Capital Punishment Essay, Research Paper

Martin Ferretti

3/5/00

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment was established in this country many years ago to punish those

members of society which have committed horrendous crimes against fellow citizens and in a

way to give the family of the victims a sense of peace. Various forms of capital and corporal

punishment exist around the world and in most cases are very closely related to the religion of

the nation. I believe that capital punishment is an atrocious institution and should only be used in

those very few cases where rehabilitation is not an option because it does not help the criminal

become a member of society. It should be used only for those who kill just for the act of killing

and for no other reason. The killer must be proved guilty beyond a doubt for this punishment to

be used, and many times we find people on death row who are totally innocent of the crimes

which have sent them to their deaths. Something is wrong with the justice system and it should

be changed.

Around the country there is a serious deficit in funds for our schools and courts which

obviously shows in the crimes rates around the nation. Lack of funds at schools, leads to kids

finding a way of living on the streets, by stealing, dealing drugs, and sometimes killing. Lack of

funds in the justice system gives us another problem. Many people who are innocent are sent to

jail for years suffering for a crime they did not commit, and in the worst cases they are sent to

their deaths. The law of this country is that everyone will receive fair and equal representation.

Now, when someone is suspected of committing a crime, they are assigned a lawyer so that they

may have their voice heard in front of the judge and jury and tried fairly. Is it fair that most of

these lawyers works over a thousand hours and in most cases get paid only around two dollars?

What kind of lawyer would work for this amount of money? The justice system is so poorly

funded that it has no choice but to hire lawyers fresh out of college, or lawyers who can get no

other case because of reputation, and throw them into the system to defend a poor guy with no

other means of representation. Is it fair that the poor get such bad representation while the rich

may get away with crimes simply because they can afford to pay for the best lawyers? Certainly

not. To illustrate this point we must look at the case of Antonio James. He has been on death row

at Angola Prison for nearly twenty years waiting for the death when he will walk down the

hallway and enter the death chamber. His death sentence had been previously postponed

fourteen times and he was up for the next walk to the chamber. Mr. James had been in trouble

the law as a young child growing up in the ghettoes of the south, but one day he was with the

wrong guy and totally not in the control of the situation. Shots were fired and in the end, two

people were killed, one two separate occasions. Antonio and two other men were arrested and

tried for the robberies and murders but only Antonio went to jail for any significant time and was

sentenced to death. His partners in crime walked out almost free because they testified that

Antonio was the gunman on both occasions. Antonio went to jail and years later he got a new

lawyer, who discovered evidence that Antonio had not committed the murders. This kept

Antonio alive for years until he was finally put to death. We then look at the case of O.J.

Simpson. Simpson, also African-American, was a popular football star. One day his ex-wife and

her friend were murdered just outside of her home. Later Simpson was placed as the only suspect

and he gave the police and the American public plenty of evidence that he was guilty of the

crime. Simpson was found innocent despite the substantial evidence against him, but only

because he could afford the best lawyers that could be bought. So what are the differences in the

two cases? Both men were tried for murder, and both men were African-American, and yet one

walked free. The issue here is money. How could a judicial system that can be bought

possibly be fair to all people? This country was founded on the words that “all men are created

equal” and yet we treat this phrase as if only all white men or all rich men are created equal and

this is not the case. If the judicial system is to work to its full extent then it should be color blind;

especially to the color green. We also find cases where white defendants get away with crimes

simply because they were white. A good example of this is the recently resolved Diallo case in

the Bronx. If all or one of those officers were African-American or Hispanic, I’m not so certain

the jury would have decided in the same way. Even though much work has been done to stop

racism there is still a long way to go before this country achieves the true equality which Dr.

Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement dreamed of. Problems of the sort still persist

throughout the country but in particular in the same. We must remember, however, that racism

is not only a thing of the South.

So how do we solve a problem as deep as this? We must find a way to revolutionize the

system. Every year, billions and billions of dollars are spent on military prowess and flights into

space, while our education and judicial systems suffer and are worsened. People want quick

answers so the government builds jails to get rid of all the “outcasts” of society, but people don’t

realize that this only causes further problems and further expenditure of tax dollars. The only

way to fix the judicial system is to start with schools. Properly funded schools with good

facilities, faculty, proper maintenance, and proper books have shown to give great educations,

but of course it all comes at a price. Institutions like Horace Mann and other prominent private

schools spend thousands more per student and it obviously shows in the education of the child.

