“Thou shall not kill.” These are the words spoken in one of the most famous books in the
world, the Bible! Another lesson taught in the bible is when God preaches to us to turn the other
cheek, rather than the old “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” expression. Putting someone to the
death sentence never teaches a lesson. All it is, is more violence, and killing to a never ending
problem. The death penalty is violating a person’s right to live!
Why is it that there is a law against individuals committing murder, but the State is able to
give its self permission? How is that fair? Someone does a crime, and yet, the State deals with it by
doing more violence! What kind of example is that setting? It’s also not very attractive when a state
is employing a killer on their staff. Someone has to stick in the needle and inject the poison, or
throws the electric switch, who ever it is; they are automatically putting themselves into a killer’s
situation or place.
Since 1973, 107 prisoners have been released from death row in the USA after evidence
has proven that they were actually innocent. This is another huge problem! If someone is falsely
charged, and actually innocent, then put to death, there is nothing that can be done. Where as is if
someone is given a lifetime sentence, and then found innocent, they can be removed from jail.
Another inefficiency is someone with a lot of money who commits an offense can just buy their way
out! With a great lawyer, you can get out of anything! But for people who don’t have any money,
they won’t get the top the pick. They’ll be appointed one from the state. And this gives them more
of a chance for being convicted and sentenced of a crime.
People think that if capital punishment goes away, the rate of crime will go up. But scientific
studies have failed to find convincing evidence that the death penalty brings down the rate of
crimes more than other punishments. A recent survey in the US did a research on findings of any
relation that linked between the death penalty and homicide rates. It was conducted by the United
Nations in 1988 and updated in 2002, and it concluded that “it is not prudent to accept the
hypothesis that capital punishment deters murder to a marginally greater extend than does the
threat and application of supposedly lesser punishment of life imprisonment.” The United Nations
also let another quote saying that, “The fact that the statistic… continue to point in the same
direction is persuasive evidence that countries need not fear sudden and serious changes in the
curve of crime if they reduce their reliance upon the death penalty.”
From killing someone who could be innocent, to someone being paid to commit murder,
there are millions of reasons to abolish the death penalty! It goes against morals and even God’s
word! If someone commits a crime, what will killing them in return do? What lesson will they learn? If
they’re dead, they’ll never be able to learn their lesson! There are many cons and downsides to the
death penalty! If only everyone would realize that it makes no sense to have a law against
committing homicide for individuals, and yet the government is able to give themselves permission
to commit homicide without any punishment! It violates the person’s right to live!
Resources:
Word Count: 705
