Abolishing the Death Penalty

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment, for even the very wise cannot see all ends." This profound quote was said by Gandalf in JRR Tolkien's popular book series The Lord of the Rings. It encompasses three major faults in the death penalty, and is the foundation of my beliefs for why this penalty should be abolished.

Firstly, who are we to judge who lives and who dies? Every single human being is inherently entitled towards the right to life as proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As such, we can accept that if we allow the death penalty to continue being legal, we are thus accepting the biggest denial of human rights to exist. We would be condoning the deliberate and inhumane killing of a human being in the name of what the state calls "justice". However, how can we really believe whether or not the person is indeed guilty and worthy of death? Since 1973 in the United States alone, over 138 people have been released from death sentences from innocence. With this, at least one person is exonerated for every 10 that are executed. Judges and jury panels make mistakes. Many people who are in fact innocent could have been put to death, and for no just reason. Death is irreversible. There are many a time where many of these cases are filled with doubt and insecurity. There have been many a time where testimonies by witnesses have been flimsy and weak; however, unable to exonerate themselves, people such as Troy Davis remain on the death row till today. Many of these detainees have had little to no legal representation because of lawyers who were unfit for their trial owing to an excessive use of alcohol, drugs, or lying under Oath. There has never been a case without disrepute or a case where someone is unquestionably deserving of the death penalty. As such, why commit something so brutal as to take away someone else's life when there is the slightest of chances that he is, in fact, innocent of all charges?

Another point that brings to light is how unnecessary the death penalty is and the amount of money it takes for a single case. "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is a phrase many of us have grown up learning in school. However, is it really applicable when that tooth we are dealing with is someone else's life? Rehabilitation of these individuals would not only send a much more positive note towards the community, but it would also be correcting and resolving a problem with the detainee. In fact, financial costs to taxpayers of capital punishment are actually several times higher than that of keeping someone in prison for life. Why waste so much money when giving someone a second chance, by presenting the opportunity for an individual to better himself, would be a much better option? There are countless cases of death-row inmates even changing