Does the offender even think about the final outcome of their sentence before they commit a crime? Do aggressive criminals stop to think about their own fate, while they choose the fate of somebody else? Before execution was legalised many states felt that having the death penalty would lower violent crime rates. Unfortunately that is not the case. According to the International Debate Education Association,
“Higher execution rates can actually increase violent crime rates. California averaged six executions a year from nineteen fifty-two until nineteen sixty-seven and had twice the murder rate than the period from nineteen sixty-eight until nineteen ninety-one.” Obviously, proven by the above statement criminals do not take their punishment into consideration before they act out in violence.
Since the legalisation of capital punishment, many states have made incompetent decisions. According to the International Debate Education Association, accounts for twenty three innocent people that were executed in the United States during the twentieth century. How many other executed criminals were unable to prove there innocence? Each year, approximately five people are convicted of capital crimes that are actually innocent according to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. These are good examples to show that capital punishment has gone too far. According to the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Virginia executed Joseph O’Dell on July twenty-third nineteen ninety seven despite the existence of DNA evidence that could have proved his innocence. The courts refused to consider this new evidence because Virginia’s says, “any evidence found after twenty one days is inadmissible in proving the innocence of a convicted person.” Why couldn’t the state of Virginia wait another twenty one days to put the real criminals behind bar? In this case, the murder was justified by killing an innocent victim and this happens in many cases. Are the real murderers still free and roaming around our streets?
In conclusion, I think the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman degrading punishment and it also violates the right to live. The death penalty has never been shown to overcome crimes more effectively than any other punishments. No matter what reason a government gives for killing prisoners and no matter what method is used, the death penalty can’t be apart from the issue of human rights. Human rights are not given by governments and they can not be taken away by governments. Human rights belong to everyone. Of course in cases of clear guilt, it is easy to say they deserve to die. However, the case involves the death of someone somebody else loves and it is hard to say goodbye. Capital punishment degrades society. Why do we kill people to prove that killing people is wrong?
