Opposition to the Death Penalty

A detailed Summary of Opposition to the Death Penalty

Although many people believe that the death penalty is needed to deter crimes, supply retribution for murderers, and bring satisfaction to the victim's families, administering death is immoral, costly, a violation of the eighth and fourteenth amendments, and has room for error. An evil act like murder is not redeemed by another evil act of retaliation, execution in this case. Also, on average 4 innocent people each year are sent to death row and the cost of every execution is 3.2 million dollars (McAdams, 2002).

Supporters of the death penalty claim that the threat of executions prevents capital crimes more effectively than the threat of life imprisonment, even though it is shown that states with the death penalty do not have lower rates of criminal homicides than states without the death penalty. This claim seems valid, but there are a few reasons why the death penalty fails as a deterrent for capital crimes. First, only a small proportion of first- degree murders are sentenced to death, and even fewer are executed. Second, murders are either premeditated or not. In the cases where a crime is premeditated, the criminal usually concentrates on escaping arrest. The threat of execution is not going to prevent these murdere

In the past, and even currently, unfairness of delivering the death penalty has also occurred. Race, sex, and one's socio-economic class are factors that enter into determining who receives the death penalty. Over the past century, African Americans have been executed for crimes far less severe than white offenders. Statistics show that the odds of receiving the death penalty are 4 times higher when the victim is white (Bedau, 1992).All through the 1980's and the 1990's only 1 percent of all the people on death row were women, even though women commit 15 percent of capital crimes (ACLU, 2002). Discrimination against the poor is also eminent. 90 percent of people on death row could not afford to hire a lawyer when they were tried (Bedau, 1992). This discrimination in the criminal-justice system is unavoidable. However when this discrimination decides the life or death of a person, this discrimination becomes injustice.

Supporters also feel that death is what murderers deserve because they did murder someone. This principle is unrealistic because this would require the government to rape rapists, torture torturers, and murder murders as many times as they killed. Supporters also feel that the family of the victim of a murder cannot rest until the murderer is killed. This is not always true. Many people do not want to cause the same pain they have suffered, to another family.

rs from killing because they think they are too clever to get caught. In non- premeditated murders, the crimes are committed during impulsive moments of great emotional stress or under the influen

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Approximate Word count = 1075
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous