Capital Punishment is a topic of a lot of controversy, but I
am not here to change anyone’s minds. I am simply here to drop some basic
information that everybody should know before taking an actual stance on the
issue. First things first, what is capital punishment? According to the Merriam
Webster Dictionary, it is death as punishment for a very serious crime. In the
United States, the capital punishment varies case by case and state by state.
Different states use capital punishment for a variety of different serious
crimes. For example, Minnesota has had capital punishment banned since 1911,
and Utah has it legal for anyone who commits a capital offense such as multiple
murders and so on. Capital punishment is viewed as a necessary evil by many.
When
this topic is brought up, most people are quick to ask, “wouldn’t you want the
person who raped and killed your daughter to die?” For many, this is an easy
question to answer, and for most the answer is yes. The next question is, if
all the other first world, developed countries have done away with capital
punishment, why has the United States not? Most of the developed countries
would answer, that capital punishment is barbaric and no longer necessary. They
see as when killing a person because of their actions behind closed doors does
not really deter the general public from committing terrible crimes. However,
being that one of the five purposes of punishment in the United States is in
fact retribution, there is no possibility of banning capital punishment until that
form of justice is gone.
There are
some important facts that everyone must know when it comes to capital
punishment. There are a lot of people who feel that lethal injection is too
gentle, and that the inmate should suffer more. Others feel as though it
somehow makes capital punishment okay when it is done in a humane way, such as
lethal injection. What those people do not know is that lethal injection can be
painful for the inmate. When an inmate is given a lethal injection, it is
typically done by one of the guards and not by an actual doctor. Therefore, the
inmate’s height and weight is not taken much into consideration by the guard giving
the lethal injection. When the dosage is not high enough or just did not do
what it was intended to do than the inmate is subject to suffering. Different
people react to chemicals differently and even though they are most likely
going to die from the dose, they still may react to it differently. There are
three chemicals that make up the lethal injection and one of them is intended
to put the inmate in a deep sleep immediately. There have been cases where this
does not occur and the inmate is completely aware of what is going on but is
paralyzed and suffocating. Not only can it be painful, but it is there is a
very real chance of the inmate being innocent.
Between
1973 and 2015 there were 148 people who were exonerated from death row. Those are
too many innocent people that could have died for crime they did not even
commit. Studies have shown that the amount of innocent people who have been
sentenced to death row is even higher than the amount that was exonerated. It
is estimated a 1 in 25 defendants sentenced to death row are innocent. Often
times prosecutors are the ones to blame for this. Some prosecutors have hidden
evidence that can be beneficial to the defense team. Statistics have also shown
that race can influence if whether a not a person is sentenced to death row.
When being sentenced, black people will be put on death row more than white
people, even if the crime is the same. With all of that being said people will
take their chances and side with capital punishment because it is the only way
to get retribution for the victims.
Capital
punishment is a practice of ancient times, but people still feel the need for
it today. Being capable of feeling empathy for all sides of the situation, have
it be the victim, the victim’s family, the offender, or the offender’s family. It
is hard to say what decision one will make when put in the situation. Many of
us behave differently than we think we would have when put in one of those
situations.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/history.html
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