legal system. Another reason I think the death penalty should be abolished is that no one should die at the hands of another person, not even a murderer. When murderers are killed by the death penalty it does make me wonder, how is the government any better than the murderer? Inmates on death row often have to wait decades for their execution which is in and of itself a form of cruel torture. They have to wait for the scheduled day of their execution with no contact to the outside world except limited visitations with family. I believe that the prison system uses the death penalty as more of a threat than an attempt to serve justice. Life in prison is a fair punsihment for killing someone, but the death penalty takes it way too far and brings too much unwanted and unneeded pain and grief into an already somber situation. The death penalty is cruel and unjust and does more harm than good, and I believe that the world would be a better place if it was abolished.

"https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/02/ most-americans-favor-the-death-penalty-despite-concerns-about-its-administration/." Pew Research Center, 2 June 2021, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/06/02/

most-americans-favor-the-death-penalty-despite-concerns-about-its-administration/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2022.

Head, Tom. "5 Arguments in Favor of the Death Penalty." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.

com/arguments-for-the-death-penalty-721136.

"Why the Death Penalty Should Be Abolished." International Commission against Death Penalty, icomdp.org/why-the-death-penalty-should-be-abolished/ #:~:text=The%20death%20penalty%20violates%20the,inherent%20to%20every%20human%20being. Accessed 20 Oct. 2022.