Even public schools such as those found in prominent neighborhoods such as Scarsdale, are

much better off than city schools simply because of property tax differences. I propose that less

is spent on military and space plans and more on education so that every child in the country

may have enough knowledge to compete in the work place. This competition would only better

the economy in time. With a more educated population, the crime rate would inevitably go

down. The next step would be better funding of the judicial system. It is not fair that poor

defendants who cannot afford their own lawyer receive a sentence because their two dollar an

hour lawyer fell asleep during the hearings. Proper funding of courts would allow these poor

defendants to have a better chance of proving their innocence and that if they are guilty that it

may be proved beyond a doubt. Jails are being produced at an incredible rate because of lack

of funding to schools, but people don’t want to change this new institution because it generates

jobs in poor towns. We as the American people, must begin to look to the future of our children

and grandchildren and not just to our own futures. If we do not attempt to change things now,

how much harder will it be twenty or a hundred years from now to fix everything that has been

done. Legislative action should also be taken to ensure that proper procedures are being

followed. It took the civil rights movement years to get their point across, but they finally did

when the Supreme Court ordered desegregation of schools, buses, restaurants, etc. If a state

did not comply, then the National Guard was sent in such as in Little Rock, Arkansas, when

the Governor refused to desegregate schools. The federal government tries to let each state rule

itself as it says in the constitution, but there comes a time when if something is not done

correctly then some higher power has to take charge, and in this case that higher power is the

federal government, and if it takes the army to get the point across then that is what must be

done. Heavy taxation policies such as those used when Yonkers refused to integrate its school

can also be put into place so that everyone may follow the laws. We call ourselves a democratic

country but if the people cannot do what is best for the country then the government should take

action. President John F. Kennedy once said that “the rights of every man are diminished when

the rights of one man are threatened”. It is the duty of every American and every person around

the world to look out for his/her neighbor. To quote a famous passage from the Scriptures: “Am I

my brother’s keeper?” The answer is yes. We are all held responsible for the way our society

works. Especially in a democratic government which is supposed to be run for the people and by

the people. The statistics show that our society is on a decline and we need to do something

soon. We must make America what it was meant to be and if it means making a sacrifice then

that is what must be done. This is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave,

but what kind of freedom is there in a society where social mobility is nearly impossible without

the aid of altruistic sources? For years people have come to America to follow their own religion

without being persecuted, or to escape some kind of threat to themselves. Isn’t it then our duty

to protect the weak and weary? America is the land of opportunity but what price must be paid?

In order to make America truly what it stands for many things must be changed. The

whole system must be changed from the inside out. More money needs to be dedicated to

educating the children and to provide proper resources to the court system. Police departments

should be run the way they were meant to be. They should serve and protect, not kill the

innocent. Many holes need to be patched in the system but it requires a change in attitude around

the country in regards to race and class. We must stop thinking about finding quick solutions and

we must begin to think about the long run, and find solutions that solve problems, not create

more. We live in a democracy and we have the right to decide where our tax dollars go. The

American public needs to make a stand on what’s right before it’s too late the politics of the

system finally cause it to crash.

As Amadou Diallo’s mother mentioned in an interview done by CNN, justice was not

served in this case. Amadou Diallo was shot at forty-one times by four police officers right

outside his home in the Bronx because he seemed to fit the description of a wanted felon. From

the interviews I have seen and the articles I have read in newspapers, it seems to me like this

shooting was nothing but poor police work on the part of the officers. They claim that Mr. Diallo

waved an object that looked like a gun, later discovered to be his wallet, at them and that act

forced them to shoot Mr. Diallo. Certainly in the dark things may get distorted and one might see

something that is not there but it is the police officers’ duty to differentiate between reality and

what appears to be and to take every precaution necessary to ensure that a life will not be

unnecessarily lost. This officers were part of a special crime unit and therefore that fact should

prove that they are especially trained to deal with these types of situations. Another thing one

might consider is that if Amadou Diallo’s wallet was confused for a gun, how could the officers

possibly have any idea whether they had caught the right guy or not. They stated during the trial

that Mr. Diallo was standing just outside his door and that it was dark. It is certainly possible that

this was not the right man, and in this case it was not. So was racial profiling an issue in this

incident?

I don’t believe that if one of the four officers were African-American it would have

mattered in any way. If one of the officers had acted in such a careless manner as these four did

then the rest would more than likely have followed with the same reaction, and shot Mr. Diallo.

While the fact that all four officers involved were white seems to me irrelevant, it seems to me

like there indeed was some sort of racial profiling done. The description of the wanted felon

loosely fit that of Mr. Diallo’s. What was the description? A tall, thin, African-American with a

short haircut? That description fits many people. If the police’s job is to serve and protect than

police officers should be better trained to recognize criminals and they should be better trained

to deal with situations of this sort so that incidents like this don’t occur again. Even if one of

those officers had been black, I think racial profiling would have occurred because while Police

Chief Howard Safir denies the NYPD’s use of racial profiling, it seems evident in this case and

in many cases around the country that racial profiling is used heavily.

The NYPD and other police departments around the country should be better instructed

to deal with these kind of situations. The police officers should make sure that the subject they

have caught sight of is the right one. If the subject is in a dark area and can’t be identified, then

every effort should be made to make that suspect come out and show him/herself. Another

problem in the Diallo case is that the officers were probably not very psychologically trained to

deal with what occurred. Police work is very arduous work and it takes a lot out of a person.

Psychological testing should be made available to all officers to ensure their mental well being

so that when they have to make a decision very suddenly, that they can make the right one. The

NYPD is certainly one of the best in the country at what it does, but as shown in this case more

has to be done. Police officers cannot make these mistakes in identifying an suspect. Shooting

should be a last resort. If we cannot trust the police department to do their job than who can we

trust our lives to? Their responsibility is to serve and to protect, not to shoot innocent people.

Every effort should be made to ensure that justice is served and that other officers may learn

from this incident.

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