Problems With Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper

“Dead Man Walking!” This sound rings through

each and every death row inmate a thousand times a day; But should it?

Capital punishment is one of the most controversial topics among Americans

today. Since every person has there own opinion on this topic, either for

or against, the question always raised is “Is it morally right.” The number

of problems with the death penalty are enormous, ranging from innocence

to racism, and these problems will never be resolved unless the death penalty

is abolished.

The problems with capital punishment stem

as far back as the ritual itself. The number of occurrence on why the death

penalty is racist is uncountable. A 1990 report released by the federal

government’s General Accounting Office found a “pattern of evidence indicating

racial disparities in the charging, sentencing and imposition of the death

penalty after the Furman decision.” Professor David Baldus examined sentencing

patterns in Georgia in the 1970’s. After reviewing over 2,500 homicide

cases in that state, controlling for 230 non-racial factors, he concluded

that a person accused of killing a white was 4.3 times more likely to be

sentenced to death than a person accused of killing a black. The Stanford

Law Review published a study that found similar patterns of racial dispair,

based on the race of the victim, in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois,

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Virginia. For example, in Arkansas

findings showed that defendants in a case involving a white victim are

three-and-a-half times more likely to be sentenced to death; in Illinois,

four times; in North Carolina, 4.4 times, and in Mississippi five times

more likely to be sentenced to death than defendants convicted of murdering

blacks.

There is also the issue of Capital Punishment

being a deterrent. But does the death penalty really deter crime? The death

lobby wants you to believe the answer to that question is “yes.” But, in

fact, it is a resounding “NO.” Consider this…the US is the only Western

nation that still allows the death penalty, and we also have one of the

highest crime rates. During the 1980s, death penalty states averaged an

annual rate of 7.5 criminal homicides per 100,000, while abolition states

averaged a rate of 7.4 per 100,000. That means murder was actually more

common in states that use the death penalty. Also consider this…in a

nationwide survey of police chiefs and sheriffs, capital punishment was

ranked last as a way of reducing violent crime. Only twenty-six percent

thought that the death penalty significantly reduces the number of homicides.

The theory behind the deterrence doctrine is flawed itself. Murderers do

not examine risk/reward charts before they kill someone. Being a criminal

is inherently irrational…life imprisonment ought to deter a rational

person itself. Besides, no criminal commits a crime if he believes he will

be caught.

The next issue that deserves some observation

is that of Capital punishment being economically correct, meaning will

it save the U.S. and its taxpayers money. “The death penalty is not now,

nor has it ever been, a more economical alternative to life imprisonment,”

said Spangenberg and Walsh in an article in the Loyola of Los Angeles Law

Review. A study by the NY State Defenders Association showed that the cost

of a capital trial alone is more than double the cost of life imprisonment.

In Maryland, a comparison of capital trial costs with and without the death

penalty for the years 1979-1984 concluded that a death penalty case costs

“approximately 42 percent more than a case resulting in a non-death sentence,”

according to the US Government Accounting Office. In 1988 and 1989 the

Kansas legislature voted against reinstating the death penalty after it

was informed that reintroduction would involve a first-year cost of more

than $11 million. And the Miami Herald reported that Florida, with one

of the nation’s largest death rows, has estimated that the true cost of

each execution is approximately $3.2 million, or approximately six times

the cost of a life-imprisonment sentence.

The last issue that should be observed

is that of innocence. Are there really innocent people on death row? At

least twenty-three people have been executed who did not commit the crime

they were accused of. And that’s only those that we know. And here lies

an inherent danger of capital punishment…when we execute an innocent

person; the real killer is still on the streets, ready to victimize someone

else. But when an innocent person is arrested, he is often the driving

reason behind further investigation, and if he is executed, than the case

remains closed forever. Or, at least, until someone else gets killed by

the real perpetrator.

On a Final note, there is also the aspect

of religion playing a factor in the Capital Punishment debate. Many people

point to the passage in Leviticus, which states that an eye for an eye

is God’s decree. However, Jesus Christ overturns these Old Testament laws.

Given are the examples on why the bible does not support the death penalty;

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a

tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes

you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue

you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you

to go one mile, go also the second mile.” Remember that when Jesus came

upon the crowd stoning a prostitute, He told them, “Let he who is without

sin cast the first stone.” Christ taught a doctrine of peace, love, and

forgiveness, not revenge, retribution, and death.

Capital punishment is a power that no man

or woman deserves to make for another human being. The Constitution clearly

states that everybody deserves, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;”

But if you kill that person how can any of this be attained? Capital punishment

is just plain wrong and has no place in today’s society. There are too

many flaws in the death penalty; therefore the only reasonable solution

is to abolish the death penalty.