Death Penalty - A Case for Repealing the Death Penalty
The death penalty or capital punishment continues to be a contentious issue in the United States.
There are two opposing views.
A large portion of the population want the retention of the death penalty.
Other individuals and groups advocate the abolition of it.
For instance Amnesty International has for a long time now run a campaign calling for the removal of the penalty as a sentencing option for American Judges.
Most recently Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who heads the state's judicial branch and its highest court, said in an interview that the death penalty is no longer effective in California and suggested she would welcome a public debate on its merits and costs.
It is clear that the actual administration of Capital Punishment comes at such a huge financial cost if not politically so.
Capital Punishment trials cost so much as much as one million dollars each.
One of the reasons to revoke the penalty is that it is so remarkably easy for a mistake to be made.
Such a mistake in a capital case becomes irreversible.
If the penalty has already been carried out then an injustice cannot be reversed.
Prosecutors, Governors -- such as Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon -- and even judges, such as Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and fellow retired justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor, are raising doubts about the death penalty.
It is puzzling to me how we can show our outrage at the crime of murder by killing the perpetrator.
The murder may have been committed in a fit of passion, or it may have been provoked, or the murderer may have a mental disorder in which normal human empathy is lacking and therefore cannot understand what all the fuss is about.
But the executions are carried out in cold blood by people who know full well the horror of what they're doing.
Two-thirds of all cases involving a black or Hispanic killing a white result in the death penalty.
Overall, a black person is 5 times more likely to get the death penalty than a white defendant in similar circumstances.
If white people were sentenced to death in the same proportions as Hispanic's and Blacks I contend that there would be a public outcry to abolish the death penalty.
The recent introduction of DNA evidence has highlighted the flaws within the current justice system.
Too often suspects that have been sitting on cells in deaths rows for years have been exonerated.
Thanks largely to the likes of The Innocence Project who have fought tooth and nail to get certain cases reviewed.
Without which many of the newly found innocent detainees would have otherwise been executed.
For instance DNA evidence freed Ray Krone after 10 years in prison, (four on Arizona's death row).
We know that no matter how many safeguards are put in place the foibles of human systems mean makes will always be made.
Efforts to eliminate the Death penalty are not new.
China having previously abolished the death penalty between 1747 and 1759.
The modem abolition movement was inspired by Italian César Beccaria in his work Dei Delitti e Delle Pene.
On Crimes and Punishments published in 1764.
Given the probability that mistakes that can be made in capital cases.
As well as the high cost of conducting such capital cases are just some of the reasons the Death Penalty should be repealed.
Ifor one of many call on all State administrations across America to listen to the likes of Amnesty International and replace the death penalty with another sentencing option.
There are two opposing views.
A large portion of the population want the retention of the death penalty.
Other individuals and groups advocate the abolition of it.
For instance Amnesty International has for a long time now run a campaign calling for the removal of the penalty as a sentencing option for American Judges.
Most recently Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who heads the state's judicial branch and its highest court, said in an interview that the death penalty is no longer effective in California and suggested she would welcome a public debate on its merits and costs.
It is clear that the actual administration of Capital Punishment comes at such a huge financial cost if not politically so.
Capital Punishment trials cost so much as much as one million dollars each.
One of the reasons to revoke the penalty is that it is so remarkably easy for a mistake to be made.
Such a mistake in a capital case becomes irreversible.
If the penalty has already been carried out then an injustice cannot be reversed.
Prosecutors, Governors -- such as Governor John Kitzhaber of Oregon -- and even judges, such as Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and fellow retired justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor, are raising doubts about the death penalty.
It is puzzling to me how we can show our outrage at the crime of murder by killing the perpetrator.
The murder may have been committed in a fit of passion, or it may have been provoked, or the murderer may have a mental disorder in which normal human empathy is lacking and therefore cannot understand what all the fuss is about.
But the executions are carried out in cold blood by people who know full well the horror of what they're doing.
Two-thirds of all cases involving a black or Hispanic killing a white result in the death penalty.
Overall, a black person is 5 times more likely to get the death penalty than a white defendant in similar circumstances.
If white people were sentenced to death in the same proportions as Hispanic's and Blacks I contend that there would be a public outcry to abolish the death penalty.
The recent introduction of DNA evidence has highlighted the flaws within the current justice system.
Too often suspects that have been sitting on cells in deaths rows for years have been exonerated.
Thanks largely to the likes of The Innocence Project who have fought tooth and nail to get certain cases reviewed.
Without which many of the newly found innocent detainees would have otherwise been executed.
For instance DNA evidence freed Ray Krone after 10 years in prison, (four on Arizona's death row).
We know that no matter how many safeguards are put in place the foibles of human systems mean makes will always be made.
Efforts to eliminate the Death penalty are not new.
China having previously abolished the death penalty between 1747 and 1759.
The modem abolition movement was inspired by Italian César Beccaria in his work Dei Delitti e Delle Pene.
On Crimes and Punishments published in 1764.
Given the probability that mistakes that can be made in capital cases.
As well as the high cost of conducting such capital cases are just some of the reasons the Death Penalty should be repealed.
Ifor one of many call on all State administrations across America to listen to the likes of Amnesty International and replace the death penalty with another sentencing option.
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