Is the Death Penalty the only Justice for Killers?

Is the Death Penalty the only Justice for Killers?

The death penalty has been practiced in America since colonial times and has been an issue for almost as long. The death penalty is the punishment of execution administered to someone convicted of a capital crime (Death Penalty). “Clarence Darrow, one of the greatest trial lawyers this country has ever produced, predicted in the 1920s that the death penalty would soon be abolished everywhere” (Hook 1). The years following have proven him wrong. Some favor the death penalty as necessary and fair. Others are equally convinced that it is ineffective and corrupt. Many believe a terrible crime calls for a terrible punishment; others claim that no one has the right to violate the preservation of life. The United States should abolish the death penalty. While it may be legal, the death penalty has not accomplished the task that it has been designed to fulfill.

To begin with, the death penalty will not discourage crime and demonstrates uselessness. There is no evidence that the death penalty discourages crime more effectively than long terms of imprisonment. Many may reason that you must show no mercy to the merciless, but “the punishment of death has never prevented determined men from injuring society” (Williams 22). According to Mary Williams, “States with the death penalty have higher murder rates than non-death-penalty states; these rates have risen and fallen in similar patterns over the years, suggesting that capital punishment has little or no deterrent effect” (124). This fact is sufficient enough to prove that the death penalty does not deter a person from hurting society. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of death sentences declined in 2009 to 106. This is a nearly two-thirds drop since the number peaked above 300 in the mid-to-late 1990s. This decline reflects that carrying out the death penalty should end.

The death of a criminal is terrible but momentary, and therefore a less effective method of discouraging others. A criminal who is convicted is deprived of his liberty and consequently has to endure that miserable condition for the rest of his or her life. The execution of a criminal seems to satisfy the mind much more than create “terror which the laws endeavor to inspire” (Williams 23).

Secondly, the death penalty is unjust. Supporters of the death penalty may argue that it does not violate the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment. However, there have been instances in which some death sentences were clearly a form of cruel and unusual punishment. In Florida during 1997, Pedro Medina’s head caught fire while he was being electrocuted (Williams 65). In 1999, Florida had another failed execution. Allen Lee Davis started to bleed from the nose and appeared to be in agonizing pain during electrocution (Williams 65). These instances prove why the death penalty