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The public's satisfaction that comes from capital punishment does not constitute serving justice. Today's system of capital punishment is composed of inequalities and injustices. The commonly used arguments for the death penalty are filled with holes. It is a deterrent. It removes killers. It is the ultimate punishment. It satisfies the public's need for retribution. It relieves the anguish of the victim's family. It has yet to be proven as a deterrent and imposing the death penalty is expensive and time consuming. Morally, it is a continuation of the cycle of violence and degrades all who are involved, as well as its victim.
Perhaps the most frequent argument for capital punishment is that of deterrence. The thought is that the death penalty will deter other criminals from committing violent acts. Numerous studies have been created attempting to prove this belief; however, all the evidence taken together makes it hard to be confident that capital punishment deters more than long prison terms do" (Cavanagh 4). Also, Bryan Stevenson, the executive director of the Montgomery based Equal Justice Initiative, has stated that "people are increasingly realizing that the more we resort to killing as a legitimate response to our frustration and anger with violence, the more violent our society becomes…We could execute all three thousand people on death row, and most people would not feel any safer tomorrow" (Frame 51). Also, the number of inmates actually put to death is substantially lower than 50 years ago. This decline creates a situation in which the death penalty ceases to be a deterrent when the population begins to think that one can get away with a crime and go unpunished. Also, the less that the death sentence is used, the more it becomes unusual, thus coming in conflict with the eighth amendment. Interesting enough, the less the death penalty is used, the less society can legally use it. The end result is a punishment that ceases to deter any crime at all.
The key part of the death penalty is that it involves death, which is rather permanent for humans. This creates a major problem when innocent people have been and will continue to being sentenced to death. In our legal system, there are many ways in which justice might be poorly served to the innocent who receive the death sentence. First is in the handling of the defendant's counsel. In the event that a defendant is without counsel, a lawyer will be provided. "Attorney's appointed to represent indigent capital defendants frequently lack the qualities necessary to provide a competent defense and sometimes have exhibited such poor character that they have subsequently been disbarred" (Tabak 7). With payment caps and court-determined costs, there is not much incentive for a lawyer to spend a great deal of time representing the defendant. When you compare this to the prosecution, "…aided by the police, other law enforcement agencies, crime labs, state mental hospitals, various other scientific resources, prosecutors …experienced in successfully handling capital cases and grand juries," the defense that the court appointed counsel can offer is inadequate (Tabak 7). Even if a defendant has a valid case to offer, what chance does he/she have for the case to be properly handled? Furthermore, why should he/she be punished for a misjustice that was created by the court itself when it appointed the incapable lawyer?
Even if a defendant has proper legal counsel, there is still the matter of impartiality of judges. "The Supreme Court has steadily reduced the availability of habeas corpus review of capital convictions, placing its confidence in the notion that state judges, who take the same oath of office as federal judges to uphold the Constitution, can be trusted to enforce it" (Bright 768). This makes for the biased trying of a defendant's appeals, "given the overwhelming pressure on elected state judges to heed, and perhaps even lead to, the popular cries for the death of criminal defendants" (Bright 76). Thirty-two of the states that impose the death penalty also employ the popular election of judges, and several of these even have judges run with party affiliations. This creates a deeply political justice system. Can society simply brush off mistaken execution as an incidental cost in the greater scheme of putting a criminal to death?
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In our society, there is a great expectation placed on the family of a victim to pursue vengeance to the highest degree -- the death penalty. This creates a dilemma of morality. If anything, by forcing families to seek the death penalty, their own consciences will be burdened by the death of the killer. Also, killing the accused will not bring back your loss. At some point, society must stop the violence. Seeking temporary gratification is not a logical basis for whether the death penalty should be imposed. Granted, revenge is easily confused with retribution, and most would agree that the punishment should fit the crime, but can society really justify murdering someone else simply on the basis that they deserved it? Government has the right and duty to protect the greater good against people who jeopardize the welfare of society, but a killer can be sentenced to life without chance of parole, and society will be just as safe as if he had been executed.
A large misconception concerning the death penalty is that it saves society the costs of keeping inmates imprisoned for long periods. In the act of preserving due process of justice, the court appeals involved with the death penalty becomes a long, drawn-out and very expensive process. "The average time between sentencing and execution for the thirty-one prisoners put on death row in 1 was 114 months, or nine and a half years" (Stewart 50). "Criminal justice process expenses, trial court costs, appellate and post-conviction costs, and prison costs including years served on death row awaiting execution costs over a quarter million dollars, and per execution exceeds $ million" (Cavanagh 4). When you compare this to the average costs for a twenty-five year prison term for first degree murder (roughly $0 thousand), the cost of putting someone away for life is a deal. Is it really worth the hassle and money to kill a criminal, when we can put them away for life for less money with a great deal more ease?
In earlier times, when capital punishment was common, the value of life was less, and societies were more barbaric, capital punishment was probably quite acceptable. However, in today's society, the death penalty is becoming an unrealistic form of punishment. Also, with the possibility of mistaken execution, there will remain the question of innocence of those put to death. Finally, man does not have the right to inflict mortal punishment when there are suitable substitutes that require fewer resources. It is time to stop the senseless killing. Works Cited
Bright, Steven B., and Patrick J. Keenan. Judges and the Politics of Death Deciding Between
the Bill of Rights and the Next Election in Capital Cases. Boston University Law
Review 75 (00) 768-6.
Cavanagh, Suzanne, and David Teasley. Capital Punishment A Brief Overview. CRS Report
For Congress 8 (18) 4.
Stewart, David O. Dealing with Death. American Bar Association Journal 80.11 (14) 50
Tabak, Ronald J. Report Ineffective Assistance of Counsel and Lack of Due Process in Death
Penalty Cases. Human Rights . Winter (16)
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