state sanctioned murder

A detailed Summary of state sanctioned murder

Old Sparky and Gruesome Gertie (affectionate names for the electric chair) have taken the lives of many, even the innocent (Finnerty 18). They are prejudiced and lack compassion. However, many Americans believe that they represent justice. Capital punishment does not represent justice, but vengeance and hate. Among the 7,000 people estimated to have been killed in the United States between 1900 and 1985, at least 23 were innocent (Finnerty 18). In at least 8 of 261 executions performed since 1976, something went wrong; for example, the executioner couldn't find a good vein, or the first jolt of electricity failed to do the trick (Finnerty 18). An innocent person, let alone 23 that were wrongfully executed might seem insignificant to one. Just for a moment think if that one person was your brother or father, and they were innocent! Would you then see that the American judicial system is imperfect, and that capital punishment should be abolished? Capital punishment is wrong and should be abolished because of its imperfections, high cost, and immoral existence.

Many people argue that we should keep practicing capital punishment because it would be a waste of money to sentence someone to life in prison. Fa

Dority, Barbara. "Not in My Name." The Humanist March/April 1993: 36-37.

Finnerty, Amy. "Sunday: Six Facts." The New York Times Magazine 5 February 1995: 18.

One might then argue that we should lower the number of appeals, or maybe we shouldn't have any at all. They might argue that if someone does not prove their innocence in the first trial, then they are guilty. After all, we have a perfect judicial system, right? That is wrong! We do not have a perfect judicial system. According to a 1987 Stanford Law Review study, between 1900 and 1985 at least 23 innocent people were convicted and executed for crimes that they never committed (Dority 37). Barbara Dority said, "Until human judgment becomes infallible, this problem is reason enough to abolish the death penalty at the hands of a state more dedicated to vengeance than to truth and justice" (Dority 37). We are talking about 23 innocent lives that were taken away. What if one of those lives was your brother's, father's, mother's, or even yours? Would you then change your opinion on capital punishment?

Monagle, Katie. "The Death Penalty." Update 4 September 1992: 13-15.

cts show that it is more expensive to give someone the death sentence than life in prison. The cost of state execution is up to three times the cost of lifetime imprisonment (Dority 37). So many people are convinced that it is cheaper to practice capital punishment, but those people are not aware of the facts to be presented. If someone is interested in saving "tax payer's dollars," it is much cheaper to sentence someone to life in prison. The reason that life imprisonment is cheaper than th

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Approximate Word count = 1097
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English