Capital Punishment2

A detailed Summary of Capital Punishment2

The question as to whether the state has the right to execute a person found guilty of murder has been debated at length for decades. As with the subject of abortion, it is one of the most controversial topics of discussion in our country today. According to the website religious tolerance.org. about 60 to 80% of American adults say they want to retain capital punishment ( 2). In fact, there are only 12 states that have chosen not to enact the death penalty since the ruling of the Supreme Court in 1976 that said it was constitutionally permissible to have capital punishment (Bonner 1). This strikes me as being rather odd since a large number of those same people claim to be Christians and the main thrust of Christianity is love and forgiveness, not vengeance. At the same time, a number of Christians are opposed to abortion, but are in favor of the death penalty. This belief does not make sense to me; if the life of the unborn is considered precious, then all life should be considered precious, including those who have allegedly committed terrible crimes. Opponents of the death penalty believe that the death penalty is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, is racially biased, can often times be m

Will, George F. "Innocent on Death Row" The Washington Post 6 April ,2000

This brings me to my next argument in opposition to the death penalty, the possibility that an innocent person may be condemned to death and be executed for a crime that he has not committed. Some people would argue that with our system of appeals this could not happen, but it has happened and continues to happen. Fortunately, with the discovery of DNA testing, innocent men have been proven innocent after spending years in prison for a crime they haven't committed. An example of this was illustrated in an article from the Washington Post regarding a recent book written by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer in which they tell of a man by the name of Robert Miller from Oklahoma who spent nine years on death row for the rape and murder of a 92 year old woman. Even when testing of his DNA proved without a doubt that he could not possibly have been the man who raped and murdered this old woman, prosecutors refused to release him from jail. It wasn't until a determined defense attorney pursued the matter and was able to establish his innocence and another man was indicted that he was finally released (Will 1). Is this a fluke or an unusual case? Not according to the Denver Post who also reported on the same book as illustrated above. Over the past decade, 67 innocent people have been released from prison since DNA evidence has been used. There was even one man, Ron Williamson, who was just five days away from execution, when he was granted a stay from the state, and he was eventually released (Rosenberg). Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. The facts speak for themselves. Innocent people have been convicted of crimes that they haven't committed and common sense would have to have you believe that there have been people executed for crimes they haven't committed.

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Approximate Word count = 1862
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics