Thy_Shall_Not_Kill__the_Death_Penalty

Thou Shall Not Kill: The Death Penalty Introduction The United States, China, Iran, and a few other countries continue to preserve the death penalty as an option. All European nations, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have abolished capital punishment while others have suspended execution of criminals sentenced to capital punishment (Stephen Bright). I will state evidence to argue the fact that the death penalty is not in the best interest of anyone involved nor is it a deterrent to murder and may well contribute to the murder of innocent individuals. Background The death penalty is considered by some as a necessary evil to deter dangerous crimes primarily murder and has been part of human society and its legal system for millennia. According to Louis P Pojman when anyone kills another human the only possible retribution is that the life of that person be given in exchange for the victims’ life. As individuals and governments began to see the far reaching disparities involved in the prosecution and conviction rates of the poor, mentally ill, minorities and those wrongly accused the more the death penalty has been called into question. As of 2009, fewer than 60 countries actively retain the death penalty according to deathwatch international. Some of the most common and brutal types of punishment has been; burning, hanging, drowning, crucifixion, dragging, boiling to death, electrocution, firing squad, gassing, lethal injection, hacked, whipping, the stockades, branding, cutting Thou Shall Not Kill 3 off appendages, and maiming to name a few.. The social status of the condemned in some instances dictated which method of punishment was given to the convicted and in some cases determined if there was even a charge brought against the accused. In the case of an aristocrat a relatively painless, “respectable” way of execution was the sentence, whereas the common people received the most painful forms of execution – such as hanging, breaking on the wheel, whipping, branding, crucifixion, dragging and witches and heretics had to be burned at the stake in accordance with the rules of the church. The first decision to abolish capital punishment in the world was made by the Grand Duke Leopold II of Habsburg in Granducato di Toscana (Tuscany) on November 30, 1786. The anniversary of the decree has been celebrated as a holiday in Tuscany since the year 2000. The philosophy of abolitionist Bedau and Jeffery Reiman coincide with this author’s belief that capital punishment is not a deterrent to murder. A murder is in many cases not premeditated and in many cases are crimes of passion. The murder is not thinking of the consequences of their action as the act is being committed, it is only after the deed is done that the consequences become obvious. As a well educated country surely the use of the death penalty should be abolished in favor of a more human treatment for those who commit heinous crimes life in prison with no possible chance of parole is the only civilized way of dealing with capital punishment. The Supreme Court landmark decision on the Death Penalty for Children was announced on March 1, 2005 in a 5 to 4 ruling that the death penalty for 16 - 17 year olds violated the Thou Shall Not Kill 4 Eighth Amendment and was unconstitutional. This action reversed the death sentences of 72 convicted murders who committed their crimes as juveniles. Remarkably fifty-eight countries retained the death penalty in 2009, most did not use it. Eighteen countries have carried out executions, killing a total of 714 people since 2009; however, this figure does not include the thousands of executions that were likely to have taken place in China,” according to Amnesty International. Argument Over the years many innocent people have been sentenced to prison and inevitably death by lethal injection. The arguments in favor of the death penalty have remained basically the same throughout history. The Death Penalty has deep roots in the Deep South sometimes referred to as the “Death Belt” or the “Bible Belt” where many of the advocates for the death penalty come from strong Christian backgrounds and hold a history of violence, racism and feelings of superiority. There are too many obstacles to overcome for the accused if they happen to be poor, mentally ill or a minority getting a fair trial was next to impossible and the likelihood of being sentenced to death holds a far greater opportunity. Good legal counsel is very expensive and for the poor that could mean a death sentence – guilty by socio-economic status. The court does supply the poor with an attorney, yet many of these defendants meet there court appointed attorney for the first time on the day of trial, so much for this attorney fighting for justice Thou Shall Not Kill 5 for their client, they don’t even really know their client. According to the American Bar Associations published guidelines for a good defense in a death penalty case; (a) attorneys with prior experience working a capital case, (b) 2 attorneys, 1 investigator, and 1 mitigation specialist, and (c) fully funded to pay for travel, private eyes, evidence testing and other things needed to investigate the case. Few states pay their state-appointed lawyers well enough to retain competent, effective lawyers. The appropriation of funds for those suspected of being mentally ill, or requiring DNA testing, is very expensive as well as the cost of gathering the necessary information for the proceeds is very minimal as well as a very modest salary to the attorney. The proper defense of a mentally ill man resulting in his conviction of murder and rape ended in a life sentence only to have his sentence overturned in 1994 with the presentation of DNA evidence by the governor in Virginia. Perhaps other innocent death row inmates will be given the opportunity to prove their innocence with DNA testing. The execution