The Death Penalty is Insufficient Inhumane and Should be Abolished - Essay Sample

introduction

Is the death penalty just? The question of capital punishment is a controversial one for most Americans. Its proponents argue that it does away with repeat lawbreakers, dissuades possible murders, and is also the ultimate justice. Its critics dismiss it, terming it killing, and according to them it does not cause discouragement but rather encourages violence while also introducing a risk of an innocent getting killed.

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Assessing the arguments advanced by the two sides, integrated with my principles, the argument contrary to capital punishment is the most compelling. The idea of intentionally killing another person is unfathomable, even for the sake of justice. The physical and emotional mechanisms of carrying out a death sentence are beyond human reckoning, regardless of how much they may deserve it.

Out of the fifty US states, 38 have embraced capital punishment within their judicial systems while 12 have rejected the death sentence. The first method of administering the death sentence, the electric chair, was first implemented in New York in the year 1890 and to date, as many as 13 states are still using it. Old Sparky, as it was named was the dreadful result of Thomas Edison's effort to demonstrate how dangerous Ac power can be (Anderson, 51). In this method, the convict is strapped to a wooden chair and is electrocuted with electrodes drawing from a 30,000 Watt supply. The convict would get the cooked from inside and in some cases, death would need several electrocutions if the wattage were not sufficient. To ensure sufficient power, it was decided that execution time is set for midnight as few people would be using electricity. To date, midnight is still the execution time.

Following the electric chair, came the gas chamber as the second method of administering the capital punishment and it was introduced in 1921. Death is administered through exposure to cyanide gas, produced by a reaction between Sodium cyanide and sulfuric acid. The suffering this gas causes is severe as people can be seen writhing in pain, vomiting and gasping for a fresh breath for a considerable amount of time, and the actions are quite deliberate. Only a few states still use this atrocious technique.

The method developed after the gas chamber is the lethal injection which was first used in 1977 and is currently used by 23 states. This is the most common method of execution and also to some extent the most humane. The convict is tied to a chair before getting an injection of sodium thiopental. Consciousness is lost within 15 seconds. Next, they are infused with pancuronium bromide to hinder the respiratory framework lastly potassium chloride to stop the heart (Jackson 38-43).

The last couple of execution methods is passing by the terminating squad or demise by the executioner's noose. These two methods of execution are rarely used. Up to today, only two hangings and a solitary firing squad have been witnessed. In these methods, the convict may be offered the chance to choose how they want to die.

According to most spiritual people, and especially those of the Catholic faith, capital punishment is ethically off-base. The Catholic Church encourages that all human life is sacred and that people must ensure life. God is the giver of life, and only He can take it away. According to the Catholic Church, the death sentence is not the solution to capital offenses. The death sentence does not eliminate crime from society as execution is still murder on the convict. The death penalty is founded on the principles of respect for human life. Therefore, it is not possible to teach the society not to kill by killing.

One of the arguments presented in support of the death sentence is that imprisoning all capital offenders could be too costly for the state to sustain and therefore since their crime was murder, they can simply be done away with by murdering them. While it may seem true that it is cheaper, to execute a capital offender than to imprison them for life when looked at aerially, an analysis of the facts tells a different story (Anderson, 46). The average cost of imprisoning a prisoner for life without bail ranges from $750,000 to $1.1 million. While this is surely a huge sum, it is pennies when contrasted with the expense of execution. As indicated by insights, the normal expense of endeavoring, sentencing and executing a killer is $3 million. This is equal to the sum it required to imprison three convicts for 40 years in a maximum security facility. Estimates have shown that by abolishing the death penalty, California could save up to $90 million a year. New York $ 118 million, New Jersey $16 million, Kansas $11.4 million, and Indiana $5 million.

Another issue surrounding capital punishment is that it is irrevocable. Once a mistake has been made, the victim has no chance to appeal, and this has happened severally. In the past century, there have been in excess of 100 instances of improper conviction in criminal murders. Of these, 23 were death sentences, meaning there could be other cases that were not documented or not followed up (Anderson, 47).

Additionally, it is of the essence that we consider whether or not the death sentence is constitutional. The 8th Amendment of the US Constitution explicitly condemns cruel/unusual punishment on lawbreakers. It is cruel to make somebody wait in death row for years. In one instance the capital punishment was suspended from 1967 pending a decision on its constitutionality. In 1972, it was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The ruling was that the penalty was being implemented arbitrarily and irregularly. However, in 1976, it was the death penalty ruled constitutional, but its implementation had to be fair. This is a judgment that I strongly disagree with as in 1992, Robyn Park exhibited spasmodic reactions to the lethal injection. This is very cruel and unusual as well in my opinion. The death sentence is both an unsatisfactory and inhumane method of retribution which is also contrary to the US Constitution.

Contrary to popular opinion, capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime. No single study has been able to come with a connection between the threat of the death penalty and the existence of capital offenses (Prothrow-Slith, 69. In a study spanning 25 years, 1957-1982 Richard Ehrlich found no correlation as in his first year of study, there were 8,060 killings and 65 executions, while in his last year there were 22, 050 murders and only one execution. In another study which affirms my opinion that the death penalty is not prevention to crime, only about 2% of police officers surveyed thought that capital punishment was an effective deterrent to crime (Jackson, 1). This is enough proof that capital punishment is not a crime deterrent.

Conclusion

A possible alternative for the death penalty would be to require the criminal to pay damages the casualty's family with their earnings, either from work or communal service while serving their time. This would be the perfect solution as the offender would be inadvertently helping both the society and the victim's family.

References

Rauch, Jonathan. Death by Mistake. New York: Times Books, 1998

Frame, Randy. A Matter of life and Death. Boston: Northern University Press, 1994.

Prothrow, Deborah. Deadly Consequences. New York: Harbor Collins, Publisher, 1991.

Anderson, David. Crimes of Justice. Brooklyn: Times Books, 1988.

Williams, Mike. The Last Supper. Chicago: Times books, 1989.

Cabana, Donald. Death at Midnight. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

Jackson, Bruce. Law and Order. Chicago University of Illinois Press, 1984.