of this man could have been considered a murder had the newly introduced DNA evidence not been admitted as evidence to the jury no doubt he would have been executed. The motto, Don’t Mess with Texas takes on a new meaning as a Texas, man with schizophrenia was executed even after the Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended clemency after learning of his time spent in mental hospitals and his unintelligible rambling. This case alone speaks volumes to the unfair executions that take place each year. Nevertheless all those who stand firm to the belief that execution is indeed a cruel and unusual form of punishment must not allow their voices to be silenced. Execution of the mentally ill is not now, nor will it ever be acceptable. Anyone who Thou Shall Not Kill 6 sees the injustice here must not remain silent. The death penalty should and must be abolished because on any given day any of us could be influenced to sentence another human to death based on our own biases or incorrect information. The potential for jury selection that is prejudiced against the accused, incomplete representation of the accused and a system driven to the need for a quick conviction. Punishment for a crime, yes definitely. Life and throw away the key, yes but the death penalty, no, not until man becomes incapable of human error—which will never happen. The pundits say that capital punishment keeps the murderer from having the opportunity to kill again. A common argument is that prisons do not provide a strict form of punishment. It has been said that inmates work, get their degrees, workout and read in fact it has been stated by some that prisoners live better than members of the general public. Man does not possess the propensity to be totally objective jeopardizing the true fairness of a trial is always a condition to be considered. Europe has a lower murder rate than the US yet they do not have a death penalty. To have ones freedom restricted and all your rights as a citizen taken and confined to live out the remainder of their lives with the most basic freedoms removed forever is the greatest punishment of all. When one dies what punishment is left' Does execution close the wounds of family and friends who has lost a loved one to an act of violence' Will they have a sense of feeling better after the execution' There loved one is gone and weather the accused lives or dies will not bring back the victim. The execution of an innocent person leaves no opportunity to correct the error. make the victims family feel knowing the real killer is still free and an innocent person has now Thou Shall Not Kill 7 become a victim' It has been said that most murders are unplanned impulsive crimes of passion, with the exception of the criminally insane further indicating that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder and in many cases may add to the murders lack of concern for murdering again because they know if caught and convicted they will be executed. Political crimes should not be punished with death either, as this would open the way to political repression and physical elimination of political rivals, as it happened in Stalin's times in the Soviet Union. Conclusion In conclusion the aforementioned evidence has proven that there is no conclusive proof that the death penalty deters murder in fact many cities that do not have the death penalty have the lowest crime rates both in the world. The days of the Wild Wild West no longer exists therefore those found guilty of murder can be sentenced to life without parole. More than 100 countries around the world do not have a death penalty and right here in the United States Michigan and Wisconsin have not had the death penalty since the mid-1800s (Bright, Stephen). Many other states are following suite, the following US cites have ended the death penalty: AK, HI, IA, ME, MA+, MI, MN, ND, NJ*, NM**, NY++, RI, VT, WV, WI also the District of Columbia *In Dec. 2007, New Jersey ended its Death Penalty program in favor of life in prison without parole. ** In March 2009, New Mexico did the same. +Massachusetts has Thou Shall Not Kill 8 declared its execution program unconstitutional, but may revise it and continue ++New York did the same. Some may argue that a murder should always be executed, however legal systems are operated by humans that are prone to mistakes based on bias, prejudice, ignorance and the desire for revenge. Fortunately, the recent advancements in the use of DNA has begun to show how incompetent or unconcerned many of our criminal justice systems are and have proven many accused of murder and other crimes to be innocent. As a civilized nation it is time to join the rest of our states and the world and just say no to the death penalty, no longer choosing to live as vengeful members of society excluding it’s children who have gone bad, denying adequate health care thereby preventing it’s mentally ill from obtaining proper medication. By ending the death penalty we can all live in a world free of the “eye for an eye” mentality and stop the needless slaughter of innocence in order to get some of the guilty. Thou Shall Not Kill 9 References Pearson Longman Kahn, P. (1998). Secrete History of the Mongols: The Origin of Chingis Khan (C & T Asian culture Series) Pojman, Louis P. and Reiman, Jeffery (1998) The Death Penalty For and Against, Chapter 2 pp 77-85 Shepherd, Joanna M., 1993 Murders of Passion, Execution Delays, and the Deterrence of Capital Punishment. Journal of Legal Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 283-322. Waller, B. N. (2008). Consider Ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues (2nd Ed.). New York Wekesser, Carol The Death Penalty; Opposing Viewpoints (San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1991 Zimmerman, Paul R. (May 2004) State Executions, Deterrence and the Incidence of Murder. Journal of Applied Economics, Vol. VII, No. I, 163-193.